Inciting A Riot

Mark Berndt & a meditation on forgiveness

2012-02-01T23:17:00.000-06:00

Forgiveness, as a concept, is one of the most beautiful evolutionary steps humanity has taken. I get choked up when I see stories of a woman truly forgiving her son's killer. When lovers can forgive the sins of their partners, when estranged friends can put the past behind them, when a reformed racist can be forgiven by those he/she has wronged...it all just does something to me. I weep openly and fully when I see instances of exceptional forgiveness.

And then, there are news stories like this one out of LA. (A warning: this story is exceptionally graphic. Seriously, I physically threw up after reading it.)

Mark Berndt is being held on a $23 million dollar bail for 23 counts, at this point ($1 million for every count, and there are at least 10 more pending), of possibly the most disturbing acts I have ever heard of perpetuated on children. He bound them, blindfolded them, gagged them, fed them his semen (which he did when they were blindfolded, feeding them with a spoon and calling it a tasting game), put cockroaches on them, and photographed everything.

Berndt has had over 30 years of teaching experience. 30 years to, possibly, victimize countless children in this manner. He was caught when he attempted to have some of his nearly 400 photographs processed, and 40 of them were found by a film processor and reported to police. (THANK YOU WHOEVER YOU ARE!) 390 photographs were found in his home like these, and the aforementioned spoon was also found with DNA matching Berndt.

He is facing multiple life sentences.

His victims are all between the ages of 7 and 10.

I would now like to apologize to you, the reader, because I am about to become quite crude. This disgusting piece of shit should roast in the pits of Hell for all eternity. I do not advocate violence, but this is a case where I'm not sure I'd care if they chose the death penalty.

And see, here is my conundrum. When I hear egregious stories like this, where someone's crimes are so extreme and so severe (and especially involving children), I cannot fathom forgiveness. I cannot fathom not only the ability for any of the parents or victims to forgive this guy, but I cannot fathom how deity could possibly forgive such a man. Crimes against the innocent, the defenseless, out of coldness and disease...I just don't understand that level of forgiveness. Because, I want to rage against this man. I want to hate him, and I want to say things like "I hope he burns in Hell" and I want to mean it.

But...at the same time...I'm sitting here crying, because I'm so conflicted. Because of the one simple question, "Doesn't everyone deserve forgiveness?" Shouldn't everyone have that opportunity?

I don't know... I'm not sure that one could atone for this much horror in one lifetime, however. So, I suppose it's times like this when I hope for reincarnation, when I hope that it exists and that someone like this has a few more lifetimes to make it right.

What do you think, Rioters? What do you think of forgiveness and/or this story?

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

The Problem with Titles (Never-ending Politics Edition)

2012-02-01T11:48:00.001-06:00

Watching the coverage of the 2012 American Presidential race, you see a lot of talking heads. Lots and lots of talking heads. People with all sorts of titles and degrees and such going on television to give their expert opinion on why this person or that person is, like, totally awesome. But, when I watch some of these people get on television, I kinda have to wonder why certain folks are introduced in certain ways.

An example: Sarah Palin. Anytime, on any network (despite political affiliation), that she is discussed, she is called Governor Sarah Palin. Typically. It's not Former Governor Sarah Palin or Author Sarah Palin or Fox News correspondent Sarah Palin. It's Governor Sarah Palin. As though she is currently taking time out of her very busy schedule being all gubernatorial to be talked about or interviewed. When, truth be told, she is not actually a governor.

But, the same is said over and over with other people. Newt Gingrich is called 'Mr. Speaker' as though John Boehner doesn't exist. He hasn't been the Speaker of the House since the mid-90s, and the reason he stopped being Speaker is because of gross misconduct and ethics violations. Yet, during debates or political wonks' discussions, there it is, "Mr. Speaker."

Why do we do this?

Why do we allow people to keep their highest achieved rank forever? When I stopped being a court officer, I no longer got any of the privileges the badge provided me. I no longer have the authority to make arrests or write reports or sign my name to legal documents and have it carry any weight. I don't get to be called Officer Fire Lyte. But, I never got to be a Senator or Governor or whatever.

The same is true on the opposite side of the aisle as well. During the 2008 presidential campaign, John Edwards was trying to be the Democratic Party's candidate. He was called Senator John Edwards. But, he hadn't been a Senator in 3 years. He left office in 2005. No longer a Senator by the time he and Clinton and Obama were going at it. So...what's the deal?

In this Rioter's opinion, I think the American people would find it easier to vote for someone if we called them by what they are. That's how the rest of us have to be introduced; why not politicians? If I meet someone at a party and ask what they do for a living, they don't get to say, "Well, I used to be the Dean of the University of [Insert State Here]." They don't get to be introduced as Dean So-and-so if their career ended 20 years ago, and especially not if they were ousted because of ethics violations, like Gingrich, or quit halfway through their contract, like Palin. If you're currently a Starbuck's barista, own it.

Instead of calling Newt Gingrich, "Mr. Speaker", how about we give him the moniker "Mr. Fundraiser" or "Author of Numerous books" Newt Gingrich? Possibly "Guy who keeps trying to swindle money from small businesses under the guise of giving them awards" Newt Gingrich? Governor Romney might not get to be called 'Governor' (as he's been out of office for 5 years - 2007), but we could call him "Guy who's living off the interest of his massive wealth" Mitt Romney.

But, I ask you. Why? Why do folks who leave office, either by choice or scandal, get to keep their titles? They're not theirs any longer. They belong to other people. Sarah Palin does not get to be the Governor of Alaska forever. That would be Sean Parnell who gets to call himself Governor of Alaska. Because he is. Currently.

What do you think? Should people get to keep their titles forever? Why does it apply to folks who hold public office? And, if so, does that mean that Mayors or folks on the City Councils get to keep theirs forever, too? Should we be calling people by what they are, as that is more honest to the American people? Let me know in the comments below!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Movie Review: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

2012-01-27T23:25:00.000-06:00

Oscar season is upon us! The nominees have been announced, and many folks are thinking "Huh?! I've never even heard about most of these movies!" It's about this time of year, however, that - because of that very question - I find some of the best movies of the year I would never have heard of otherwise. Por ejemplo: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.

This film is about 15 minutes long, and is currently nominated in the Best Animated Short Film category. The plot is fairly straightforward, but after a few views you begin to see several layers to the film. There is a pretty obvious tale of someone discovering the importance of books, and that it is important to continue telling our stories in order to keep them alive. But, then there are several more lessons contained in 15 minutes of Mr. Morris Lessmore.
We are taught that tragedy will come to us all, and that we must rise above and meet it head on in order to survive. We cannot wallow in self-pity or see only the tattered remains of What Might Have Been, missing out on What Could Be.

It is a simple story, filled with the most charming cast of characters and some exceedingly brilliant storytelling. And, yes, by the end of the 15 minutes, I had tears in my eyes. While it is incredibly cliche, I will say, "I laughed. I cried. And, I went into my library and held some of my favorite books close." I love my Kindle. I love technology. But, this movie reminded me of two things:

There is absolutely nothing whatsoever in this world that has ever, does currently, or will ever exist that is as magical, delightful, promising, beautiful, or giving as bound literature. Seeing a typed poem in a book of poetry is far more glorious than reading it off a blog. Smelling the paper in the very middle of a large novel reminds you of the 1st time you discovered that book, and the passion you have for your favorite stories is ignited every single time you smell that smell.
It is imperative that we continue to write our stories down and pass them to future generations. It is of the utmost importance that, when we, too, are carried off to the land beyond, that we have left our children and theirs a bound legacy that goes beyond what you can read in 140 characters or on Wikipedia. Our survival as humans is reliant on storytelling. Yes, humans might continue procreating, but that which makes us human is our imagination, our evolved sense of story.

Suffice it to say, this movie has touched me. You can find the full film below (it's been made available to the public), but I recommend just purchasing the film for yourself. Oh, and I might be able to help you with that. See, if you go to iTunes and look up The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, you can currently purchase it absolutely free. I'm sure this offer will not be around for long, as the Academy Awards are just around the corner and everyone in the free world will be wanting the film. But, for the time being, you should definitely download your copy while the getting's good.

I fervently believe that in 3-5 years Pixar will be putting out a full-length version of the movie. I can easily see it being a cross between Up, the Wizard of Oz, and the Pagemaster. Here's hoping that the studio makes the right decision and purchases the rights to the feature film!

Hope you enjoy it, and happy Oscar Season!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Introducing: The Pagan Podlist

2012-01-26T20:43:00.001-06:00

Everyday, more people are discovering podcasts. They make us laugh, inform us, and make our house cleaning and daily commutes a bit more fun. But, it's rather difficult to find new pagan podcasts to enjoy. Worse, though, is finding a show and realizing that, while people were raving about how good it was on a message board or another podcast, it hasn't put out any new episodes in 6 months, a year, or more.

Introducing:

The Pagan Podlist!

The Pagan Podlist seeks to provide a simple list of all the currently-producing pagan shows. All shows that appear on The List are checked periodically to ensure that only shows producing new content appear. Hopefully, this resource will help you find new shows and eliminate the frustration of hunting iTunes, Podcast Alley, and social networking sites just to find shows.

If you have a podcast, and you would like to Get Listed, please use the form on the Contact Page. Your show should appear soon!

Feel free to spread the word! The URL is http://www.PaganPodcasts.com. Let your favorite podcaster know they should Get Listed so that other people can enjoy their show, too!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Jaguar Inductees: The Cast of Magic Mike

2012-01-24T10:39:00.001-06:00

There is a movie coming out this movie. It's called Magic Mike. Supposedly, it's loosely based on actor Channing Tatum's origins as a stripper. Since this is a Jaguar induction, however, details don't matter. Supposedly it's a drama. Supposedly it's supposed to be very cool and very edgy. All you need to know is who is in this movie, which will tell you why you'll want to see this movie.

Delightful pics below! Welcome to the Jaguar Club Adam Rodriguez, Joe Manganiello, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Channing Tatum, and Matt Bomer! Summer can't come soon enough.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

L to R: Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer (real life gay guy), Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Alex Pettyfer

Adam Rodriguez (left), Channing, Matt. I've found my exercise motivation for 2012!

Channing & Alex making bow ties look like the best thing EVER!

Joe Manganiello: Werewolf/Stripper/Greek God

Matt Bomer in White Collar.

The Pagan Secret Retrospective (Mea Maxima Culpa Edition)

2012-01-20T18:01:00.000-06:00

August 2009 was the date I published an article called "The Pagan Secret." In November of that same year, it became the second article of mine published on WitchVox.com. To date, it is one of the most-read, most-discussed, most-debated articles I've ever put on the interwebs. And, from time to time, it is rediscovered by someone reading my back catalog of articles, and I'll get an email either praising it as a standing up for tradition or condemning me for my obvious inadequacies, youth, and brash statements.

Today, I received an email from someone that read as follows:

Dear Fire Lyte,

Now that you've created Project Pagan Enough, are you going to ask WitchVox to take down your article titled "The Pagan Secret"? The two are directly contradictory messages.

You can see a discussion of your article--including reactions from me--at:http://wiccan.livejournal.com/1456880.html

Be well,
Ian

I read the discussion regarding the article. I read, when time and inclination permit, a lot of the discussions of my articles when I'm made aware such discussions exist. I'm very glad that my words can spark debate, as that is one of the purposes of the Riot. In this case, though, I'd like to remind everyone of a couple of things:

The article was written in 2008, before the blog and before the podcast.
I was 21 when I wrote that article.

That being said, I cry mea maxima culpa on the article. It's overbroad. It reeks of trying to paint too many subjects with the same brush. The intention I had when I started typing the article and the finished product do not align. I seemed to have worked myself into a tizzy somewhere around paragraph 5, and I was too brash to see it in post-editing. I thought I had this awesome new point, and I thought I was making it.

Some folks over the years have acknowledged that, while my points weren't very finely put, the message of calling out the crazy and creating a spiritual knowledge filter was a good one. And, I appreciate that. But, Ian is correct that that type of message gets very bogged down in the astonishingly self-righteous tone of the article. The notion it seems I was making in this very half-cocked fashion was that we need to run the fake pagans out of our little club and get back to keeping our brand of crazy sacred, untouched, and unmoving.

