Re-reading from the past

When I was in grade school, I was reading from the adult section of the library more than the children's section.  I was always fascinated with Roman and Greek history and mythology so Edith Hamilton's Greek Mythology was a frequent companion.  I also read a book called A Pillar of Iron by Taylor Caldwell about Cicero, a book which created an image of him that I admired.  I thought I would re-read the book from a Pagan perspective, and a liberal one.

What tripe!  She has created a fictional figure who was a Christian before Christ, a near-mythological figure whose meteoric rise in politics was ordained by God and whose politics are reminiscent of the John Birch Society...an organization the author was a member of.  A largely famous quotation is attributed to Cicero by the Tea Party that is in fact something Caldwell made up for her character.  It's pretty much a party-line meme about how the poor won't work and want to live off the government.

So...while I'm not a book-burner or want to ban any books, this one is going in the trash.  It's old, the pages are so thin they tear when I turn the page and the pages are yellowed so badly the print is barely discernable.  But the bottom line is I wouldn't want anyone else to grab hold of this book and think it was a good book.

I have plenty to read from the library and since this is a personal book, (I would never throw away a library book!) it's my prerogative to throw it away.  She also has some facts wrong about the religion of the Romans but I'm not going to go into that as that would take a lot more reading and notations and I just couldn't be bothered to do all that.

I have two more books I read in the past that are in my book bag.  One is The Grass Crown and the other is I, Claudius.  I'm just curious to see how these books read as a Pagan.  Last time I read them I was a Christian.

I'm enjoying the weather lately.  We've had temps in the 70s and low 80s with a nice breeze.  If I wasn't going through a horrendous fatigue cycle right now I would be outside enjoying it more.  As it is, I'm not doing much of anything.  Except reading.  My knitting has been put aside for a couple of days due to the fatigue because I've determined not to fight it anymore, but to ride it out.  I'm experimenting to see if the cycle will be shorter if I don't try to fight my way through it.  We'll see how that works.

This is the first year we've decorated for Halloween.  I haven't done a lot...just a table with an orange throw on it that I crocheted last year with a lantern a jack o lantern candle holder, a black LED candle and a black rose.  I'll try to get pictures soon.  It's one of many things I would like to start doing more of, including pencil sketching and hopefully, painting.  Not to mention dyeing my hand spun Welsh top and preparing my Shetland fleece for spinning.  I actually get excited about doing things, but having the energy to do them is preventing me from getting started.  Again...maybe I use up most of what I have in fighting it.  We'll see.

In the meantime, I'm spending more time in ritual than I have done in the past, enjoying the time spent at my altar more and more.  Not sure what I'm going to do for Samhain just yet.  I'm not overly concerned about it; something will happen.  I've been looking at the Greek celebrations and really do like some of them.  There is a Libation to Poseidon on Saturday and although I don't have wine I'll figure something out.  Or maybe I'll just go pick up a small bottle of wine.  I can't drink because of medication but it would be nice to have wine for rituals.  And a sip of wine now and then is okay with the dr.  I'll just go with what my instincts are telling me.

But for now, my body is telling me to take a nap.  I only got 3 hours of sleep last night and I won't be able to function without one.

BB