This isn't the story I wanted to write. It's not the story I started working on a couple weeks ago.
It's the story I am able to write at this time.
Last week I was scanning the BBC website for articles and pictures about the upcoming Beltane (1 May) celebrations. BBC often has coverage of pagan events and holidays. I'd hoped to see a mention of celebrations at Stonehenge and Newgrange.
Instead, I saw this.
I've been horrified by events in Gaza since October of last year. I haven't said much about it; it's certain that I don't have all the facts and probably never will. There's nothing I could say that hasn't already been said, and by people who said it better than I could have. And there's the fact that I still can't wrap my mind around most of what I've seen, heard, and read in the months since.
Clik here to view.
I really enjoy discussing the old ways, traditions, and present-day celebrations of our Pagan deities. Writing those stories has become part of my personal celebrations. I know that other people enjoy those stories. And I have no intention of ending them; I'll write about these things again.
But right now I simply can't. I can't celebrate Beltane while the memory of this tiny baby girl and what happened to her and her family is still fresh in my mind.
I can't even really explain just why this particular story has affected me so much. One little child out of thousands who've been targeted in this conflict. One family out of thousands slaughtered in their own homes. The fact that it was done with the support of my own country, my own government. I can't explain any of it. I can't even explain it to myself.
I'm absolutely not saying that nobody else should celebrate. I want to make that very clear. Those who do, may this Beltane be wonderful for you. I'm sitting this one out this time. I hope you'll understand.
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Thank you for reading. This is an open thread, all topics are welcome.
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ETA the baby lived for five days before dying. She was buried next to her father.