I would - and have - call bullshit on myself. But, I've done so several times over in the past 3 years on the blog and podcast. I have since come to a more mature understanding that, while education is necessary (and calling bullshit is still a valuable tool), we should not be trying to say our God-in-a-box is better than anyone else's. My brand of crazy isn't any more or less valid than anyone else's. The point I thought I was making at 21 is not the point I ended up making.

The better point, I think, is that if someone calls themselves a Wiccan, the more generic term 'Pagan', a Heathen, or whatever, but they wax poetic about the blood of Christ and going to heaven and washing their sins in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ... Possibly, and this is just me going out on a limb here, someone should come along - instead of sneering at that person, or writing them off as ridiculous - and politely, kindly educate them on the difference between Wicca and Christianity (and that they might not want to give up on the latter just yet).

The thing I've learned is that, it's not the material the road is made of - whether you pave your path with Gardner or Miyazaki or flying spaghetti - it's that you fervently try to get to the divine. The problem of labeling is not a new one, and it's not one that's probably ever going to go away. I recently discussed this in a much better (in my humble opinion) fashion in the article on Zimmelblobs. It might be time that we as a society - Christian, Atheist, Jew, Pagan, Pastafarian, [Insert Brand of Crazy Here] included - stopped being so sensitive to non-inclusion. To labels. If you're claiming to be a fork, but by definition are actually a spoon, don't be upset, because there is a place for you. Being a fork might not be the best fit, but we're all silverware.

I've had a lot of time to reflect on The Pagan Secret. To answer your question, Ian, no. I'm not going to ask anyone to take anything down. There are some sentiments in that article I can agree with, and while I can agree that much of it is bunk at this point, I'm not going to try and hide it like I never made it happen. I think that being the founder of Project Pagan Enough and being the guy that also wrote The Pagan Secret doesn't have to be a mutually exclusive thing. There are 33 articles of mine posted on Witch Vox, each one a sign of my growth and understanding of magic, life, the pagan community, Spirit, and myself. I have since clarified many of those statements with much better logic and research in other articles, and I've since negated many of those statements with much better logic and research. I encourage you and others to examine all of those articles, as well as the nearly 700 written on this blog, and the hundreds more created for my podcast.

Ian ended his email with a quote attributed to Walt Whitman in "Song of Myself":

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

I think that's a good place to end this retrospective. Share any thoughts you have in the comments section below.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Episode 66: Inciting A Changing Riot

2012-01-19T23:15:00.001-06:00

Episode 66 of Inciting A Riot: the Podcast finds us Inciting A Changing Riot! We’ll be talking about some changes coming to the Riot, looking at a refocusing and recommitment to the purpose of the show and blog.

News: HIV+ Student denied admission, Afghan woman must marry her rapist, Homeland Security Sno-Cones, Iran has our spy drone, the mouse in Mt. Dew, Witch Killing, 2^nd Earth

Word of the Day: Parochial

Gripe Department: The Top 17 Things to Leave in 2011

Music: Shake It Out - Florence + the Machine

Spirituality: Times they are a-changin’ at the Riot, and the Chief Rioter in charge is changing with them. Also, if you listen carefully, you might hear Fire Lyte apologize.

Poetry: How to write a political poem - Taylor Mali (from the book The Spoken Word Revolution)

Please continue to vote for the show on Podcast Alley. Vote, subscribe to, and rate the show on iTunes. Join the TwitterRiot by following me @IncitingARiot. Enter the Swag Contest through a donation on PayPal or purchase of swag through the CafePress.com swag shop. Check out my art on FireLyte.Etsy.com. Send any and all feedback to IncitingARiotPodcast@gmail.com!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Home Page: http://www.IncitingARiot.com

Podcast Alley: http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_details.php?pod_id=86829

Etsy: http://FireLyte.Etsy.com

iTunes: http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=337689333

Twitter: http://twitter.com/IncitingARiot

Swag Shop: http://cafepress.com/IncitingARiot

Project Pagan Enough: http://www.incitingariot.com/p/project-pagan-enough.html

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Understanding SOPA & PIPA (from New Left Media)

2012-01-19T09:41:00.000-06:00

Okay, so you've heard about SOPA and PIPA, right? Yesterday, Wikipedia was blacked out for 24 hours in protest of the proposed legislation. Twitter and Facebook were abuzz with talks of SOPA. (In the pagan community, I've even seen a boycott of Cat Yronwode and Lucky Mojo, because she and her business support SOPA and PIPA.)

But, what is it? I mean, if you've very carefully followed the news - attempting to sift through all the massive quantities of spin attached to the reporting - and read all the articles and discussed it with someone who can translate legalese, then you probably know, but what about everyone else? The problem with legislation such as this is that it is written in language few people speak (the aforementioned legalese), and then it is boiled down to a sound bite that is then fed to the public. What sound bite you ask?

SOPA/PIPA are designed to stop online piracy.

This legislation is protecting copyright.

This legislation would stop the unlawful spread of someone else's copyrighted material.

If you're lucky, you've heard the part about making sure authors/musicians/artists get paid for their work, instead of it becoming a free source online. To a normal person, this sounds like the issue of book piracy we were just discussing, right? Except, that's not really what the law is set out to do.

SOPA and PIPA are designed to either block an entire website from being accessed, or to stop payments going to a website should it be deemed they are using copyrighted material. On the surface this sounds like the elimination of sites like Pirate Bay or programs like Limewire that allow free filesharing of movies, music, pictures, and pretty much anything else one can upload. Sounds good, right?

But, what if a blogger using the Blogspot domain posts a piece of copyrighted material? The legislation deems that all of Blogspot - including this blog - could be deemed inaccessible. At least, through conventional means.

This legislation also doesn't take into account the understanding of Fair Use, which allows the republishing of copyrighted material under certain circumstances.

Now, I could spend all day trying to boil down SOPA and PIPA, but I would just like to instead say this: Fire Lyte and Inciting A Riot's various media projects stand with the protests against SOPA and PIPA. While piracy is a bad thing, this much of an overreach is obscene and a step in a very bad, very dark direction for the United States. But, don't take my word for it. Below is a video from the massively excellent New Left Media. (You've heard me talk about them before.) It explains, in terms everyone can understand, exactly what PIPA and SOPA are, and the full scope of their legislation. It dispels the myths and talking points, and gives you the meat of the issue.

Enjoy.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

SOPA Musical Interlude

2012-01-18T10:20:00.001-06:00

While we're getting a taste of what life might be like without certain amenities (chief amongst them Wikipedia, incidentally, that's the only working link on Wikipedia today) due to the major protest against SOPA, I thought I'd put together a delightful playlist for us to listen to while we wait for the internet to come back. Many of these are new artists I'm just discovering.

Side note: I am including a new song by artist Lana Del Rey. Yes, I heard her sing live. Yes, she is absolutely, unbelievably dreadful live. That does not change the fact that the song, as is, is pretty freaking awesome.

See you on the other side of SOPA!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Quick Correction: An Altar to Homophones

2012-01-12T22:05:00.000-06:00

Quick lesson: Grammar is full of fun and interesting things. One of those crazy, cool, interesting things is called a 'Homophone'. A homophone is not a phone that likes other phones, it describes a set of words that sound exactly alike yet mean different things.

Examples:

Pause | Paws
Flea | Flee
Rack | Wrack
Wear | Where

Get it?

Here's where it gets FUN!

In the pagan community, our delightful group of folks that loves to correct and re-correct and prove wrong and disprove the proving wrong and point fingers (basically we all like to be really, really RIGHT) I cannot HELP but knock my head against a wall every time I see the following:

The alter to my deity...

We prayed at the alter.

Or... Something like that. Folks, your friendly neighborhood Rioter is here to inform and enlighten. So, I'd like to inform you...

THE WORD IS ALTAR! AL-TAR. WITH AN -AR! NOT ALTER. ALTAR. YOU ALTER A DRESS. YOU PRAY AT AN ALTAR!

I hope we've all learned something today.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Follow Up on Book Piracy

2012-01-09T16:34:00.001-06:00

I've been pondering about the actual cost of publishing, since I wrote the last blog post. In fact, going back through some of the blog posts and over at Llewellyn.com, I've come to notice a few things. Some points I'd like to correct - hey, I can admit when I'm wrong - and others I'd like to clarify or reaffirm.

One of the first points is the cost of a book. Why do books cost as much as they do? I will admit, when I came up with my number, I was basing it off the cost of a CD back when I worked for the big box electronics retailer with the blue polos and yellow tags. Books are a different beast. A really wonderful New York Times article broke it down really well. Here, they even provide graphics!

So how much does it cost to actually print a book?

Conglomerate estimates say about $3.25 (which includes storing and shipping the books after you've printed them. This leads us to assume, naturally, that printing a book actually might be in that $1-$2 range). A quick breakdown of the other numbers you're seeing. Design, typesetting, and editing. These are the "formatting" parts of a book. Choosing the font, paying an editor, laying out the book, etc. You also see marketing. This is done for all books in all formats. Also, the 'Author's royalty' is based on a percentage. If the publisher got $50 per book, the author would get a lot more. If the publisher got $5 per book, the author would get a lot less. (This can lend itself to the argument for self-publishing or digital rights for authors, which would increase the author's profits significantly. Many new or non-Stephen King-level authors do not make a living off of their books. In fact, they typically don't make much at all.)

The article states that if a publisher has, say, Barnes & Noble sell a new hardback book for them at $26, the publisher gets about half of that ($13). Of that half, about $9 goes to pay fees, and about $4 is profit. However, the article is quick to note that final profit is even less per book, because that profit goes to pay the cost of overhead for the publisher. You know, silly things like paying the people that work for the publishing company, keeping the lights on, renting office space, and so on.

What the article does point out is that it is more profitable for publishing companies to produce e-books, because there are no printing, storing, or shipping fees associated with the book. Yes, you're still paying for editors and typesetting and marketing and royalties and such, but you're not paying about half of the cost of the physical book.

For e-books priced at $10, the publisher gets $7. That's a heck of a lot better, strictly speaking in percentages, from 50% of a hardback. Also, the cost of producing the e-book goes from $9, to between $2.73 and $3.48. The publisher is getting a much higher profit margin off of e-books than off of physical books. So, there, I was wrong. An electronic book wouldn't cost $1 to produce. It would cost about $3. My mistake.

And, yes, $4-$6 per book profit doesn't sound like a lot. Consider, however, that publishers aren't just selling 5 or 10 copies of the book. They're selling thousands, sometimes millions of copies. If you just sold 100 e-books at $4 profit, you're making $400 profit. Several years ago, Llewellyn came out with a new edition of Cunningham's Wicca: A guide... . The cover proudly stated that they've sold over 400,000 copies. At $4 profit, that's $1.6 million from just that one Cunningham book alone. Go Llewellyn! Who says pagan businesses can't be profitable, huh? Of course, given the e-book craze, and how they are starting to outpace physical books, Llewellyn could be looking at an average profit of $5 per book sold. (So, for the next 400k sales, they stand to make around $2 million. Not too shabby for a book that was published in 1989 and is still one of their most popular sellers.)

See, some perspective is nice, huh?

Then, I've seen the argument pop up that "information should be free". Folks, nothing is free. The creator of that information has to eat, too, and if they're trying to make a living as an author, your hippy, free-love, share the information mentality is doing nothing but taking food out of their pockets and coins out of their coffers. Sharing a book with a friend or making a digital copy for yourself is completely different than actively promoting the free dissemination of an author's work.

We only stand to lose great potential authors, because being a writer isn't a lucrative career path. It's difficult enough getting your footing without knowing anyone with a scanner and an internet connection can take your book and give it away for free. If you would like a "free source of information", then head over to Wikipedia, which allows you to look up all the information you want for free. If you are choosing to pick up a book, however, you should be choosing to pay that author for their perspective, their story.

Also, and this is the last thing, I swear, the Llewellyn blogger seems to not know how to use Amazon. Many commenters to her blog post keep bringing up the point that e-books are sometimes more expensive than paperback versions of the same book, a fact which she seemed completely oblivious to. I did a great deal of perusing of the Amazon site, and noticed something. No Llewellyn publication costs more in Kindle form than in physical form. So, score 1 for Llewellyn blogger lady. However, what I noticed time and again is that the physical copy of the book is maybe $0.50-$0.80 more. They're nearly identical in price.

