Deaf Pagan Crossroads

The Goblin Road
Deaf Pagan Crossroads click on the above graphic to be taken to the novel's website J. Parrish Lewis is a Deaf man living in the San Joaquin Valley of California, where he works part-time as Operations Director for a non-profit agency. When he's not busy developing programs and services or supervising staff, J. Parrish can be found at [...]
Sun, Jun 14 2009
LaRonda liked this

Dancing With Gaia
Deaf Pagan Crossroads NOTE in order to watch the captions click on the triangle in the corner of the video then click on the middle icon in the menu (looks like square box with lines inside it) to turn on the captions Special Thanks to Bill Creswell for captioning this trailer Not too long ago, I received an email about a movie [...]
Tue, Jun 09 2009

Accessing PantheaCon
Deaf Pagan Crossroads As many of my readers may already know, much of my spare time during the first weeks of 2009 was spent advocating for and helping to coordinate interpreting services for PantheaCon, one of the nation's largest Pagan-themed conferences, held here in the Bay Area. It's been nearly a month since PantheaCon took place, and I have [...]
Tue, Mar 10 2009

Update on PantheaCon’s Equal Communication Access Efforts
Deaf Pagan Crossroads If you have been following Deaf Pagan Crossroads lately, you know that one of the main projects I am working on right now is promoting Equal Communication Access at PantheaCon - one of the nation's largest indoor conferences focusing on Pagan spirituality. For more information about PantheaCon and its Equal Communication Access Efforts, please check out [...]
Sat, Feb 07 2009

PantheaCon Spiritual Conference to Provide Sign Language...
Deaf Pagan Crossroads It gives me great pleasure to announce that this year, for the first time, PantheaCon will be offering Sign Language Interpreters for Deaf individuals wishing to attend this event. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO BOTTOM OF POST FOR INFORMATION FOR DEAF ATTENDEES & INTERPRETERS The 15th Annual PantheaCon Feb 13 - 16, 2009 President's Day Weekend San Jose Doubletree...
Mon, Feb 02 2009

American Sign Language Linked to the Devil???
Deaf Pagan Crossroads While checking out some statistics about my blog that WordPress posts in my dashboard, I noticed a link to my site listed which caught my attention. Go take a look for yourself: [link] According to the author of this webpage “I Love You” sign is made using a combination of the letters I L and Y from American Sign [...]
Sat, Jan 24 2009

A New Chapter
Deaf Pagan Crossroads With this post, Ocean thanks her readership for their birthday wishes, and announces some big changes soon to be coming in her life... First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my friends and Crossroads readers for their kind words and birthday wishes. Overall I had a nice 50th birthday [...]
Sun, Oct 26 2008

The Deaf and Dumb Supper???
Deaf Pagan Crossroads As Pagans around the United States and the Northern Hemisphere prepare for Samhain, probably the holiest of the eight Sabbats in the Wheel of the Year - which occurs on October 31st/November 1st, I would like to take a moment to talk about one of the traditions of Samhain... from a Deaf perspective. Many [...]
Mon, Oct 20 2008

Doing Sign Language
Deaf Pagan Crossroads I was having a chat with an old high school chum last week (keep in mind, I was the only deaf student in a hearing high school), and she started telling me about this friend of hers whom she thought I ought to meet... I think you'd really like him... he does sign language. Hmmm. Does sign language. Is [...]
Tue, Sep 16 2008

You like me, you really like me… (and I like you too!)
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Sabrina over at Pagan Dawn recently chose to bestow Deaf Pagan Crossroads with the following award: Thank you, Sabrina. I'm both honored and humbled. Pagan Dawn is an infant in the blogosphere, begun by a woman who readily confesses to being new both to blogging and to Pagan Spirituality. I enjoy reading it, if for no other [...]
Mon, Sep 15 2008

Reasonable Accomodations for Closed Captioned Televisions?
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Are employers required to assure that televisions in private residences where they employ staff to care for clients are closed captioned for any deaf or hard of hearing staff to be able to enjoy watching television the same as the hearing staff do? Would this fall under the category of “reasonable accommodations”, even if the [...]
Thu, Aug 21 2008

The Lessons of the Bear - A Response to LaRonda’s Post
Deaf Pagan Crossroads LaRonda's recent post on The Time of the Bear got me thinking about the spirit of the bear, and what this animal has to teach us. In her post, LaRonda attempts to use the lessons of the bear as an analogy for teaching us a way of looking at DeafRead and what is happening there. We [...]
Mon, Jul 21 2008

