GreenCorvid.com

Sun: 13'Cancer
Moon: 09' Gemini
Dark of the Moon

A shameless self-plug here, but I have spoken often about Monsanto and the other biotech giants, and their roles in promoting unsafe GMO products and deadly pesticides that are endangering entire ecosystems.  These are things that can and should interest Pagans, Wiccans, and anyone who claims to follow a nature-based religion.  I speak out often.  I Marched Against Monsanto.

Now I am putting my money, my reputation, and my honor where my mouth is in permanent business opposition to the companies that are killing the Earth and the creatures who live upon Her.  I am pleased to announce that my new online storefront has opened for business at www.GreenCorvid.com.

www.GreenCorvid.com will eventually carry the full line of Herbal Choice Mari health and personal care products: the entire line is certified cruelty-free and USDA Organic.  HCM is in the process of re-designing their labels to reflect the USDA Organic and Leaping Bunny logos, so I cannot openly list it on the website until Nature's Brands (Herbal Choice Mari's parent company) gives me the go-ahead, but the certification has been approved.

I am very glad to see it happening, myself: the USDA certification is an automatic guarantee that no part of the product was produced with sewage, radiation, pesticides or genetically-modified ingredients.  It means that there are no synthetic ingredients of any kind, including chemical preservatives (they keep themselves fresh based on their own natural properties).  Pthalates?  Hell no.  Parabens?  Absolutely not.  It is the highest standard of organic purity in the country, and the Green Corvid is proud to carry products that carry that seal.

Also, the development of these products was done and continues without involving innocent animals, either directly through testing or indirectly through parts and by-products.  Therefore, an Herbal Choice Mari moisturizer is based in purified water (meaning that it meets the Universal Standard of Purity), certified organic olive oil, certified organic jojoba oil and wildcrafted candelilla wax, all derived from plants, instead of lanolin (which comes from sheep's wool).  They are vegan-friendly and certified Cruelty-Free by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC). 

(As an affiliate, the rules of the CCIC prohibit me from displaying their Leaping Bunny seal of cruelty-free certification even though the company I am marketing for has already earned it for their product, but the company's direct website does display it proudly and the link above verifies that they do have the right to do so).

Not all ingredients can be certified as purely organic, because they are wildcrafted.  The only safe way to wildcraft involves a deep and unshakeable commitment to environmental stewardship, which is a business ethic in short supply these days and which I am very happy to support with my business, both as a customer and a marketer.

Finally, the full line of Herbal Choice Mari is created with the idea of not using any of the ingredients that are common allergens.  There are no nuts or nut products (no almond oil, for those allergic to tree nuts) in the Herbal Choice Mari line.  There are no glutens to worry about, no dairy byproducts, no soy (95% of global soy production is GMO, which would invalidate the USDA Organic certification).

I believe I have found a quality product line: I am removing the product testimonials that the parent company's website lists because I believe the ingredients' lists on every product speaks for itself.  I also support and hold the same commitment to non-GMO, organic, wildcrafting, and animal-free ethics shown by Herbal Choice Mari.  I truly believe that this is a line of products worth using, worth promoting and worth the price, and I am willing to work to ensure that the ethics driving Herbal Choice Mari and similar companies become more visible and more popular throughout the cosmetics industry: if it happens to be a way through which I can help provide for my family, even better.  This is something I can be passionate about.

To put it another way: 8 months pregnant with a baby girl, I am switching my house over to Herbal Choice Mari health and personal care products, because they are safer for my family than anything else I have found on the market and I wish I had done it sooner.  I am willing to use their organic products on my baby's delicate skin, because she won't pick up the toxic ingredients from them that she would otherwise from commercially-produced "baby products" like Johnson&Johnson.)

My Pagan side has brought me a good deal of knowledge of what different herbs and essential oils may be used for, both magickally and medicinally.  I find their product line offerings to be absolutely sound in this regard.

If you don't think organic is worth the cost, you might like to know what's in the products you're using now.  Check out the Environmental Working Group and their (very extensive) cosmetics database at www.ewg.org/skindeep.  Even some of the department-store "natural" and "organic" brands might surprise you.  (What are dimethicone, polyquaternium-7 and the ubiquitous, nebulous and ultimately undefined "fragrance" doing in JASON Brand Natural Cosmetics?  They're owned by the Hain Celestial Group - the same people who brought you Celestial Seasonings tea - which is known to carry dangerously high levels of pesticide contamination.  Same with Tom's of Maine, owned by Colgate-Palmolive.  How about Nature's Gate Organics?  Surprise, surprise... if there's anything in that ingredients list that a five-year-old can't pronouce, it's not natural, let alone organic: each of the companies I just linked make products that are commonly found at the grocery store in the "organic" section - and every one of them has an EWG score over 7, which is high-risk.  Compare to Herbal Choice Mari, where nothing - not the brand, not a single ingredient, ranks higher than a 2: safe.) 

Now, come find me at www.greencorvid.com and start kicking the toxins out of your body and out of your life.

Summer Solstice 2013: Prometheus and Hellenic Reconstructionism

The BBC came out with an article yesterday that I thought was an interesting, and too-brief, look at the Greek phenomenon known as Hellenic Reconstructionism and the challenges it faces.


These folks see Greece as a pagan nation under occupation by the Orthodox Church and are, quite literally, attempting to reconstruct the ancient religion of Greece.

The Cult of the American Flag?

Sun: 28'Gemini
Moon: 00'Scorpio
Sun Trine Moon - Waxing Gibbous

I will make no friends with this post, I am sure.  It is a mix of both theological thought and politics, fair warning, but it should be said despite the common convention.  (After all, you came here, and it's your choice to keep reading or not.)  And there's no better time to explore the deep-seated psychological thoughts and urges than under a Scorpio Moon.

What defines "sacred?"

This question came to my mind after noting the incident in which rapper Lil' Wayne stepped on, or was perceived to be stepping on, the American flag. 

Now, I normally don't give a flying rat's ass about what goes on in popular culture, and the rap "scene" is just really not my thing at all.  However, this caught my eye as both a Pagan and an active servicemember.  And my thoughts are not precisely what one might expect from either perspective. 

Religious Freedom and the Constitution: The Summer Solstice Protests in Pahokee, Florida

Sun: 09'Gemini
Moon: 02'Pisces
Waning Moon, approaching Last Quarter



Among other rights, the US Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of religion to all American citizens.  Any religion, none at all - that is the right of the citizen.

The Bible says to love thy neighbor as thyself.  One interpretation of this, in the social-responsibility context, that if you would like to continue to exercise your rights, you must allow and fight for your neighbor to do the same.  I note, however, that the words of Jesus make no mention of categorization or exception: there's no exemption to loving your gay neighbor, even if you don't like the idea of two people of the same sex in a loving, committed sexual relationship with one another.  And there's no exemption to loving your Pagan neighbor, even if you don't agree with their faith.

So I am curious how the good Evangelical Christian folks of Pahokee, Florida justify the bigotry in their own ranks.  Bigotry is a strong word, but take a look at these gems...

Was monotheism really that much better than polytheism?

Sun: 07'Gemini
Moon: 00'Aquarius
(Mars: 28'Taurus, conj. fixed star Algol)

I found a fascinating link this afternoon over at Free Thought Blogs: was the advent of monotheism truly that much of an advancement over polytheism?

Find it here, and jump below the break for my thoughts (and perhaps, hopefully, a discussion)...