Given what we now know about profit margins and the actual cost of a book, I wonder what the next excuse will be as to why the cost of the e-book can't come down just a smidgeon.

Just some updates on this ongoing conversation. Keep those comments coming! This really is a very interesting topic.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

The Outrageous Cost (a note about copyright infringement and where publishers go from here)

2012-01-08T17:58:00.000-06:00

Last week a website became the target of a number of pagan bloggers, because it was supplying links to downloadable PDF copies of many big name pagan books. For free. The great and mighty Llewellyn Publications itself actually descended from on high to raise Cain, as it were, to protect their copyrights and the rights of their authors. Apparently, the website had been a repeat offender for publishing copyrighted material for anyone to download.

Copyright infringement is bad. It is. If you download a movie, song, book, program, etc. without paying for it, then you've committed copyright infringement. You've, basically, stolen from all the people who put time, money, and effort into producing that good.

This being said, I understand that the internet provides exceedingly murky territory for what is and what is not ok to republish. Copyright infringement on music isn't the same as books which isn't the same as programs, etc. And, all you have to do is head over to Google and type in "[name of thing you want]+free" and you'll usually find it on the first page. Does it make it right? No. Easy, yes, but not right.

The articles I've written and posted to this website and to WitchVox.com are copied and reposted all around the web. Before I published the article on Zimmelblobs, I typed the word into Google...you know...for fun. There were zero results. It was a new word, as far as Google was concerned. Then, I published my article, and all of a sudden there are 11,200 results. (I just checked.) Now, I know I didn't publish it 11,200 times around the web. I posted it approximately twice. And yet, there it is. Posted in its entirety on message boards, other blogs, personal websites, etc. Blogger after blogger expresses the same exasperation at this, putting their work out there only for a quick copy/paste to turn it into someone's attempt to pass it off as their original idea.

Though, 11,200. I didn't realize you guys liked me that much. :-)

But, this whole dirty business has gotten me to thinking. I've had a number of conversations with friends over the past few years about books, and about their future. It's not just me, a lot of people have been having these conversations. Newsmakers. Technology pioneers. Authors. Publishers. Lots of people have been having the conversation about books, and about their future. Newspapers are rapidly disappearing all around the country, replaced with CNN twitter feeds and NYTimes apps. The news culture is in a never before seen 24-hour cycle, with everyone wanting to obtain as much of the information as possible for absolutely no cost to them. Nobody wants a paper, because they just pile up, and you have to search through all the other articles to find the good stuff. Right...?

We're facing a fact, in 2012, that some print media is going by the wayside. But, we've known for quite a number of years that physical media in general is suffering. We saw this first with the case of Napster making music free to download by anyone with a 56k modem and a lot of time to wait on the download to go through. Other file sharing services popped up and went away, some attempting legitimacy after being sued while others dissipated altogether. With more and more people having high speed internet in their homes, however, the ability to download that move or that song is becoming easier and easier. Just hope you don't get caught.

But, a few years ago, the music industry wised up. iTunes happened. It became even easier to download your music, because you could do it from your iPhone for a very small fee. It's working out very well for the music industry. For the last couple of years, music sales are finally back on the rise, when they had been ebbing for quite some time.

Something else has happened, though, over the last several years. Kindles, iPads, tablets, e-readers, they've all begun to dominate the market. Millions upon millions of these things are sold every month! It's becoming just as easy to get a book. Pull out your phone, your Kindle, your whatever, and click BUY. You'll have it in a matter of seconds, again, for a nominal fee. Great, right?

Except that this mobile media revolution has gotten people wanting all their movies, their music, their books available to them all the time. Movie manufacturers realized that the big new draw would be the Digital Copy. Both DVD and BluRay movies are now coming with an extra disc that will allow you to download a digital version of the movie that you purchased directly to your computer, which you can then put on all those smart phones and tablets, carrying your media with you at all times.

Book publishers, though, are in a unique problem. How do you improve on the book? Well, I think Llewellyn and other publishers could - and should - take lessons from the other media sources.

Allow digital copies. This would be a really easy way for publishers to extend the life of the book. If you choose to purchase a book, then, perhaps, you get a code to download the ebook version onto your Kindle (or ereader of choice).
Make some books into apps. I have said for some time now that Llewellyn and other similar publishers are losing out BIG TIME by not making their almanacs into apps that integrate with your smart phone. More than an ebook, these apps could add the calendars included in the books directly into your smart phone's calendar as well as the one on your desktop. I know that I would like to purchase some of these almanacs, but they're a bit pricy for something that is just going to be obsolete in a few months. And, while some of the articles are nice, many of them are already published online in places like Llewellyn's blog or Witch Vox for free.
Someone. Somewhere. Create a viable Netflix for books. I've heard that there are services online touting themselves as a Netflix for books, basically an online library where you can 'rent' books and then return them for the next one on your queue. None of them seem to be getting anywhere near the attention they need in order to survive, to become viable. I think this could, for starters, be done on a publisher-by-publisher basis. Except, with the book companies, you could include the option to purchase the book if you utterly fall in love with it. Perhaps if you could pay $5/month or $10/month for unlimited book reading capability, people would be less inclined to search out pirated copies of books online.
At least create an ebook library. Many ereaders now have the ability to check books out from various libraries. Religious texts - like what Llewellyn produces - are the most stolen books from libraries. I realize lending out media comes with high risk of things being stolen, but perhaps Llewellyn would consider opening their catalogue up for ebook lending.
Make buying the ebook a good value! If you go to Amazon, for example, and look up a book, you'll notice that all of the format options are listed for that book, as well as their prices. You'll see, for example, that you can buy Dorothy Morrison's The Craft for $11 in paperback and for $10 on Kindle. One of the big arguments from producers of media (whether it be a movie, a book, a song, what have you) is that when you download illegally, you're taking away from all the people that work to make that media a reality.

Here's where I digress... From working in retail, I know a thing or seven about mark-ups. It might cost a big box store $2 or $3 or even less to buy a DVD or a Book or something. But, then, they turn around and sell it for $10 or $15 or $20. Whatever they can reasonably charge, whatever they've convinced people is a good value. So, then, imagine my puzzlement at why e-books are now starting to cost almost as much as the physical copy of the book. When you're buying from something like Amazon, you're not paying for a physical storefront. You're not paying for a lot of things. Much of the overhead cost of running a big box store, like what Amazon could be considered to be, is eliminated by the dint of it being an online business. Take away the cost of the paper the book is printed on, the ink used to do the printing, the machines having to be purchased for the production of the book, and what is left? How much is the true cost of that e-book?

$1?

Less?

I've actually seen cases where the e-book is more expensive than the paperback. Seriously, what is up with that?

Many commentators have been talking about the rising costs of ebooks due to publishers' griping that a bestselling ebook was coming out at $10 maximum, undercutting the physical book's price by half in many cases, sometimes a little more or less. Now, while you still get a better deal buying the ebook, it is not by much. You might save a dollar or three, which sort of deflates the whole notion of the ebook as a cheaper alternative.

Copyright infringement is a terrible thing. Sometimes, though, it takes a terrible thing to push us forward. Perhaps book sellers and book publishers like Llewellyn can take this as a wake up call, while they're getting duly offended. There will always be thieves, but, perhaps, we can make it easier for the general consumer to obtain literature, and make stealing that media less appealing.

I for one would love to be able to go to Llewellyn's website, enter in my UPC's for the physical books I legally purchased, and download a copy for my Kindle.

Here's hoping publishers find a way to innovate their products, and that folks learn the lesson about posting up someone else's hard work for all to steal.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Modern Day Witch Killing

2012-01-05T10:42:00.001-06:00

Artists sketch from the trial.

The BBC is reporting that a 15-year-old boy named Kristy Bamu - a Parisian whose ancestry hails from the Congo - was killed by his uncle and family members because his uncle accused him of being a witch or sorcerer.

To be very clear, there is absolutely no evidence at this time that Kristy was a practitioner of magic or an adherent of any modern pagan belief system. With that out of the way, this was a horrendous act of violence committed against someone utterly without cause. Bamu suffered 101 injuries, and prosecutors call the acts "depraved, wicked, and cruel."

From the BBC article: (a warning, this is incredibly graphic)

When police arrived they found Kristy and his siblings - brother Yves, 22, and and sister Kelly, 20, and other children. Kelly Bamu said their holiday turned sour when Mr Bikubi and Ms Bamu, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, accused Kristy, herself and their younger sister of "being witches or sorcerers - practising witchcraft - and adversely influencing his three-year-old son," Mr Altman said.

"Despite her own siblings' denials that they were sorcerers, Magalie Bamu joined her boyfriend in repeating these fantastic claims and participating in the assaults." The three were beaten and refused food, drink and sleep and eventually, to stop the torture, they admitted being sorcerers, the jury was told. But it was Kristy who became the focus of Mr Bikubi's attention, the court heard.

Mr Altman said: "Wickedly, the defendants also recruited sibling against sibling as vehicles for their violence.

"In a staggering act of depravity and cruelty, they both forced the others to take part in the assaults upon Kristy."

He added: "As Kristy's injuries became ever more severe he even pleaded to be allowed to die."

Mr Altman said Mr Bikubi's admission of manslaughter was rejected by the prosecution, which argues the couple carried out "the very deliberate murder" of Kristy. Ms Bamu also denies two charges of causing actual bodily harm to her sisters.

The BBC also reports that the victim, by the end, was begging to die.

I have nothing that I can add to this. Honestly, at this point in time, I am just staring at my screen with my jaw dropped. This is depraved, and it shouldn't happen at all, but especially in the modern age. It speaks to many things: mental illness (I'm reminded of the story of the man who was convinced God wanted him to gouge out his own eyes in church), mob mentality, the need for education, and the problem of nobody wanting to stand up in the face of violence. There were a lot of people in that house. Any of them could have picked up the phone and ended this.

Light a candle for Kristy Bamu. Wish his spirit well. And, if you so choose, join me in wishing his uncle a lifetime of suffering.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

A Good Pagan Film (Spoiler alert: B.S. Abounds)

2012-01-02T20:57:00.000-06:00

Every few years a movie comes out that supposedly has a 'pagan' theme, a 'pagan' main character, a 'pagan' message, or something else completely and totally 'pagan.' These movies make the rounds of the Big Bad Pagan Blogs - the ones that hunt wildly for daily pagan news that's actually of any importance or juggle cultural happenings, attempting to spin them into something tangentially pagan. We, as the folks that read blogs and listen to podcasts and generally have an extension of our pagan lives online, are spoon fed that this movie or that movie is THE pagan movie of the year.

Now, before I go further, I have to say... When I hear that a movie has magic or witches or faeries or possession or is anywhere remotely centered upon one of my spiritual interests, my ears perk up. So, this is not a post that is talking against the idea of pagans, witchy folk, or otherwise spiritual people wanting to watch movies about spiritual things. That would be silly on my part, as we are all allowed to watch what interests us and should watch what interests us.

My beef is this: Why do we insist on propping up films that show "pagans" in the absolute worst light possible, and label them 'really good' or 'the best' or 'depicting a society I'd like to live in.' The first movie that comes to mind is The Wicker Man. Either version, though it seems to me (and this might just be my personal experience existing in the pagan community) the greater pagan community adores the original.

Why pagans say they love this movie:
It features a society of people that live off the land, eschewing most modern conveniences. They have the kind of ideas of sexuality that pagans like to say they have around Beltane. The little island society seems to celebrate a wheel of the year style festival calendar, and they like to talk about 'old religions' and 'the old ways' and talk about methods of ritual and magic and living in harmony with the gods and the land.

This was the version that I was fed for years. OMGs!! You MUST see The Wicker Man! You absolutely must! I've never seen a movie that more correctly explained what it's like to be a neo-pagan until I saw The Wicker Man! This movie made so many things click for me! WICKERMANWICKERMANWICKERMAN!!! So, I finally saw said Wicker Man film. I actually bought said Wicker Man film in a $4 movie bin at the electronics store with the blue polos and big yellow tags. I asked all the folks on Twitter, "Hey, should I buy this movie?" I got a resounding ABSOLUTELY! IT'S SO AMAZING!!!!

