Fonduing the Chocolate Bunny

Sounds like a great name for a band. I came across this while looking at the Universal Press Syndicate's 'News of the Weird' in my local newspaper. I'm amazed I didn't hear about this sooner, as 1) I'm Pagan, and 2) I do actually read the news, and it made it nationwide.

Apparently a group of Christians harrassed a group of Pagans who were having a vernal equinox celebration. Police response was terrible (5 hours). The harrassment seems to have been mostly loud music, shouting, and intimidation; I don't think anyone was physically hurt. Basically it was a clear case of hatemongers who give Christianity a bad name.

So where does the chocolate bunny come into it? Well, apparently the pagan group was melting the bunny as part of the ritual, a sort of pseudo-animal sacrifice. The chocolate bunny (or "Easter" bunny) itself is a survival of Pagan symbolism still celebrated in the Christian Easter holiday, having to do with fertility rather than Christ's resurrection.

Did I mention that I'm Pagan? That said, I'm just not sure how I feel about the melting bunny. Sacrifice is about giving up something of real value to you, and of value to the deity/ies involved. I'm not sure that the chocolate bunny is really that important to our way of life, even if it is somewhat symbolic of it, and it's sort of a blend between New World/Old World culture. In the old days, you tended to kill a sheep or cow, cook it, give the Gods the unusable parts, and the community would eat the rest. Some non-animal, traditional sacrifices include wine, beer, clear springwater, olive oil, bread, etc.--anything basic to a way of life. There are examples in the ancient world of Greek families being too poor to offer an animal making a substitute from bread.

I guess I'm kind of a religious prude (the Christians don't have a corner on that market, after all). Sacrificing a chocolate bunny seems, well, silly. And it makes Pagans look silly. It's done based on some idea of communion with the Gods, I realise. It even fits into some of the ancient practices. But it's still silly. I think the thing that gets me is the lack of reverence. I've never seen a bunch of pagans who tried something like that who didn't make it seem like it was all some meaningless joke. Maybe the ones in Lancaster were able to preserve some of their dignity. I don't know. I wasn't there. And certainly paganism itself has no requirements to bleed away the joy of celebration.

Sigh.

I guess I'm too weird for the Christians and too uptight for the Pagans, at least here in America, where the 60s sort of took hold in Pagan circles. But the British Paganism that's more organised, more ritual, is a little too, well, Episcopalian for me. I'm not really an organised religion sort of person. Maybe I should just stick to my own quiet practising.

Without bunnies.

'Cause I would just giggle.

But enough of that...on to a Friday Five!

1. What is your current occupation? I'm a librarian.
Is this what you chose to be doing at this point in your life? Well, I originally planned to be an academic of some type, but really, I don't specialise well--I'm interested in too many things. Being a librarian is about the most perfect thing I could be. Being an academic librarian would be even spiffier, though.

2. If time/talent/money were no object, what would your dream occupation be? Aegyptologist/archaeologist

3. What did/do your parents do for a living? My father was an engineer in the military; my mother is a nurse.
Has this had any influence on your career choices? After three nurses in the family, I knew I didn't want to do that. Now I'm the only one who actually works in a hospital. :) I think I inherited my scientific and design bent from both parents, but especially my father. The actual artistic part, though, I think comes from my mom.

4. Have you ever had to choose between having a career and having a family? No. I had to choose between having a family and being true to myself, though. Does that count? I mean, I could have several kids now, but it would have been a very BAD situation. I'm still hoping for kids, but it has nothing to do with my career, just my standards in men/my general wariness of people in general.

5. In your opinion, what is the easiest job in the world? I'm not sure there's ANY easy job. Ones where you don't have to think tend to hurt your feet and back. Even dictator's wives have to worry about losing their shoes eventually.
What is the hardest? Anything involving life and death decisions. It's one reason I didn't go on to be a doctor. I'd hate to always second-guess myself.