Paganism and Dogma
Deaf Pagan Crossroads NOTE: This post was originally written for my Pagan blog - “Ocean's Tide.” I'm reposting it here at Deaf Pagan Crossroads as part of a beginning study I hope to write about; discussing comparisons between Paganism and Deafhood, looking at issues from different perspectives, philosophical similarities and differences, etc. I plan to reference th...
Sun, Jul 20 2008

Does Hypnosis Work In the Deaf Community?
Deaf Pagan Crossroads A good friend of mine, who is a licensed Mental Health Specialist and has a background in hypnotherapy, sent me an email recently asking an interesting question: Can hypnosis be used effectively with someone who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing? Apparently he got into an interesting discussion with another hypnotist who questioned whether or not [...]
Sun, Jun 29 2008

Winning Jockey Has Deaf Son
Deaf Pagan Crossroads This Saturday, many eyes will be focused on the Belmont Stakes in New York, as Big Brown, a strapping bay three-year-old colt, attempts to become the first to win the Triple Crown in thirty years and thus go down in horse racing history. Big Brown will be piloted by jockey Kent Desormeaux, who rode the horse [...]
Fri, Jun 06 2008

So How Does One “Screw the Pooch?”
Deaf Pagan Crossroads In this post, Ocean discusses the struggles of translating expressions from one language to the other, and offers up a challenge to her readership (scroll down to the bottom to read the challenge!) Note: This post does use some language that might be considered crude and vulgar, but is necessary as part of the writing [...]
Thu, Jun 05 2008

But Hello Anyway…
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Not too long ago, I published a post here at the Crossroads entitled “Too Deaf? Too Pagan? Too Firewalking?” This post was written as a response to a comment which was left on yet another one of my posts here on this blog... a comment which I found to be rather interesting. This reader was expressing [...]
Sat, May 17 2008

Too Deaf? Too Pagan? Too Firewalking?
Deaf Pagan Crossroads I woke up this morning and checked my email, only to discover that I had a new comment to an old post - one that I wrote over a year ago, shortly after I first started Deaf Pagan Crossroads. It's a response to my post titled “On Being Deaf...and Pagan” - a post I wrote about [...]
Sun, May 11 2008

Jeff Daniels - His Views on His Role in “Sweet Nothing In...
Deaf Pagan Crossroads I was curious to learn more about what Jeff Daniels thought about his role in “Sweet Nothing In My Ear,” in which he played the part of Dan, the hearing husband of a Deaf woman and the father of a Deaf son. It must have been quite a challenge for him to take on a [...]
Mon, Apr 21 2008

Pieces of April
Deaf Pagan Crossroads One of the things about moving back to my hometown is that evokes a lot of childhood memories. Driving home to and from work, I often pass the schools I attended when I was a kid. As the only deaf child in an all-hearing family, I was kept at home and attended the local all-hearing schools. [...]
Sat, Apr 12 2008

Studying Deaf Paganism
Deaf Pagan Crossroads I've been getting a number of emails from ASL and Interpreting students, asking permission to quote from my blog for a paper or project they are doing for one of their classes. I am honored to receive such requests, and happy to grant such permission. I still prefer that you contact me if you do wish [...]
Thu, Mar 27 2008

“A Simple Sign, But It Means So Much More…”
Deaf Pagan Crossroads A number of people have been asking me about the above picture, and the sculpture found in this photograph. I did a little research, and was able to come up with the following information... This photograph was taken by photographer “Istolethetv” (yup, that's his flickr identity!) while the sculpture was on temporary display at Carl Schurz [...]
Thu, Mar 06 2008

Pagan-Friendly Sign Language Interpreters
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Greetings! As we begin a new year, many Pagan organizations are beginning to plan their events for the year. Most of these events take place during the summer, usually around the Summer Solstice, although some take place during the spring (around the time of Beltaine on May 1st) or during the fall, (around the time of [...]
Thu, Feb 28 2008

A Deaf Child in the Family - Part Four
Deaf Pagan Crossroads This is the final part in the series, taken from an article in my files. I still don't know who the author is, but I hope you have enjoyed this mother's story about raising her deaf daughter. While this is one person's experience and viewpoints, I think many of us can identify with much [...]
Fri, Feb 22 2008

A Deaf Child in the Family - Part Three
Deaf Pagan Crossroads This is Part Three in a continuing series of posts taken from an article written years ago by the hearing mother of a deaf daughter sharing some of her thoughts and experiences; the challenges and the joys. In this part we also get a glimpse of what it means to raise a deaf teenager! [...]
Thu, Feb 21 2008

A Deaf Child in the Family - Part Two
Deaf Pagan Crossroads This is Part Two in my continuing series of posts taken from an article in my files. I don't know who is the original author of this article, but I think she does an excellent job of sharing what it means to raise a deaf child. There was an amazing custody case in North [...]
Wed, Feb 20 2008