Let me break down what this move is actually about. In the sake of fairness, here is your *SPOILER ALERT*. Yes, for most of the movie, it looks like a bunch of folks who've moved off to an island and begun a modern pagan society, which means they've tried their damnedest to be as non-modern and live as much in the mid to late 1800s as humanly possible. Parts of me like the idea of going off and living close to nature, and then I remember words like "running hot and cold water" and "antibiotics" and "air conditioning." Not to mention little things like cars and airplanes and the ability to call for help if I'm stranded in the middle of nowhere. I digress. What the movie ends up being about is the fact that this society of people has lured the protagonist to the island with the specific purpose of using him as a human sacrifice. Which they do. Without remorse or regret or even the thought that what they're doing is wrong. The "pagans" are brainwashed members of a psychotic man's cult that have a single hive-mind, which is an extension of being the histrionic cult leader's yes-men/women.

This is what we tout as one of the best, the most accurate, the greatest pagan films of all time. A movie about violent "pagans" who are so wildly off-base and out of their mind that they have no remorse about human sacrifice in the modern day. Any clinical psychologist would deem this sociopathic behavior, and it only serves to reinforce negative stereotypes in the eyes of the academic community that when someone calls themselves 'pagan', they're a little off their rocker.

In the last year or two, though, we've ramped up our search for great pagan films. With the speed at which studios are producing historical flicks - searching for the next hit in an ocean of misses - pagan talking heads are vibrating in spasmodic glee over films like Agora, The Eagle, Centurion, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Black Death, Immortals, Clash of the Titans, Thor, and Avatar. There are at least a dozen more, but I have heard these mentioned over and over and over again.

I would like to briefly summarize why each of these fails in the "ZOMGs! This is the GREATEST PAGAN MOVIE OF ALL TIME!!!!" category:

Agora - Everyone keeps talking about this as a pagan film, as a historical near-documentary of the loss of one of the biggest and best gatherings of pagan literature possibly ever assembled. The big fail here is that Hypatia, the main character, is an atheist. The movie paints the polytheistic Romans and the monotheistic Christians in equally terrible lights. Also, the film has been panned by many historians and experts as having taken pretty severe artistic license with just about every aspect of the film. In short, it is not a movie about the terrible Christians coming down and overturning the brilliant polytheistic pagan peoples of yore. It's a movie about two fanatical groups of people trying to wrench power from one another. This is as much about pagans as The Wizard of Oz is about the munchkins.
The Eagle - This movie is about a guy (the uber-sexy Channing Tatum) trying to restore his family's honor. This movie is actually about the same disappearing company of Roman soldiers as the film Centurion, just set later on in history. Yes, it's about ancient Romans, so, I suppose, it can be called a 'pagan' film. That, however, is like calling Elizabeth with Cate Blanchett a Christian film. Just because the protagonist's religious beliefs are polytheistic, doesn't mean the film is espousing any sort of pagan ideology. Partner and I actually very much enjoyed this film, but only because we tend to enjoy manly adventure movies in the vein of Braveheart, Robin Hood, and The Patriot.
Centurion - Again, this was about a group of Roman soldiers making a mad dash out of harm's way and back to safety. It's a chase movie. There's no magic. There's no espousing of religion. In fact, everyone involved is pagan in some kind of way. So, it's not even a "pagans are better than Christians" movie, like many on this list are spun to be (Agora, Black Death, etc.). There are evil pagans and good pagans and all sorts of different pagans. However, their beliefs and practices and anything even remotely about being pagan has absolutely NOTHING to do with this movie.
Percy Jackson & Harry Potter - I'd just like to say this: If you can wave your wand and make things fly through the air, if you can call your parent up and show off some water-manipulating powers, if you can do any of the things depicted in any of these movies, I will call them pagan movies. Until then, folks, it's fiction. It's fun. It's enjoyable. But, folks, it's fiction. If this is an example of paganism in Hollywood by dint of calling the protagonists witches, wizards, demigods, etc., then we need to have a sit down and figure out what version of nuts you are. This isn't real. It's fun. It's enjoyable! I love the books, too! I own Percy Jackson on BluRay! But, it's not pagan, because it has nothing to do with what actual neo-pagans do. At. All.
Immortals/Clash of the Titans/Thor - These quite possibly should have been lumped in with the Percy/Harry bullet point. The pagan community both loves these movies and hates these movies. The community is livid that they didn't get the history or the mythology or the characterizations correct. There seems to be a rapturous joy at seeing the names of old gods mentioned in a movie, but then there is this rage at seeing one of the Norse gods played by a black man, or the greek gods depicted as pitiless vampires feeding off human love, or Mickey Rourke. Like I said in the Percy/Harry point, this is fiction. It's a movie. It's a retelling of a story in a big budget, Hollywood way. I very much enjoyed these films, and I own two of the three of them. (And will own the third when it becomes available.)
Avatar - This is not a pagan film. It's cool. But, gosh...just see the above points. Or my review of Avatar. If you ever become a 10 foot tall blue person with a braid of hair that can plug into both plants and animals...then we'll talk.
Black Death - The final film in the pagan spin zone. This one actually seems to be loved for the same reasons as The Wicker Man. It's also bullshit for the same reason as the Wicker Man. The juggled spin is that this movie is about fanatical Christians coming to rape and pillage and destroy a peace-loving, herb-using, Celtic society helmed by a priestess/witch that is a noted healer and goodly woman. Oh, except, like The Wicker Man, this group of people would also like to kill every single Christian out there in as brutal a manner as is possible. Those that they offer salvation, if they will renounce Christianity and join their society that worships an "Unholy Trinity", are taken out back and killed, too. That's not exactly the idea I think we're going for.

If you're looking to Hollywood to portray your spiritual beliefs in an accurate, graceful, true manner, then you need to reevaluate your spirituality. You should be strong enough in your faith that you do not need Hollywood to tell you all about it. Get mad at the History or Biography channels for historically inaccurate information, as they are purporting to be historically accurate.

Many of these films have a "Christians agains Pagans" spin, that isn't actually upheld when you watch the movie. I have to wonder why we want to either a) appear to be simpering victims all the time or b) as maniacal Christian killers.

There's no moral to this story. I'm seriously confused here. I have no clue as to why we keep doing this to ourselves. Why do we keep touting these non-pagan films as pagan films? Why are we desperately seeking an accurate portrayal of paganism, and why do we keep trying to point to films like Agora, The Wicker Man, or Black Death as accurate? I would not want to be associated with any of the pagans in any of these films. They're violent. They're evil. They're mindless, unable to think and reason for themselves, and seem prone to cultish behavior.

So... Why, Rioters? Why do we keep spinning these movies as 'pagan'? Why do we want any of these films to represent us?

I ask you.

*Update* After re-reading this article, I'd like to add one more point: I'm not saying that you cannot get anything out of these movies. One of my favorite books on spirituality is Eat, Pray, Love. Cory of New World Witchery says the films of Hayao Miyazaki very much resemble his views of spirituality and the spirit world. Many people derive many positive things from pop culture. Just because watching parts of Avatar made my inner earth-worshipper feel all warm and fuzzy does not mean that the entire film is pagan, that James Cameron is pagan, or that any broad stroke you want to come up with about that movie or its creators is pagan.

Take something positive from these films, if you find something positive in them. Enjoy them. Hell, use parts of the philosophy to enhance your understanding of the divine if something clicks deeply with you, but...please understand that these are not "pagan" films that represent the pagan community. At least, not the pagan community as I understand it to be, or, possibly, as I hope it to be.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

The Spineless Book Club

2012-01-02T00:48:00.000-06:00

Rioters! As I recently mentioned, I'm helping to organize a book club in the Chicagoland area. I've had a wonderful response from many of you that said you wanted to either join as an online member or start your own local chapter. Right now, we'd really like for this to be a local group so that we can actually meet in person. Of course, if you'd like to start a local chapter of The Spineless Book Club, let me know!

I've set up a group page on Goodreads.com for The Spineless Book Club. If you'd like to join the local group, please feel free to sign up there! I'll be posting updates, events, photos, etc. on the Goodreads page.

The first meeting of The Spineless Book Club will be on February 5. We'd like to get it started on something like the 2nd Sunday of each month. This seems to be a pretty universally open date for most folks. We're not exactly sure at what location the meeting will take place, but I'll post that as soon as we get it figured out!

Hope to see you join the group! Remember, the first book is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and you have a little over a month to read it. Pick up your copy today - either a physical copy or a spineless one! - and get reading!

Here are the direct links to the Spineless Book Club group.

Goodreads (official page): http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/60864.Spineless_Book_Club

Facebook Page (Don't you want to like it?): http://www.facebook.com/SpinelessBookClub

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

And HELLOOOO 2012! (Some healthy tips for starting your Resolution)

2012-01-01T11:25:00.002-06:00

Well! Are you ready for the end of the world?! We've got less than 12 months before the world stop spinning...or whatever. Are you ready?

Yeah...me neither.

I hope you all had the safest and happiest of New Year's celebrations. Partner and I went to a wedding reception. It was a lot of fun, and, I must say, it was a decidedly great way to spend New Year's Eve! It didn't hurt that it was 5 minutes away from our house.

It's January 1, which means that the gyms are going to be crowded and sporting goods stores are going to be selling out of every gimmicky wellness gadget out there. If you want a little free, unsolicited advice, don't be one of those people. Most folks that start a weight loss resolution don't complete it. In fact, most resolutions don't make it until the end of January. Why? Well, probably because everyone is jumping in feet first without analyzing what it would take to actually make a change in their lives.

But, if you'd like a few health tips, here are some that work for me:

As soon as you wake up, before you eat breakfast, drink a glass of water. A full glass of water. This will keep you full, well-hydrated, and you'll knock out one of the 8 or so glasses of water you should be drinking a day.
Stay well hydrated throughout the day. I accidentally gave up sodas somewhere last February. I used to drink Mountain Dew as though it were necessary to continue breathing. Seriously, I'd go through one of those 24 packs in a week and a half at the most. Then, I started off my day with water, and kept reusable bottles of water in my work fridge and my car. No matter where I am, there it is. I don't know that I lost weight, but I wasn't relying on soda to give me energy or get me going. Coffee on the other hand... My one big cup a day definitely keeps me going.
Don't exercise if you're exhausted, but don't make excuses either. If you're exhausted, you're not doing your body any favors by working out. You're just wearing yourself out even more. Wait a day, until your schedule allows you a good 30-60 minutes where you can exercise. It actually doesn't take much time at all to get a good workout, if you just have a single-minded focus on doing it.
Get a music playing device. Listen to it when working out. I've gotten into the habit of listening to podcasts when I go to the gym, because most shows last at least an hour, which sort of helps me time my gym going. But, to start, make yourself a good playlist of fun music. This keeps your blood flowing, gives you a good beat to do your reps, and makes working out more fun.
Workout with someone else. You can get a trainer if you can afford it, but having a friend who also works out will keep you motivated. You'll actually find that you'll lift more and complete your workout faster when working with someone else. Also, having an extra set of eyes makes sure that you're working out properly. Just because you're lifting a weight, doesn't mean that you're doing it correctly. Improper form can hinder a workout worse than just about anything else. Lifting a weight properly means you probably won't need to lift anywhere near as heavy of a weight to get the desired result. 20 pounds properly lifted is more effective than 50 pounds with bad form.

Hope these tips help to start your New Year off right! What are YOUR tips & tricks for keeping a resolution? Do YOU make resolutions?

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Peace Out 2011!

2011-12-31T11:23:00.002-06:00

2011 was a good year in many respects. I had the same job for the entire year, and I only had 1 job for the entire year. I haven't had just one job that paid all of my bills in quite a few years. I'm used to working 2+ jobs or hopping from one job to the next following the money. This year was different, better, in fact, because I was able to find a bit of stability. Sure, sometimes the one job didn't quite make as many ends meet as I'd like, but Partner and I ended the year better than we have in some time. Thank Goddess for small blessings, right?

I began a few small projects this year, chief amongst them being putting my artwork out for all the world to see. I've been incredibly blessed that my paintings have been so well received. I thank each and every one of you that have purchased a piece of my art and put it up in your home. Whether it's an original or print, you've really enhanced my life by validating this side of my life. In gratitude, I'd like to extend a 10% off coupon to each of you. Enter Coupon Code Goodbye11 for an 11% discount on anything in the shop!

The Riot podcast has grown and expanded beyond anything I could have thought. We've had a number of authors, guest podcasters, Big Name Pagans, and the like joining in the Riot all year long. It's been incredible! I could not have furthered such a show without you.

