The Snowflake Chronicles

March Spiritual Newsletter (Deadline 3/11/19)

Editor's Picks

1. Khoi San People
2. Pentagram and Pentacle Perspective
3. Walk talk with God and guide us living
4. Picking up the Pieces
5. A Coat of Many Colors
6.
7. ONENESS: We are all in this together
8.
9. Light House Poetry Contest

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Tahirih: A Woman of Faith

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Tahirih spiritual or mystic poet

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Tahirih an advocate for women's rights and gender equality.

About This Newsletter

"Tahirih Speaks" 

From the well's dark silence Tahirih speaks,
Neither death nor lies can drown her voice out.

Her ghazals reverberate planet wide,
Point by point humanity hears her shout.

Poem by poem she unveils God's grace:
Lover pursuing the Beloved's face.

Word for word she demands equality,
Line after line proclaiming women's rights.

Letter From the Editor

The theme for Women's History month in 2018 was "Nevertheless She Persisted", which can be said for the mystic poet Tahirih. Born sometime in the early 1800s (the exact date is unknown) in Persia (now Iran), she was an amazing and spiritually aware woman. As a child, her father hired a tutor to educate her in various fields of knowledge and arts, in which she excelled. Instead of accepting the teaching of the religion she was born into, she asked questions and search for the answers herself.

Tahirih lived in a time of great expectation and turmoil in both Persia and the world. Many people were expecting the fulfillment of religious prophecies. In 1844, a young merchant--who took the title The Bab--declared (to His first believer) that He was the Promised One. Tahirih had a dream, in which she saw the Bab reciting one of the scriptures He revealed. She wrote the verse in her journal, and sometime later received a copy of one of The Bab's tablets. She accepted The Bab's claim, she became Babi, and one of The Bab eighteen disciples or Letters of the Living.

Tahirih, the only woman among the Letters of the Living, was an advocate for women's rights in a country where women had no say about anything in their lives. In 1848, she attended a conference of prominent Babis, which was held in the village of Badasht. It was at this conference that Tahirih removed her veil and stepped outside her tent. This simple act emphasized the independence of the Babi religion and that of the Baha'i Faith.

By removing her veil, Tahirih took her place among the great women of religious history such as Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Mary Magellan. She, also, took her place with the women who attended the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. Tahirih persisted in her belief concerning women's rights and in her chosen faith, and, as a results, died in 1852 in Persia.

Editors Picks

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Excerpt: I just love the Khoi San people of the Kalahari Desert in Namibia and Botswana, in Africa, and throughout vast areas of South Africa. They live nomadic lives, but not randomly nomadic; each clan has a set pattern which is repeated each year, whereby they live in specific areas, one dedicated for each season of the year.

STATIC

Pentagram and Pentacle Perspective  (E) Clearing up confusion about three recognizable cultural and religious symbols. #2174419 by Krista of House Mormont

Excerpt: Throughout time, the pentagram, pentacle, and inverted pentagram have been widely used by many spiritual and religious groups as signs of protection. Despite the long history in a variety of cultures, they are also the most commonly confused symbols.

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Excerpt: Walk talk with God and guide us living
         And let us know how to live today as God speaks to you
         Look for, and freely go on to walk and talk with God this day
         Know the alphas, words, lessons and teach us living on this earth

STATIC

Picking Up the Broken Pieces  (E) "Where do you go, life after tragedy?" #2182838 by LegendaryMask❤️

Excerpt: Laying here thinking about the pain
         Picking up the broken pieces

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Excerpt: To sleep, perchance dream,
         One of life's many splendored things.
         For in our dreams with sights and sounds,
         We find our walls come tumbling down.

Groups, Contests, and Activities

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FORUM

The Lighthouse Poetry Contest  (E) Contests With A Christian Theme #1742964 by LegendaryMask❤️

Feedback "Spiritual Newsletter (February 13, 2019)" 

Lilith of House Martell writes: Thank you for an interesting and informative newsletter!

Warped Sanity writes: What a great writeup, snow. Learning about history through a book and through a conversation with someone who lived through it is quite different. Just the other day my boyfriend was telling me about some coins he kept finding on his property as a teen. Finally, an older black gentleman told him what they were.

Here in Texas, when slavery ended, many slave owners gave their previous slaves land to farm. Although blacks were not allowed to get monetary compensation for their crops. Instead, they got these coins which were only spendable in town. This made it to where black farmers could not expand much and they had to succumb to whatever low price the white's in the area would pay. This isn't something he would have learned in his textbooks and by this conversation with this man, he was able to get a more well-rounded account of that history.

This coin exchange was common until around 1940ish. No such thing would be acceptable today, nor should it ever be. We've gone a long way since those times, and I believe we'll keep evolving in perceptions of equality with each new generation.