Bounty Abounding

RantWoman is helping some queries coalesce for an upcoming retreat. The theme of the retreat is Bounty, and RantWoman supposes not the paper towel brand. RantWoman's first response to the request was bountiful grumbles about the form of the request. With seasoning and contributions from other Friends, other thoughts emerged.

RantWoman cautions that except for blog and Biblical quotes below, the opinions here are RantWoman's something quite different may emerge from community discernment.

From http://aquakerwitch.blogspot.com/

Happy Fall Equinox and Witches' Thanksgiving
Day and night are in balance; Fall Equinox is the door to the dark time of the year.This is the second harvest festival. What are we storing away for the winter? What foods don’t store well, and so we eat them now?Some trees are already beginning to shed their leaves. What do we shed with the coming of winter, so that we don’t waste energy bringing it through the cold, and so we have energy and room for new gifts?In many traditions, the Goddess, or one of Her faces, begins a journey into the Underworld at Fall Equinox. What will we lose in our journeys? What will we find? What abundant gifts of Mother Earth, tangible and not-so-tangible, carry us through the coming dark and cold time of the year?What gifts do fall and winter bring?


Older translations of the Bible, such as the Revised Standard Version (1946 and 1952) use the words "abound" and "abundance" often. Later translations, such as the Revised English Bible (1989) never use them, substituting instead the terms overflow, more than enough, greater measure, and fullness. In 2 Corinthians 12:7, "the abundance of revelations" even becomes "the magnificence of such revelations"! Below are two other well-known verses."And may God, who is the ground of hope, fill you with all joy and peace as you lead the life of faith until, by the power of the Holy Spirit you overflow [abound] with hope." Romans 15:13"I have come that they may have life, and may have it in all its fullness [abundantly]." John 10:101.

What do I have in overflowing amounts, fullness, or magnificence: life, hope, joy, money, connection to the Spirit?

How do I come to have this abundance?2.

What have been my experiences of sharing my abundance, or of others sharing their abundance with me?

What might I now choose to do to share abundance?

RantWoman was led firmly in a different direction.

Greta Garbo I think said "too much of a good thing can be wonderful." However RantWoman REALLY likes the part of the query off the blog about what do we need to trim or store up for cold and darkness.

It's already past equinox and talking about Witches' Thanksgiving may be a little TOO much just here even though RantWoman personally is curious. RantWoman is curious but looking it up is down a ways in queue.

--It will be OCTOBER when Seattle heads into cold and dark and rainyand lots of us need to store up physical and psychic reserves for the winter.

--NOTHING good is going to be coming from city, county, or state budgets and lots of people are going to be feeling more pain from that.

--LOTS of people are struggling economically or facing serious health issues

--Our country is in the throes of two wars far away as well aswhatever we want to call the narco mess in Mexico (no we have not annexed Mexico, but longer tirade possible)

--Our country has food that is artificially cheap and fuel that isartificially cheap and then we spend all our money building roads and sitting in our cars, and it's way to easy to get overweight because no one walks and there is no place to walk and... Some people get overscheduled trying 3 times as much as RantWoman can even attempt.the thought that there might be too much of the wrong things crosses RantWoman's mind. RantWoman would like to see queries that make space for hard realities and focus our minds and hearts on spirit and community. RantWoman also like the thoughts of pruning and jettisoning and being intentional about what she leaves space for.