Here on the blog, I am about to celebrate my third year! In just a few days, this here little blog will be 3 years old, and I will have been Fire Lyte for the same amount of time. I still find it pretty incredible that anybody reads this blog, and that it is discussed with the regularity that it is. Many of you have found this site through my articles on WitchVox or through mentions on other's podcasts or blogs. However you found this site I consider it a blessing, too, that you join me here for your nearly daily dose of Riot.

Being a blogger and podcaster has done a lot for me, adding to my own spiritual, educational, and personal journeys. It has forced me to delve deeper into my understanding of magic and the divine, and where I fit in the cosmic scheme.

There are a few changes coming up in 2012, but we'll talk about those in 2012. I realize some of you are wondering if the Riot is disappearing. It's not. So, without going any further, just know that I'm not canceling anything, neither the blog nor podcast. But, some things will be changing, in both very big and very small ways.

I'm not very big on resolutions, but I do have some goals. Most of them, in the New Year, are financial in nature. Pay things off. Save up a certain amount. That kind of thing. What are YOUR goals in 2012? Is there anything you'd like the Riot to do in 2012?

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

The Reading Riot (Calling All Chicagoland Book-lovers!)

2011-12-28T18:40:00.001-06:00

So I have this friend. She loves books. I love books. Also, we have crazy schedules. We decided that 2012 was going to be the year we began a book club. Don't ask me why. I tend to like to make official organizations and important sounding names, possibly because I was some sort of PR guy or bureaucrat in a past life ~~and now I realize why people hate me so much~~. (Project Buy Laundry Detergent wasn't one of my finer moments.)

Here goes... Announcing the New Official Chicagoland Tangentially Riot-Related Book Club! ~~One of the first things we're doing is coming up with a better name.~~ For a while with the blog and podcast I did an online sort of book club with big dreams of doing a roundtable discussion every few months. Yeah...that didn't happen. I read the books, and I posted reviews, but the online book club just didn't work. So, I'm organizing a flesh and blood book club.

If you're in the Chicagoland area - or you can get to the Chicagoland area once a month or once every 6 weeks or so - and you also happen to love books, you are cordially invited to our new, as yet unnamed, book club. Selections will range from fantasy to the intellectual to non-fiction to poetry to a whole host of whatever we feel like reading at the time. I know for a fact, however, that the first book is...

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

We plan on getting our copies and beginning the reading of said book club selection on January 1st. Sometime in January we'll announce the location of our first official book club meeting, at which time we will decide how often we want to meet, which I'm sure will depend on the book. Though, I'd love your ideas! If you're interested, leave a comment below with your contact information, or email me directly at FireLyte@incitingariot.com.

Have YOU ever been in a book club? What are your Tips & Tricks for running a well-organized, fun, productive book club? Would YOU be interested in podcast episodes centered on the books we discuss? Are YOU going to be part of the Riot Book Club?

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Real Life Fairy Tale Home

2011-12-26T22:58:00.003-06:00

I am still digesting the panful of cinnamon rolls I digested Christmas morning...and the plate of gingerbread cookies I ate the day after Christmas. And the bag of cheesy popcorn I devoured whilst watching movies. And the mac 'n cheese. I'm still in holiday bliss mode. Thus, I thought this was a wonderful way to begin the week.

That is someone's real home. No, I'm not kidding. This home belongs to a man named Simon Dale who built it for his family of 4. Also, he built the entire house in 4 months. Now, you might think, Ok...he built a dirt mound in 4 months. Big deal. Wait til you see what it looks like inside.

Now, how much would you pay for a home like this? A home made with a single man's two hands, using recycled, green materials...? His cost? $4,700.

I'm not kidding. $4,700.

Some key points of the design and construction:

Dug into hillside for low visual impact and shelter
Stone and mud from diggings used for retaining walls, foundations etc.
Frame of oak thinnings (spare wood) from surrounding woodland
Reciprocal roof rafters are structurally and aesthaetically fantastic and very easy to do
Straw bales in floor, walls and roof for super-insulation and easy building
Plastic sheet and mud/turf roof for low impact and ease
Lime plaster on walls is breathable and low energy to manufacture (compared to cement)
Reclaimed (scrap) wood for floors and fittings
Anything you could possibly want is in a rubbish pile somewhere (windows, burner, plumbing, wiring...)
Woodburner for heating - renewable and locally plentiful
Flue goes through big stone/plaster lump to retain and slowly release heat
Fridge is cooled by air coming underground through foundations
Skylight in roof lets in natural feeling light
Solar panels for lighting, music and computing
Water by gravity from nearby spring
Compost toilet
Roof water collects in pond for garden etc.

Now, the Dale family has since moved on - apparently this house was built a few years ago - but he is nearing completion on their new home. It looks a little something like this:

This is simply one of the most beautiful homes I've ever seen. It's also completely green. A marriage of modern thinking and construction from days gone by. People talk about how homes these days go up and last for a few decades before they need to come down. But, somehow, there are still buildings, homes, etc. from hundreds of years ago that are still usable today, if not for some minor upkeep. Why is that?

Now, I have neither the resources nor the know-how to build a home like this. But, if I had the opportunity, you bet I'd pay the $4,700 or the $47,000 for a home like this.

Either way, isn't it just pretty to look at?

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

The Djinnjerbread Man

2011-12-21T12:38:00.002-06:00

The Djinnjerbread Man is a story I've written especially for this holiday season. It's featured on Episode 65 of Inciting A Riot: the Podcast. Below is the full text of the story.

Joyous Yule to you and yours!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Once, a very long time ago in the court of Queen Elizabeth I, there was a vast kitchen made of cobbled stone and filled with beautiful wooden tables and shiny tools. It is important to note the kitchen first in this story, because the Queen loved to eat. Royalty from around the world would come to the festivals put on at the court of Elizabeth, and her famous chefs never disappointed. And while Pierre the Royal Roaster and Antonio the Royal Sauce Maker would get much of the praise from the guests, the Queen’s favorite food came from neither of them.

The Queen’s favorite food came from a man named Helmut. He was the Royal Baker and a very gifted one at that. Helmut had a son named Fritz, who wanted nothing more than to become the next Royal Baker. And, he was well on his way, too, except for the little problem of his father not allowing him to help in the baker’s kitchen. It never stopped Fritz, though, as he would go in after all the cooks and chefs and bakers were through with their day’s work and practice his baking from the recipe books conveniently left on the counter.

In the late summer, when Fritz was 10 years old, a great caravan arrived at the palace bringing the Grand High Emperor of Indasia to meet the Queen. He brought along his jugglers and fire breathers and an array of beautiful princesses and handsome princes. Fritz was amazed, even though he wasn’t allowed to meet them. He stared at them out of a window, watching them set up their temporary castle of tents. Of course, this meant that the cooks were working overtime in the kitchens and that his father, Helmut, had to bake up his most special goodies for the guests and royals.

The Grand High Emperor of Indasia’s court stayed for days, showing off the wonders of the part of the world the mapmakers dared not draw. There were court jesters who could turn invisible and women who called up spirits with their singing just to dance with them. But the greatest of all was the Grand High Emperor’s Royally Appointed Wizard. The magic he could do put all of the rest of the wonders to shame. He could call up storms and also calm them down. He could turn one thing into another, make people fall in love, and there were rumors he could raise the dead. Though, nobody saw him do it. Fritz loved watching him most of all, in between chores and helping around the castle of course.

Toward the end of the Emperor’s visit, Pierre the Roaster and Antonio the Sauce Maker were not having the best of days. Each of their dishes was striking out with the guests. The appetizers weren’t appetizing. The soups were bland, and the chicken…well, we shouldn’t even discuss the chicken. The whole meal was riding on Fritz’s father to prepare an extraordinary dessert.

He had mixing bowls and sheets of dough rolled out, and he was pacing back and forth trying to figure out just how to put the whole thing together. As he paced out of the room, Fritz peeked his head around the corner. Wanting to help his father, he sniffed the bowls and poked his finger into the mixture. Tasting it he thought to himself, Hmm… Something’s missing. He looked around at the small bowls of herbs from the Royal Garden. He picked a familiar herb, ground it up a bit, and put a few small pinches into the large mixing bowl and gave it a stir.

Luckily for everyone in the household - especially Pierre and Antonio - the dessert was a hit. The pastries were delicious. The puffs were filled with fluffy creams and the cookies had the perfect amount of chocolate. The best of all, however, was the cake that Helmut had made 5 tiers high. With buttercream frosting and moist chocolate cake, it was the most wonderful treat the guests had ever eaten. The Grand High Emperor was quite pleased and rubbed his belly. He nodded his approval to the Queen and raised his glass towards the kitchen with the rest of the table following suit.

Later that night, after the going away party had ended and the caravan was just finishing loading, Helmut and Fritz heard a knock at their apartment door. Grumbling, Helmut lumbered to the door and opened it then gasped and bowed immediately.

“Hello, Good Sir!” said the Queen, who never appeared at the door of a cook, or anywhere near the kitchens for that matter.

“Hullo, m’Lady,” said Helmut with his head lowered.

“I was hoping I could extend my gratitude to you for the marvelous dish you prepared this evening. Without you my party would have been a dismal failure.”

“Oh! Mum, you are most gracious in your thanks, but really I love to bake. It was my pleasure.”

“Do stand up, sir. Nobody is here, and we don’t have to do all that silly Queen/servant stuff.”

“Thank you, mum,” said Helmut, kissing the Queen’s outstretched hand and standing.

“By the way, is your son here? He has a visitor.”

“Yes, mum,” Helmut said. He quickly walked to the 2^nd room of their two-room apartment and told Fritz he had a royal visitor.

The boy didn’t know what to do. He’d never been allowed to meet any of the Dukes or Lords, let alone the Queen. This was a very special visit, and he needed to look his very best. Fritz had one good shirt that had three shiny buttons and large cuffs around his wrists. He put it on, tucked it into his pants, and smoothed his hair. Walking to the front door, the Queen smiled at him.

“What a lovely child!” she exclaimed.

Fritz stood politely and took the Queen’s outstretched hand, giving his best greeting. Then, into the doorway came a man, tall and thin. He stepped into the room and immediately frightened poor Fritz. He was dark-skinned with a scraggly beard and long robes bedecked with jewels the color of oceans and balefire and forest moss.

“Hello, young lad,” said the strange man.

“This is the Grand High Emperor’s Royally Appointed Great Wizard. He wanted to speak to Fritz,” the Queen said, smiling. Helmut looked a bit confused, but gracious that the Queen was visiting his little apartment. Fritz bowed to the tall man.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Great Wizard,” said Fritz.

“Well,” said the Queen. “I really must be going. I’ll leave you all. Thank you so much again.”

Helmut replied, “It was my great pleasure and honor, my Lady.”

“By the way,” she said. “What was that marvelous taste in the cake?”

“What do you mean?” asked Helmut. “It was my finest chocolate cake with buttercream frosting.”

“Yes, and it’s always delicious, but there was something different this time. Whatever it was, keep it up. Simply marvelous!”

And, leaving Helmut rather puzzled, the Queen whisked herself off to her large Royal Bed in the Royal Apartment in the Royal section of the castle. Helmut went off to bed leaving Fritz alone with the Great Wizard.

“I just wanted to say thank you for your quick thinking and ingenuity,” said the Wizard.

“My what?” asked Fritz, quite taken aback.

“Your secret ingredient that you added to the cake. It truly was delicious and very thoughtful of you. Such a kind young boy to help out his father like that.”

Suddenly Fritz was blushing and said, “How did you know?”

“Oh, a Wizard has his ways,” said the Wizard winking, which put an ear-to-ear grin on the boy’s face. “The caravan is taking us all back within the hour, but I wanted to leave you a present. I hope you enjoy it. He’s been in my Wizarding family as far as anybody can remember, but I think you might just need him soon enough.”

“Him?”

The Great Wizard of Indasia handed Fritz a brightly colored package with a gold bow on it. The tall man then left in a swirl of robes with the boy marveling at his new present. He slowly walked back to the doorway of the second room in their apartment to see if his father was still awake, but didn’t need to peek in as he could hear the snoring from the outer room. So, Fritz tiptoed his way down the hall and into the baker’s kitchen.