A Deaf Child in the Family - Part One
Deaf Pagan Crossroads First of all, I want to clarify... I did NOT write this article. It was sent to me by an interpreter friend several years ago, and I have had it in my computer files ever since. At that time, I was the leader of an on-line spirituality group which had both deaf and hearing members, [...]
Tue, Feb 19 2008

A Message for the Deaf B/Vlogosphere… Even Now
Deaf Pagan Crossroads As I read the various posts around the Deaf B/Vlogosphere, it seems there has been a greater than normal amount of friction lately. Fighting, arguing, name calling, backstabbing, accusations, etc. Leaving negative comments on posts. Pointing fingers at one another. Blaming each other for some wrongdoing. I sit back and wonder where all of this negativity [...]
Thu, Feb 14 2008

Why Can’t I Get My Milkshake?
Deaf Pagan Crossroads If you're Deaf, you probably already know about the Steak ‘n Shake fiasco. It's kinda old news by now. But for my readership that isn't Deaf, and comes here to learn more about deafness, as well as reading my various Pagan posts, I'd like to share a little bit about this incident, which has been creating [...]
Thu, Feb 07 2008

The Deaf Community Loves Their Tats Too!
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Almost a year ago, I posted an article in which I talked about tattoos, their popularity in the Pagan Community, and getting my own tattoo - “The Goddess Must Love Tattoos.” This post quickly became quite popular with my readership, as fellow inked Pagans shared with me their own experiences of getting a tattoo, as [...]
Sun, Jan 20 2008

Did the Celts Know Sign Language?
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Did the Celts know sign language? In this post, Ocean discusses a theory that suggests that this ancient culture of the British Isles used a manual alphabet based on the Ogham, an Early Medieval alphabet. Being that I am Celtic myself, I have always had a strong interest in the ancient Celts - their [...]
Thu, Jan 17 2008

Equal Communication Access Contest Winners
Deaf Pagan Crossroads My apologies for the delay in announcing the winners for the Equal Communication Access Blogging/Vlogging Contest. Things were a little delayed due to circumstances beyond our control, but the judges have made their final decisions, and it's now time to share the results! We did not have as many entries as we had hoped, but nevertheless we all enjoyed reading t...
Thu, Oct 11 2007

Dancing and Deafhood
Deaf Pagan Crossroads The below was originally written as a comment in response to my post about whether Deaf people know "how to dance"... not dancing literally; but rather, the concept of standing up for themselves, expressing themselves, and celebrating themselves in the midst of the cultural revolution we seem to be undergoing. I enjoyed reading this comment so much, I...
Mon, Oct 08 2007

Eyes of Desire 2 - The Video!
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Due to some technical problems, I was unable to embed the video into my first post... I've resolved this problem, so I now present to you... EYES OF DESIRE 2 - THE VIDEO CLIP (this video is produced in ASL with English subtitles)  You might recall how, back in March, I wrote a post here at the Crossroads introducing Raymond Luczak, a Deaf man w...
Sun, Oct 07 2007

Can Deaf People Dance?
Deaf Pagan Crossroads With this post, Ocean shares an interesting email from a hearing reader of her blog, who asks some good questions about Deafhood and the Deaf Community, and how we deal with issues that affect our community... Hello Ocean ~ I want to tell you that I really enjoyed your "Dancing at Our Revolution" post. My minor in college was Women's Studies, an...
Fri, Oct 05 2007

Dancing at Our Revolution
Deaf Pagan Crossroads In this post, Ocean shares some of her thoughts in response to Deaf Pundit's recent post at "The Deaf Edge"... While reading A Deaf Pundit's recent post "Revolution" at her blog site The Deaf Edge, I was reminded of a saying I have seen time and again over the years: "If I can't dance, I don't want to be part ...
Thu, Oct 04 2007

Letter to My Hearing Readership
Deaf Pagan Crossroads This post - based on an actual email exchange with a hearing friend - is Ocean's attempt to share some of her innermost thoughts about Deafhood and what being a Deaf person means to her... Hi Ocean ~ I've just finished reading some of your posts and the associated comments to each of them. They are very thought provoking and do give me a lot of in...
Mon, Oct 01 2007

Announcing the ECA Posts!
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Although we did not have the number of entries we had hoped for in the Equal Communication Access Blogging/Vlogging Contest, we still received a number of entries, which are listed below: Lois's My World at a Glance "Equal Communication Access" [link] Deaf Culture On-Line "Intimate Moments" [link] Signs of the...
Thu, Sep 27 2007