Unwrapping his present with fury and glee - Fritz did not typically receive presents, you see, especially from Royal Appointees - he was surprised to find a small brown box tied with string and fixed with a bronze seal. The metal was embossed with strange markings and seemed to Fritz to shine a little more than the light should have allowed. Carefully, the boy popped open the seal and pealed apart the paper. Inside the box was something he never expected.

A cookie. A dull, brown cookie. It didn’t look very tasty; it didn’t even have any chocolate in it! The boy dropped on to the chopping block table top next to some of the day’s leftover baked goods: crusty breads, flattened pastries with jams and fruits on top, and a few sweets that had been passed over throughout the day.

Staring at the cookie, Fritz became a little disenchanted with the whole business of being in the Royal Household. Sure, it beat being out on the street or in a run-down shack in the village below, but since his mother died nobody ever really paid him any attention. And, the one time he was actually singled out for reward, he was given an ugly brown cookie. Probably burnt or leftover from the Royal Goodybags.

“Just once,” he said, “I’d like someone to play with me, to be my friend.”

Just as Fritz was sliding away from the table, glum and despondent, he heard a voice.

“Hey you!” said the voice. “What did you say?”

The boy whirled around, scared that he was going to be caught by one of the Royal Guards where he wasn’t supposed to be, especially past his bedtime. But, Fritz didn’t see anybody. Thanking his lucky stars, he turned around and headed for his bed in the adjacent apartment.

“I’m talking to you, and you’re being very rude by ignoring me,” said the voice. This time Fritz definitely knew this was not one of the guards.

“Who’s there?” asked Fritz, quite afraid.

“I should be asking you the same question!” exclaimed the voice. “You’re the one who dumped me out on this table and set about ignoring me.”

“Well, I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t know what you’re talking about I’m sure.”

“Oh really? Then why does my bum hurt from being dropped a whole 8 inches? Hm?!”

Fritz slowly made his way back to the counter, and there, right where the cookie had been, was a little brown creature about 4 inches tall. He had two tiny little horns and was slightly chubby. He was the color of red mud and was naked except for a little cloth hung round his waist.

“So,” the tiny creature began, “as I was saying, who are you, and what were you saying before you walked away?”

“Forgive me,” said Fritz. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I didn’t see you, nor do I remember dropping you. But, my name is Fritz, tiny sir.”

“Hmph. Tiny my red bum! Better watch what you say. You don’t know just how big I can get.”

“Well, sir, I’m sure I’ll be more careful in the future. If I might ask, what are you? Are you some sort of brownie or, perhaps, a pixie?”

“First things first, what was that question you were asking earlier?”

“Oh, I was just wishing for someone to play with me. I didn’t mean to bother you if I was too loud or prattling on. I’m told I do that.”

“By whom?”

“My father and the other cooks.”

“Well, don’t worry, kid. You didn’t bother me. Now, to answer your question: I’m a djinn. I’m actually from a long line of Wisher Djinns back home in Indasia.”

“What’s a djinn? Is that like a brownie or leprechaun or something?”

“Nothing of the sort! We djinn don’t dare compare ourselves to such dirty little Mushroom Hoppers.” The way the djinn said this sounded like Mushroom Hopper was not a very good thing to be at all.

“My name’s Fritz,” said Fritz. “What’s yours?”

“Oh my name’s changed so often over the years, I don’t quite remember. But, my friends call me Jer. Jer the Djinn.”

“Jerry the Genie! How--”

“NOT A GENIE! I don’t parade around in silk and call people master and bob my head up and down. I’m a djinn, pronounced like ‘gin’. Get it right if you want your wishes.”

“Wishes! I get wishes?”

“Yeah, a few of ‘em.”

“How many wishes can I have?”

“Oh… I don’t know. I’ll tell you when I’m done giving them to you.”

“But I thought…”

“Remember, kid, I’m not a genie. I’m a djinn! There’s a difference. I can come and go as I please. I’m doing this as a favor to you. We’re gonna be good buddies. The Wizard told me so, and I’ve learned to trust him over the years.”

“You’re friends with the Wizard?”

“Yep, taught him everything he knows.”

“Well, Jer, do you want to come back to my room? It’s past my bedtime, and I’m very sleepy.”

“Nah, kid. I’m staying right here. I like being in kitchens. They have the best food.”

And with that, Fritz went back to bed. You might be wondering why the sudden transformation of a cookie into a djinn wouldn’t cause alarm in young Fritz. That question is easily answered, because, as everyone knows, children see faeries and sprites and brownies everywhere. It is only when they are older that they are taught they are not real. This was hardly the first member of the faery folk Fritz had ever seen.

The next day Fritz awoke a little earlier than usual, with the sun shining a bit brighter than usual. It seemed to the young boy that good things might be coming, but you would feel the same way if you had just met a magical djinn down in the kitchens. Luckily for the little boy, it was the weekend, which meant that he was allowed to have most of the day off to play once he got the morning chores done. The Queen was nothing if not kind to her castle staff, and she knew that a happy staff made for a happy castle.

Fritz rushed through his morning chores, taking water to the kitchens and stoking the fires in a few of the Queen’s Royal Hanging Out Rooms. These rooms were where the Queen and her friends would spend hours drawing or knitting or talking about boys, at least that is what Fritz assumed. His chores were cut even shorter than was normal on the weekend, because there were no vegetables to be brought in. It had not rained much all summer, and the castle’s gardens were pretty sparse. So, he went straight to the baker’s kitchen to find Jer.

The kitchen was empty, as it was still a few hours before dinner had to get started. He went straight to the table where he’d laid the cookie the night before, but could find neither the djinn nor the cookie. He began to look all over, becoming worried for the first time that the whole experience might have been a dream. Finally, as he was just about to give up, he heard a voice.

“Hey, pal!” exclaimed the voice of Jer the Djinn.

“Jerry? Is that you? Where are you?” called Fritz, unable to figure out where the voice had come from.

“Over here!”

Fritz swirled around, still unable to find the source of the voice.

“Where?” asked Fritz.

“Next to the oranges. I was hiding from that guy that makes the sauces. He smelled like garlic, and I can’t stand that stench.”

“Oh…” said Fritz, walking over to the bowl of oranges. “Is that because djinn are afraid of garlic?”

“No,” said the still invisible Jer. “It’s because it stinks!”

Fritz laughed. Suddenly, the little red djinn appeared out of thin air!

“There you are!” exclaimed Fritz. “How do you disappear like that?”

“Oh, it’s easy,” said Jer. “That’s an old trick I learned from a banshee when the Grand Wizard took me to Ireland a few years back. You could do it, too. Do you have any spare baby teeth? They’re part of the spell.”

“Baby teeth?” asked Fritz. “No, I don’t have any baby teeth.”

“Pity. Without baby teeth, it’s almost impossible to turn invisible.”

“Oh well. So! What should we do today?”

“Whatever you want. But, first, I’m a little hungry. You got any vegetable soup around here?”

“No, Mr. Djinn, we sure don’t. Perhaps you’d like some of the leftover pastries instead?”

“Yuck. No. And call me Jer, won’t you? Do you have any lettuce or anything for a salad? I’m getting a little bit rounder than usual and could use a lite meal.”

“Sorry, Jer. We haven’t had many vegetables at all lately. It’s been so dry this summer, you see, and the garden hasn’t produce much at all. If not for the surrounding kingdoms, we would only have bread and meat.”

“Really? That’s no good. I’m trying to slim down to impress this field nymph I met a while back. Can’t go skipping through a field when your belly is so big you can’t see your feet.”

“That could be a problem. I wish it would rain, too, because it’s nearly time to pick the last of the summer berries. Without rain, they won’t get ripe enough, and we won’t have strawberry cake or blackberry pie or blueberry pancakes!”

Jer the djinn licked his lips and rubbed his belly. “You wish that, eh?”

“Yeah,” said Fritz, day dreaming of all the ways one could eat berries.

“Wish granted, then!”

“What?” asked Fritz, coming back to reality. “What wish?”

“The wish for some rain! But you’ll have to help me.”

“How can I help you make it rain?”

“Well, I’m gonna need a few things. First, I need a teacup and some water.”

“Okay!”

Fritz ran to the cupboard and took out a teacup, filling it with water from the sink’s pump. “Now what?”

“Next, you’ll need to add some sea salt.”

Fritz grabbed the canister of sea salt and sprinkled a healthy portion into the teacup.

“Finally,” said Jer, “you’ll want to pick it up and give it a good swirl.”

Fritz picked up the teacup in both hands and started swirling it around.

“Like this?” Fritz asked.

“Yeah, but a little more. We need a good solid rain,” Jer answered.

“Like this?” asked Fritz, swirling the cup even more until some of the salt water began sloshing over the edges.

“Whoa there, buddy,” said Jer, rushing over to the teacup. “Not quite that hard. We don’t want to flood the place.” The little djinn put his little hands on Fritz’s and showed him the proper level of swirl necessary. “Now keep it like this while I do my thing.”

The little djinn raised his hands over the teacup, mumbling in a language Fritz could not understand. After a few moments of this, Fritz thought he could hear thunderclouds rumbling in the distance.

“Now,” said Jer in a hushed tone “take the cup to the window and throw the water into the breeze.”

“When?”

“Now! Go now!”

“Okay!” said Fritz excitedly. He scampered to the kitchen window overlooking the gardens and tossed the salt water into the air. “What happens now?”

“Just you wait.”

Fritz and Jer sat next to the window, looking at the clouds. They were white. They were fluffy. But, they weren’t pouring any rain. The pair waited…and waited…and waited…until finally it was time for the cooks to prepare dinner. Fritz waved goodbye to the little mud red djinn, who instantly disappeared behind a copper pot, and went off to his room.

Helmut brought up Fritz’s dinner shortly and went back down to the kitchen to finish the evening’s dessert. Fritz sat pushing his food around on his plate, until he heard a sound in the distance. A sparkle of glee came to his eyes as he saw big gray clouds moving in on a moist breeze. By the time the Royal Court was finishing their honey tarts in the Royal Dining Hall, there was a full out summer rainstorm pouring its much needed water into the castle grounds.

Fritz jumped up and waved his arms, cheering and dancing. Jer had done it! He had actually done it! Not that Fritz had ever truly doubted the djinn. Sure, it had taken all day, but there it was! He’d helped make it rain, and now he would get to have strawberry cake and blackberry pie and blueberry pancakes! He made a mental note to make sure Jer got a big bowl of the first batch of vegetable soup.

The summer storm turned into gentle summer rains that came and went throughout the next several weeks. The castle’s garden produced so much food, that the castle was able to help feed the villages in the surrounding area, and help to pay back the surrounding kingdoms for the food they had supplied. Everyone was happy, especially Jer, who finally got his vegetable soup. The djinn and Fritz became fast friends. At every available moment, the two met in the kitchen to play games, talk about what was going on in the kingdom, and sneak bites of leftover sweets whenever possible. Jer knew all the best castle secrets, because he could wander around completely unseen by the courtiers.

Soon it was fall in the court of Elizabeth I, and a new cook had been added to the kitchen staff just in time for the harvest festival. A lovely young woman named Regina had joined the baker’s kitchen as help for Helmut, the chief baker. The castle was decorated with hay bales and beautiful garlands of fall leaves and dried berries. Pumpkins and gourds poured out of cornucopias on the center of every table in the castle. Everyone was very merry with preparations for the Hallow’s Ever Masquerade, an annual event put on by the Queen. Even the staff was allowed to dress up for the occasion. The whole castle was buzzing with happiness. Everyone, that is, except for Helmut.

Fritz, noticing his father’s lackluster mood, asked, “Papa, is everything all right?”

“Hmm…?” replied Helmut, staring out of their apartment’s window listlessly.

“Papa?” asked Fritz again. “Papa, you don’t seem to be very excited about the Masquerade. Are you feeling well?”

Coming out of his daze, Helmut responded, “Oh, my Fritz, don’t you worry about me. Of course I am happy about the Masquerade. I just get a bit sad this time of year.”

“How come, Papa?”

“It was about this time of year, when you were very little, that your mother passed. Each year, this festival always reminds me of her. I miss her so much, but I am happy to have you! Don’t worry about your old pa. I’ll be just fine. Run on down to the kitchen. I left some of the raspberry tarts on the counter that you like. I’m going to take a little nap.”

Fritz left his father and went to the kitchen where he found Jer munching on one of the raspberry tarts.

“Hiya Jerry!” said Fritz.

“Hey there, Fritzy.” said Jer, who had come to accept being called Jerry. “What’s up? You look a little blue.”

“I had too many pancakes this morning.”

“No, I mean you look sad. But, you could stand to wash your face after eating those pancakes.”

Fritz wiped his mouth across his sleeve. “It’s nothing. It’s just Papa. He’s always sad this time of year, because that’s when my mother died.”

“That’s rough, friend. Losing someone you love is never an easy thing, but this time of year is when we remember those we’ve lost, honor their lives and think good thoughts about them.”

“I know, and I’m not sad, but I just wish Papa could fall in love again. I am always sad to see him look so lonely, and I wouldn’t mind a new mother, someone who would mend my clothes and tuck me in and give me big warm hugs.”

“You wish that, do ya?” Jer had a familiar gleam in his eyes.

“Of course!” Fritz got excited. “What did you have in mind?”

“I’ll need your help again…”

Fritz became incredibly excited. “What can I do? Am I going to get a mother? Really?! What are we gonna do, Jerry?”

“Calm down, buddy. We’re going to make some cookies.”

“Cookies? That doesn’t make any sense. How are cookies going to get me a mother?”

“Just you wait and leave that up to me.”

Jer began reciting ingredients to Fritz who took them down from shelves and out of cabinets and lined them up on the counter. The djinn wiggled his fingers, and the mixing bowls danced out of their hiding places and came to rest on the countertop. Fritz stoked the oven, and the boy and the djinn then began mixing and singing and making a right mess of the kitchen.

“But, we must put one final ingredient in before these can go into the oven,” announced Jer the djinn.

“What’s that?” asked Fritz.

Jer pulled out a bag with a very familiar smell, and Fritz looked confused. “But, why that? We don’t put that in cookies.”

“Trust me,” said the mud red djinn, “this batch will work like a charm.”

With that, the little bag’s contents were dumped into the mixing bowl, and the dough was formed into balls, which went into the oven. After a few minutes, they had a dozen flat, brown cookies. Fritz recognized the cookies as being the same kind as the one the Grand Wizard of Indasia had given him.

“These look pretty familiar,” said Fritz with an accusatory look on his face.

Jer looked innocently at the boy, “Just an old family recipe. Trust me. Your papa is going to love them.”

“So, do we give them to Papa?” Fritz started gathering the cookies into a cloth to take to his father.

“Yes, but not all of them. You take half, and I’ll take care of the other half dozen.”

“Ok. You’re not going to eat them, are you?”

“Me? I would never.” Fritz gave the djinn a knowing look. “Fine. I promise. I won’t eat any of the cookies. Now, run back to your dad, and make sure he eats all of them before tonight.”

Fritz did as he was told. His father, surprisingly, loved the cookies. He ate them all almost immediately. Fritz looked on with excitement, and wondered, fleetingly, why his father had not asked him where the cookies had come from. But, he knew not to question the work of his djinn friend. Fritz and his father began preparing for the masquerade ball, and the boy noticed his father’s mood improving dramatically.

“Oh, ha ha ha!” exclaimed Helmut. “It’s going to be a wonderful celebration tonight! Aren’t you excited, Fritz? Can’t you just smell the fun in the air?”

Fritz had the idea that the cookies might have had some spoiled ingredients, and he rolled his eyes at his father’s sudden joviality. He could not deny, however, that this was a definite improvement. Fritz had dressed up as a horse and Helmut wore the mask of an old sea god, complete with broomstick trident. Just as the chief baker was ready to head down to the kitchens to help prepare the feast, there was a knock at the door. Fritz went to open it and was shocked by what he saw.

“Well, hello there, little sir,” said Regina, the newest addition to the baking staff. “Is your papa still here?”

“Yes, miss. He certainly is. May I show you inside?”

“Why thank you! You are too kind.”

Regina was also dressed as an old sea goddess, carrying a conch shell and wearing gold threads in her braided hair. When Helmut came into the room, he stopped in his tracks and stared at Regina. His mouth was agape until Fritz cleared his throat, waking him from his daze.

“Hello, miss…ma’am,” started Helmut. “So pleased to see you. Here. In my -- er…our -- home. How can I help you?” Fritz’s father was obviously blushing, which made Fritz’s stomach jump with excitement. Jer seemed to have come through again!

“I wanted to say thank you,” said Regina.

“Thank you?” asked Helmut, obviously puzzled. “For what?”

“For the beautiful package of cookies you left on my doorstep. They were just delicious! What do you call them? I’ve never tasted anything like them!”

“Cookies? What…what do you mean?” asked Helmut, though his voice did not sound as though he much cared, as he was too busy being enamored by how lovely Regina looked in the fall dusk light.

“The package…on my…doorstep…?” Regina trailed off. Fritz noticed Helmut and Regina looking at one another, seemingly forgetting the conversation about the cookies.

“Miss Regina, may I escort you to the kitchens for the Masquerade?”

Fritz smiled, knowing that Jer had pulled through for him again. At least, it seemed that way. The Masquerade was beautiful, and Helmut and Regina, you guessed it, fell immediately and deeply in love. As the fall began to turn to winter, Fritz and Jer would watch from the kitchen windows as Helmut and Regina took long walks in the Royal Apple Orchard and held one another watching the sunset. The baker’s kitchen became a place of life like it had not been in years. The two adults were like children, falling in love in a playful, innocent way.

Fritz and Jer reaped the benefits of this new union, too, as Regina kept Helmut’s son stocked with apple tarts, chocolate cookies, and pumpkin pie, which Fritz shared with the djinn who had made all of this possible. The first snow fell, and everyone’s eyes turned to the upcoming Yuletide festivities. The decorations around the castle were changed from pumpkins and leaves to holly and mistletoe. Everyone had a holiday to look forward to, including Jer the Djinn.

Jer and Fritz had to part for the first time since the summer, because the djinn had to be in attendance at the faery court for the Solstice Celebration. Unfortunately, about his time a terrible illness had begun sweeping the villages below the castle. The cold of winter was more bitter than most had remembered it being in half a generation, and it creeped its way into people’s lungs. Fritz and Regina were deeply distraught when Helmut, too, came down with the coughing illness. Regina had to pull double duty in order to keep the baker’s kitchen running during the one time of year where butter, sugary treats are the most requested food group. Fritz, though, could do very little except keep his father warm and bring him chicken soup and watch as he got worse.

“How is he?” asked Regina during one of her multitude of daily trips up to the apartment of Fritz and Helmut.

“He’s still sick, but he always likes it when you bring him soup,” said Fritz, trying to make Regina feel better.

“That’s sweet, but he is always asleep, Fritz. How could he know I’m here?” She put her arms around the young boy and held him close.

“Because, when you come, he stops shivering and seems to smile in his sleep.”

Regina smiled, kissed Fritz on the forehead, and went back down to the kitchens. He was so happy to have Regina, because it gave him someone to talk to. He hadn’t seen Jer in weeks, and he was beginning to get scared that his father would never get better. Sitting at the window one day, after helping with the morning chores and making sure his father was comfortable, Fritz decided he would go back down to the kitchens, just in case the djinn had returned.

The boy peeked around the corner of the baker’s kitchen, making sure the coast was clear, and then he went inside.

“Hullo? Jerry?” called Fritz. “Jerrrry! You can come out now. Jerry? Are you back, yet?”

No answer. He had come down here every day since his friend had gone to the faery court, hoping for the djinn’s return.

“Jerry? Please come back. I need a friend. Papa is so sick, and I don’t know if he’s going to get better. Jerry, please, I wish you would come back!”

Fritz had begun to cry. He was strong for a boy so young, and he had been able to put on a brave face for his father, but the emotions were too much for him now. Sniffling, he turned to leave the kitchen and go back upstairs. Then, he heard a familiar voice.

“Granted,” came the voice of Jer the Djinn.

Fritz whirled around to see his mud red little friend appear on the countertop, but something was very different about him. He was all dressed up in a proper coat with shiny buttons and polished boots. Even his stubby horns looked extra polished. For the first time since his father had gotten sick, Fritz smiled. Then he laughed. Then he doubled over, pointing at the djinn and laughed until tears came to his eyes.

“What?” asked Jer. “You don’t like the new get up? I thought it was quite nice, given the season.”

“You…gasp…just look…giggle…so different,” said Fritz, calming down.

“Well, this time of year is pretty special for my folk, so we like to look nice.”

“Sorry I laughed. You do look nice. Respectable, even.”

“Now don’t go using words like ‘respectable’ with me, little Fritzy. I’m still the same ol’ djinn.” With a snap of his fingers, Jer caused a sack of flour to burst in Fritz’s face. The two laughed again, and laughed even harder when Fritz splashed water from the mop bucket onto Jer.

They were having a pretty good time messing the kitchen up when all of a sudden they heard, “Fritz! What. Is. Going. On. Here?!”

Turning around, slowly, Fritz saw the figure of Regina standing in the doorway. Jer had been caught by surprise and had not had time to disappear before the woman saw him and screamed.

“What is that?” cried Regina.

“What? Who? Where?” asked Fritz, trying to grasp onto the illusion of innocence.

“That…that thing over there. The little brown devil!”

“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” said Jer the Djinn. “I’m Jer. I’m a Djinn. You can call me Jerry if you want. Fritz does.”

“Wh-what? Huh?” Regina looked confused and like she was about to faint.

“He’s my friend!” said Fritz, as though that made perfect sense and everyone had a djinn as a friend. “We met during the summer, and we play together here in the kitchens every day.”

Coming to her senses, Regina took a moment to breathe and assess the situation. She eyed the little boy and the littler djinn for a long minute. Then, she looked the djinn in the eyes and said, “Do you mean anyone in this castle any harm? If my mother was right, djinn cannot lie if asked a direct question.”

“No, miss,” said Jer with a little bow. “I mean no one in this castle any harm.”

“And are you a true friend to Fritz and his family?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Fritz smiled at the reply.

“Good. Then I trust you, but we have to do something about this mess. Can you help with that?”

“Of course, miss,” said Jer, snapping his fingers. The kitchen was instantly put back in order. The look of cool that Regina had worn began to turn back to worry.

“Now, Fritz, I came to bring you back up to your apartment. Your father seems to have taken a turn for the worse. The castle physician is in there now with him, but I think we should go as quickly as possible.”

Fritz gave a quick glance to Jer and took off like a bolt towards the stairs leading to the staff apartments. He took them as fast as his legs would carry him. He beat Regina there by a full minute and burst into the front door of the home he shared with his father. Helmut was on his bed with the physician standing over him looking grave.

“I’m sorry,” said the physician. “There isn’t anything else I can do.”

Fritz burst into tears and ran to his father’s bedside. Helmut’s eyes opened just a crack, and he turned his head to look at his son. The boy’s father smiled weekly and put his hand on Fritz’s. Then, he closed his eyes again and his face fell lax. The boy and the woman were beside themselves, sobbing into one another’s arms. The physician left the family alone, seeing himself out. Then, out of mid-air, Jer appeared, and he was chewing on something, a familiar herb with a familiar smell.

Fritz and Regina stopped sobbing and looked at the little mud red djinn standing on top of Helmut.

“What are you doing?” asked Fritz, wiping his nose. But, the djinn just sat there chewing, his eyes closed as if in deep meditation.

“What’s that he’s chewing on?” asked Regina. Taking a closer look she said, “Why, that’s ginger! Whatever is he doing?”

Then, Jer the Djinn, looking as nice and respectable as he ever had, opened up Helmut’s shirt and spit right on the man’s chest.

“Gross!” cried Fritz. “What are you doing to him?!”

“Just wait…” said Regina, watching intently.

The djinn began to chant in that same strange language Fritz had heard many times before. Jer put his hands over Helmut’s chest, continuing the chant. Regina bowed her head in prayer, asking that her beloved be healed of his illness. Fritz just watched his friend trying to heal his father. Under his breath, so quiet you wouldn’t have heard it, he said, “I wish my father was healthy.”

Jer stopped chanting. Regina stopped praying. Everyone opened their eyes and stared in awe as Helmut began to cough. He sputtered and he fidgeted, and then he opened his eyes. He didn’t crack them open; he opened them all the way. The look in his eyes told the family everything they needed to know. He was well.