ECA Entry - "A Day In the Life of a Deaf/HoH Person"
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Here is one of the entries for the Equal Communication Access Blogging & Vlogging Contest, submitted by "WAD." Because this individual does not have a blog site, this entry is being posted here for everyone's reading pleasure. In this entry, WAD has chosen to show a schedule of a day in a deaf/hard of hearing person's life, and demonstrate...
Wed, Sep 26 2007

Final Week for the Equal Communication Access Contest!
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Reminder, folks! You have ONE WEEK LEFT to submit your entries for the ECA Blogging and Vlogging Contest! Perhaps you are wondering why you should even bother to submit an entry? What's the purpose of this contest? What good would it do? Let me explain a little about the history of the Equal Communication Access Project and how this contest came to be, and [...]
Sat, Sep 15 2007

Revised Rules for the ECA Contest!
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Greetings to All ~ As the Contest Coordinator of the Equal Communication Access Vlogging/Blogging Contest, I now stand humbly before all of you to say that perhaps I didn't think this whole thing through carefully before I set it up. Maybe I was being a tad naive - thinking it would be a nice and simple fun contest, where people would be able to submit their [...]
Tue, Aug 21 2007

ECA Blogging/Vlogging Contest Changes!!!
Deaf Pagan Crossroads As a result of feedback received from the Deaf Community, the ECA Campaign Committee members met to discuss and approve the following changes: Equal Communication Access Blogging/Vlogging Contest Entry Deadline Has Been Extended New Deadline for Submitting Entries Is Now Saturday, September 22nd Entries must be submitted by [...]
Mon, Aug 20 2007

Deafhood, Power, and Will
Deaf Pagan Crossroads (This is Part I of a series of blogs Ocean plans to do which explore the merger of her identity as a Deaf individual with her practice as a Pagan, and how that merger can be applied to both Deaf issues and Pagan topics.) Reading the various blogs and watching the various vlogs related to the recent Deaf Bilingual Coalition protest at the A.G.Bell conference in [...]
Fri, Aug 17 2007

Clarification of the ECA Contest
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Because I have gotten a few emails from people wanting to know how to enter the ECA Contest, I thought I would repost the information here. Some people have asked why we require that the vlog or video must be captioned or include a transcript. The reason for such is this - the theme of this contest is Equal Communication Access. This means Equal Communication Access [...]
Sun, Aug 12 2007

Kids Share Their Thoughts on Equal Communication Access
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Here is a wonderful example of a video on Equal Communication Access: Unfortunately, this video isn't eligible for our ECA contest, because it was created by the children of one of our judges - these are Barb DiGi's kids. As you probably know, Barb's children were involved in the recent DBC demonstration, and they certainly know something about [...]
Sat, Aug 11 2007

Lonely Posts
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Now that I've finished listing the favorites of the Crossroads, I'm going in the opposite direction. What posts have not received a lot of hits lately? This isn't saying that these posts were not good ones or were not enjoyed by the readership, but it appears they are not the more popular ones on this site. They may have received a number of hits for [...]
Sun, Aug 05 2007

Deaf Babies + ECA = Winning Combination
Deaf Pagan Crossroads As I read the various posts at DeafRead in which many Deaf individuals express their thoughts and opinions about the recent Deaf Bilingual Coalition demonstration at the A.G. Bell Conference in Virginia, I am struck by an important thought... The main goal of DBC isn't just about sign language for deaf children, nor is DBC about being against speech therapy [...]
Tue, Jul 31 2007

Equal Communication Access Blogging/Vlogging Contest
Deaf Pagan Crossroads Announcing THE EQUAL COMMUNICATION ACCESS BLOGGING/VLOGGING CONTEST "Why i support Equal Communication Access" Write a Blog Sign a Vlog Create a Video Clip Tell Us or Show Us This contest is being sponsored by the Equal Communication Access Campaign a group of hard-working volunteers dedicated [...]
Mon, Jul 23 2007

How to Enter the ECA Contest
Deaf Pagan Crossroads There are five categories that an individual can choose from. You can only enter ONCE, in one of the following categories: Best Blog Entry - A written blog from a deaf or hard of hearing person sharing thoughts, etc. on ECA. Blogs must be written in English, and can include pictures, etc. Best Vlog Entry - A video blog from a deaf or hard [...]
Mon, Jul 23 2007

ECA Contest - Judges and Judging Criteria
Deaf Pagan Crossroads THE JUDGES PANEL and JUDGING CRITERIA EQUAL COMMUNICATION ACCESS Blogging/Vlogging Contest Allison Kaftan, deaf since birth, is a native cuer and an alumna of Gallaudet University. When not losing that last grain of sanity in the doctoral program in English over at the George Washington University, she enjoys spending spare time (ha!) with her husband and [...]
Mon, Jul 23 2007