Everyone rejoiced. The three embraced, as tears rolled down Regina’s cheeks. She and Helmut kissed and Fritz hugged his father tight. The three had become so caught up in their happiness, they had forgotten about Jer. That is, until Helmut looked at the foot of his bed and saw the little djinn, all dressed up in his finest. Before he could get ask, Regina and Fritz explained all about the djinn and how he had brought Helmut seemingly back to life.

Jer the Djinn was welcomed into the family. Of course, Regina and Helmut got married at Yuletide, with the entire kitchen staff contributing to the feast. Queen Elizabeth herself even made an appearance, allowing her favorite baker to use her grand hall for the joyous occasion.

Time passed, and Fritz became a big brother as Helmut and Regina welcomed a new baby into the family. Eventually, Fritz left the castle and opened his own bakery in the village below the castle. It became famous for having the most delicious treats in all the known lands. The first Yuletide his bakery was open, he put a special treat in the window. One by one, villagers came to sample his new treat. It was so delicious, and nobody had ever had anything like it before. Soon, other villagers from other villages and towns were coming to order a dozen, three dozen, a dozen dozen of his marvelous new treat.

Even the Queen heard of his new treat and paid a special visit to Fritz’s bakery. She brought along Helmut and Regina to see their son. Elizabeth eyed the selection on the racks of desserts and selected one of the baked goods from the window. It was flat and brown and shaped like a little man with a jacket and boots made of frosting with nuts as buttons and candy eyes. The Queen bit into the cookie and closed her eyes with please.

“This is the most delicious thing I have ever tasted,” said the Queen. “Whatever do you call it?”

“Thank you, mum,” replied Fritz, beaming with pride. “I call it a Djinnjerbread Man.”

“A Gingerbread Man, you say? Why, is that the flavor I taste? It’s so distinct. Truly a marvel.”

“Thank you, mum.”

“What gave you the idea for such a treat?”

“It’s in honor of a good family friend. He taught me a lot and used ginger in many of his…um…special recipes.”

Fritz shared a look with Regina and Helmut, who chuckled. The Queen looked around and said, “Well, I simply must know this friend who has inspired my new favorite cookie.”

“His name is Jerry. Unfortunately, he is not available, but I will pass a message to him with your kind regards.”

“Do that,” said the Queen. Then, with a smile, she added, “And have a very large batch of these sent to the castle. They have a meeting with a nice glass of milk.”

When the Queen and her courtiers left, Fritz gathered some dirty dishes and went to the back kitchen. He looked over to the counter where a little man with stubby horns was leaning on an orange, chewing on a piece of ginger root. He was wiggling his fingers and directing ingredients to mixing bowls through the air.

“Well?” said Jer, inquisitively.

“She loved them!” exclaimed Fritz.

After that, the fame of the Gingerbread Man cookie spread throughout the world. It is still enjoyed every year at Yuletide by families in every country and every continent. But, this year, when you bite off a piece, remember little Fritz, and keep an eye out for Jer. You never know when he might just show up in your kitchen.

Episode 65: Inciting A Yulemas Riot

2011-12-21T12:35:00.002-06:00

These are the songs and stories found on Episode 65: Inciting A Yulemas Riot. Also, below, is the full streaming audio of the show.

Blessed Yuletide, Merry Winter Solstice, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Joyous New Year, and Good Festivus to you all!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Ep 65 A Yulemas Riot

Santa Claus is Pagan too - Emerald Rose

A Brownie Winter Solstice - Witchy Godmother (read by Velma Nightshade)

Silent Night - Sarah McLachlan

The Night the Animals Talked - (rewritten and read by Gillian Chase)

O Holy Night - Glee cast

The Little Match-Girl - Hans Christian Andersen

2 Winter Poems - Robert Frost (Cory)

Carol of the Bells - Straight No Chaser

The Djinnjerbread Man - Fire Lyte

Baby it's cold outside - Glee Cast

Twas Dori's Night - Jessie Bohannon

A Visit from St Nicholas (Cory)

Joy to the World - Faith Hill

Podcast Powered By Podbean

It's just not the holiday season without... (My Holiday Movie List)

2011-12-19T18:44:00.000-06:00

Sure, It's a Wonderful Life is the most watched Christmas movie. The Christmas Story is the cult favorite that brought us a twisted, true-to-life family holiday season. Miracle on 34th Street makes you feel like you're 6-years-old again, and White Christmas is arguably the greatest holiday musical ever made. There are the typical staples of the holiday season, and then there are the holiday movies that weasel their way into our hearts. These are the films that most folks may not know exist, but they absolutely make the holiday season special. Below are some of my films.

The One I Discovered This Year: Terry Pratchett's The Hogfather.

This one is absolutely perfect for pagans, non-pagans, people that like British accents, and anyone that wants to see Death in a Santa suit. It is possibly the most poignant, delightful, hilarious, and all-around perfect holiday movie I've ever seen. Since discovering it via Netflix this summer (and basing an entire show around it), I have told anyone who will listen to watch this movie. One warning: It's long. Like...nearly 4 hours long. But...so...freaking...worth...it.

The One for the Gays: Make the Yuletide Gay

Are you like me? Do you love those rather cheesy holiday movies that come out on Lifetime or Hallmark? Do you ever wish they had one with two male leads? Here's your answer! Make the Yuletide Gay is just about as sweet and wholesome as anything on the Hallmark channel. Its story is good enough to keep you laughing, and the drama and rising action doesn't beat you over the head with some greater message. It's fun for the whole family, especially if that family includes two dads. (Or two moms. Where my lesbians at? Holla!!! ...umm...sorry...ahem) Partner and I have added this to our perennial list of must-sees. If you're gay, lesbian, somewhere in between, or just like good, clean holiday movies, shoot this to the top of your Netflix queue.

The One with Shirtless Men: 12 Men of Christmas

You only need to know 2 things about this movie: 1) there are gorgeous shirtless men and 2) it stars Kristin Chenoweth. It's put out by Lifetime, so it's definitely in that 'too adorable and sugary' for most category. But, did I mention the shirtless men? And Kristin Chenoweth?

The Ones You've Heard of But May Not Have Seen: The Other Rankin & Bass Specials

Ok... These are a bit on the nose, and most of you have seen them, but just in case you haven't... One of my favorite Rankin & Bass specials (they're the folks that do those stop-motion movies with the felt characters) is The Year Without A Santa Claus. It's full of magic, fun, and Mother Nature. (Yes, she actually appears as a character.) This was later made into a full-length, live-action movie with John Goodman. That should be avoided at all costs.

Also on the R/B list is The Little Drummer Boy. You probably remember seeing it in the previews at the beginning of your other Rankin & Bass specials - Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman. But, The Little Drummer Boy is a special in its own right, and downright adorable.

Jack Frost has been making a resurgence in the past few years. This R/B special was pretty much forgotten in the late 80s and early 90s when everyone was buying up the specials on VHS. But, since the advent of the internet, Jack Frost has become pretty popular again! This is the final one in my "other R/B specials" list.

The One That's a Little Bit Witchy: The Good Witch's Gift

The Good Witch movies by Hallmark are good anytime of year. The Good Witch's Gift was set during the Christmas holiday season, and is about as romantic and cheesy as it gets. Also, the main character is a witch. Sure, she's a benign, completely un-Hollywood witch, but she's just witchy enough to keep your interest, and the rest of the movie is good fun, too.

While this is by no means a complete list, these are some of the movies that make my holiday season special. Many of them are a bit obscure, or lost to the depths of cable tv. Either way, I wanted to share them with you here!

What are some of YOUR favorite, slightly obscure holiday movies? Share in the comments below so that we can all enjoy!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Are YOU Ready for Nogwatch?

2011-12-17T00:32:00.000-06:00

The first Nogwatch decorations in the world! - @WickedWitch1987

If you haven't listened to the most recent episode of Inciting A Brewhaha, then you haven't heard of the newly minted tradition of Nogwatch. However, if you have been around the podiosphere or the pagan blogosphere in the last year or so, you've heard of the great and mighty Nog. For your reference, a picture of one incarnation of the Nog is below.

The Nog is the spirit of the collective Pagan Podkin, and, thusly, a symbol of the little community of listeners, bloggers, and podcasters that sort of make up our fledgling online family. So, beginning this year, we are starting a new tradition, the tradition of Nogwatch!

The Great and Mighty Nog visits all those podkin and podlovers on the longest night of the year - Yule! It makes sure that all are fearing and honoring the Nog, and if you are showing due trepidation and genuflecting then you'll be blessed with even more awesome sauce in the coming year! Some ideas for how you can honor the Nog this Yuletide:

Leave out marshmallows, possibly formed in the shape of babies. As we all know, the Nog loves the taste of baby. Unfortunately, the marshmallows just don't quite cut it for the Nog. So, you might want to leave out some ketchup with which the Nog may dip the marshmallows, simulating the blood that will sate the Almighty Nog.
Put out a Nog effigy. Find the creepiest, scariest, most hideous monster you can scrounge up. Place it out where the Nog can find it. Now, we're not technically sure where the Nog enters the house, so you might want to put one in a few places. Anywhere except the fireplace. A window. Next to your child's crib. Close to your liquor cabinet. Somewhere...appropriate.
Two words: Red. Wine. We're pagan. Red wine sort of applies to any celebration, what with it being a ceremonial substitute for blood and such. Applies here, too. Ain't that convenient?
Make an Evil Diorama. You can write the names of your enemies on some Ghost of Christmas Future style headstones so that the Nog knows who to go after. Also, you can write down all your evil deeds for the year so that the Nog may know you are one of the chosen and that you are honoring It by spreading the Gospel of Nog. Which, of course, is wickedness and discord.

Feel free to add your own traditions in the comments section below. This is sort of our response to the idea of Krampus, La Befana, and several other traditions around the world. Yule, Christmas, Solstice, etc. used to have an element of the darker side of the year - hey, it's the longest night of the year...pretty dark stuff - and we've gotten away from that. This can be fun and a great way to enjoy a bit of fellowship with your fellowship podlovers, as well as get a bit witchy at this time of year.

Remember to honor the Nog on Yule night with Nogwatch! And for more fun, keep up with #NogWatch on Twitter! I can't wait to see all your Nogwatch pictures!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Get Up and MOVE!!! (Shake that Mercury Retro off)

2011-12-15T08:37:00.002-06:00

Mercury finally went direct around the middle of this week. For at least the past couple of years, Mercury has gone retrograde right smack in the middle of the holidays. While the logical side of my brain wants to say:

Mercury Retrograde?! Pshaw! That's just Seasonal Affective Disorder combined with the hectic nature of the holidays, going into debt to get little Timmy the Wii/Zelda bundle, and working longer hours in your crappy retail job!

But the spiritual side of my brain is starting to say things like:

OH GREAT GODS STOP! PLEASE, JUST MAKE IT STOP! WHAT IN THE NAME OF HEAVEN MUST I DO JUST TO MAKE YOU GO DIRECT?!?!?!?!?!

Seriously, I was thiiiiis close to making a deal with Rumpelstiltskin. (That's a Once Upon a Time reference, folks.)

HOWEVER!

Mercury isn't retrograde anymore, and there is still a little over a week until Christmas. (spare the anti-Christmas hate mail) Less than a week until Yule. Still, you have some shopping/decorating/breathing days between now and your celebration of choice.

Side note: Last night I went to a Christmas party for Partner's work. Lemme say...if there is anyone out there that gets to complain about being beaten over the head with the "Jesus is the reason for the season" stuff, it would be me. Today. Seriously, the owner of his clinic and his wife both read lengthy selections from the New Testament. I'm not against the Bible, but...not at a party. Still not complaining. Ok, I guess I just did, but whatever...

Either way, we need to shake it off! Wake UP! Shed that lingering Mercury Retro funk. Wipe that "if one more person says Merry Christmas, I'm going to shove my athame up their..." right off. And DANCE! Nothing wakes me up more than putting on some good music and dancing like no one is watching. When no one is watching. At home. Behind locked doors.

I've put a few selections below to get your Friday off right, but feel free to add your favorite dance track in the comments section below!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

How to Explain Gay Rights to an Idiot (or Rick Perry)

2011-12-14T09:32:00.000-06:00

I have nothing to do with this, but it is tearing up the Twittersphere and tumblogs across the interwebs. I adore it, and, thus, feel it necessary to share.

Enjoy.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte