Cockroach is a self-published Canadian feminist/environmentalist magazine (zine) based out of Winnipeg. Each issue is packed with columns, articles, how-to’s, recipes, erotica, photos and artwork based on a different theme. Past themes have included religion, sex, journeys, water, disguises and family.
Getting Down in Nature
Feeling randy, are you? Can’t quite wait ‘til you get home to express your physical love for your partner? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a little romp al fresco. However, in our Canadian climate, you may want to choose your moment wisely, regardless of raging hormones.
Some provinces have more extreme climates than others. Depending on geography, season may or may not be a deciding factor.
Obviously getting caught is not an optimum outcome. Nothing says buzzkill like being stumbled upon by some random person or a local upholder of the law. Unless you’re into that kind of thing, but I call that none of my business.
Find a nice, quiet spot, preferably with good cover, such as leafy shrubs. For your own safety and comfort, take the time for a quick reconnoiter of the area. Doing it on top of an ant hill or wasp nest or having twigs and thorns up one’s whoopsie daisy just sounds painful and traumatic. Remember, safety first!!
Places to avoid:
• The beach (usually too populated, plus the sand thing)
• Your vehicle (it has windows)
• Public parks (during the day at least)
• Your yard (unless you have a secluded property, tree house or outdoor fort)
• Downtown and other high traffic areas
• Anywhere surveillance cameras are present (again, unless you’re into that sort of thing)
Places to pitch a tent:
• Camping (your tent might be see-through, but at least you won’t get eaten alive by bugs of prey)
• The forest (bring a blanket)
• Public parks (at night)
• Public bathrooms (YUCK, but some people love the thrill of it. It’s not technically outside, but please humour me!)
• Your yard (secluded property?)
According to Wikipedia, the cities where folks like to get it on in the great outdoors are New York, Vancouver and San Francisco. Depending on where in the world you live, outdoor sexcapades can be viewed as excusable or can land participants in a huge bubbling cauldron of hot water.
North America seems to be the stodgy front runner in laying charges against public sex participants while the UK barely raises an eyebrow. Time to move perhaps?
Where’s the wildest outdoor place you’ve gotten busy? Tweet @cockroachzine.
Worshipping in Nature
With modern day worship firmly entrenched within the confines of cathedrals, churches, temples and other holy houses, the majority of our population has no real insight into the origins of religion.
To get in touch with the real roots of religion, get yourself out of the house and in touch with nature. Nature is home to all living creatures, including humans, and nature is where our ancestors first formed the rituals and ceremonies that eventually distilled into one god religions.
According to ancient religious practice, such as Paganism, the entire globe is sacred and is to be considered a place of worship. And why not? Take a moment and really look around you next time you are in the great outdoors. Nature is magnificent and awe inspiring.
Pagans and Wiccans regularly practice their religious rites outdoors because the belief is that worship takes place daily, in every moment. Everything around them is a blessed gift from the divine. Gardens and mountains alike can be a place of worship. To be in tune with nature is to be in tune to the god forces.
Before single god worship became commonplace, our ancient civilizations saw gods and goddesses all around them, in the sun and moon, the oceans and mountains.
This type of religion was not limited to one portion of the world at all. Multiple deities were worshipped by the Egyptians, Greeks, Japanese and Romans. In fact, the list is rather long. Suffice it to say that the multiple deity religious style of the ancients encompassed our world.
As time and worship evolved, ceremonies were removed from nature to take place indoors in huge, shining, reverent buildings. The number of gods dwindled from the many deities of different genders to the one. While Pagan and Wiccan religions give equal respect to all genders, one god religions focus their attention to a male god figure.
Without actually sparking a huge debate on which religion is better or worse than the other, the point I’m trying to make is that civilization has morphed its worship practices into a highly ritualized, indoor, date and time specific event.
It’s not even really publicly acceptable to announce that a person follows Paganism, Pantheist, Wiccan or what have you. Revealing an interest in nature-based worship earns no respect but instead tends to invite the “What a crackpot” mindset from the general public.
As a result, nature-based worship cultures tend to keep a low profile and stay silent on their faith of choice. This seems like a dichotomy of the most ironic sort to this most humble and impartial reporter.
We have a modern society which looks at its very own religious beginnings with scorn and intolerance while it chooses to hold on high a derivative of the very parent of its current belief system. That was a mouthful and a mind boggling statement.
Do any of us choose to explore the depths of the religion we follow? Where did it begin and with whom? Are we allowing ourselves the opportunity to get to know who we worship or are we simply attending in our parents footsteps? Not that there’s anything wrong with that—it’s certainly none of my business—but it’s called a “flock” for a reason.
Sure, you might be reading my words and getting all hot and bothered, righteously indignant, even angry. But all these reactions are fear based. Maybe I’m way off topic but may I most sincerely invite you to get yourself back to nature?
What if your faith could be empowering, all encompassing, blessedly bright and accepting and on your own terms, just the way our forebears and the gods intended?
Open for Interpretation
How many times have you awoken to a dream so startling that you have no idea what to make of it? For myself, I have dreamt of flying, drowning, being shot, having kittens, being in public with no pants and so on.
Once we close our eyes for our nightly sleep, we are transported into dreamscapes which can sometimes leave us wondering just what the Hell is going on in our minds. Before you start seeking therapy to help you understand why your REM state is making you crazy, why not try a little online research to help you figure out what your dreams are trying to tell you?
When I went through a particularly creepy dream phase, I called up a search engine and typed in “interpreting dreams.” I was rewarded by multiple sites through which to data mine. Just now, I performed a dream dictionary search and came up with just over six million results. Not bad for a quick type and click!
If you are particularly haunted by a recurring dream or awaken absolutely terrified by your night visions, take a breath, relax and gain some insight as to what might really be going on in that gorgeous mind of yours. My favourite go-to web page is Dream Moods, which I have used heavily when my mind was running rampant and jolting me awake with terror.
On Dream Moods, there are multiple ways to investigate for dream translations: a search box, a “common dreams” tab sits on the top banner of the page and an A to Z function. Let’s have a peek at one or two of the dreams I described above, shall we?
Because everyone I know has had the weirdo dream of being in public at least semiunclothed, I’d like to share what Dream Moods advises on the subject: Nudity indicates vulnerability
Nudity indicates fear of exposure
Nudity indicates insecurity
Nudity indicates feeling unprepared
Nudity indicates arrogance
Awesome choices to drill down into! Since the likelihood of you leaving your house and not realizing you forgot your pants until you are in the mall parking lot are incredibly slim, your dream is telling you something about yourself that you might not have even considered.
Let’s try one more, just for fun. Since I found the birthing of a litter of kittens rather strange and unusual, I’ll head to Dream Moods and do a quick search.
Under “kitten” I found a few paragraphs and selected the following:
To see a kitten in your dream represents a transitional phase toward independence. You are ready to explore new things that life has to offer. Alternatively, the dream symbolizes innocence and purity.
And, since I can easily throw innocence and purity out the window (sorry Mom), my best interpretation here is that I may have been going through some sort of life transition at the time. Either way, the explanation I found online made me feel a lot better about the crazy cat lady dream I had. Six kittens, really?
Regardless of how accurate the translations are, it’s fun and interesting to see what might be behind a REM escapade, I highly recommend trying it out next time you wake up in confusion about what just played through your mind.
Getting Down in Nature
Feeling randy, are you? Can’t quite wait ‘til you get home to express your physical love for your partner? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a little romp al fresco. However, in our Canadian climate, you may want to choose your moment wisely, regardless of raging hormones.
Some provinces have more extreme climates than others. Depending on geography, season may or may not be a deciding factor.
Obviously getting caught is not an optimum outcome. Nothing says buzzkill like being stumbled upon by some random person or a local upholder of the law. Unless you’re into that kind of thing, but I call that none of my business.
Find a nice, quiet spot, preferably with good cover, such as leafy shrubs. For your own safety and comfort, take the time for a quick reconnoiter of the area. Doing it on top of an ant hill or wasp nest or having twigs and thorns up one’s whoopsie daisy just sounds painful and traumatic. Remember, safety first!!
Places to avoid:
• The beach (usually too populated, plus the sand thing)
• Your vehicle (it has windows)
• Public parks (during the day at least)
• Your yard (unless you have a secluded property, tree house or outdoor fort)
• Downtown and other high traffic areas
• Anywhere surveillance cameras are present (again, unless you’re into that sort of thing)
Places to pitch a tent:
• Camping (your tent might be see-through, but at least you won’t get eaten alive by bugs of prey)
• The forest (bring a blanket)
• Public parks (at night)
• Public bathrooms (YUCK, but some people love the thrill of it. It’s not technically outside, but please humour me!)
• Your yard (secluded property?)
According to Wikipedia, the cities where folks like to get it on in the great outdoors are New York, Vancouver and San Francisco. Depending on where in the world you live, outdoor sexcapades can be viewed as excusable or can land participants in a huge bubbling cauldron of hot water.
North America seems to be the stodgy front runner in laying charges against public sex participants while the UK barely raises an eyebrow. Time to move perhaps?
Where’s the wildest outdoor place you’ve gotten busy? Tweet @cockroachzine.
Worshipping in Nature
With modern day worship firmly entrenched within the confines of cathedrals, churches, temples and other holy houses, the majority of our population has no real insight into the origins of religion.
To get in touch with the real roots of religion, get yourself out of the house and in touch with nature. Nature is home to all living creatures, including humans, and nature is where our ancestors first formed the rituals and ceremonies that eventually distilled into one god religions.
According to ancient religious practice, such as Paganism, the entire globe is sacred and is to be considered a place of worship. And why not? Take a moment and really look around you next time you are in the great outdoors. Nature is magnificent and awe inspiring.
Pagans and Wiccans regularly practice their religious rites outdoors because the belief is that worship takes place daily, in every moment. Everything around them is a blessed gift from the divine. Gardens and mountains alike can be a place of worship. To be in tune with nature is to be in tune to the god forces.
Before single god worship became commonplace, our ancient civilizations saw gods and goddesses all around them, in the sun and moon, the oceans and mountains.
This type of religion was not limited to one portion of the world at all. Multiple deities were worshipped by the Egyptians, Greeks, Japanese and Romans. In fact, the list is rather long. Suffice it to say that the multiple deity religious style of the ancients encompassed our world.
As time and worship evolved, ceremonies were removed from nature to take place indoors in huge, shining, reverent buildings. The number of gods dwindled from the many deities of different genders to the one. While Pagan and Wiccan religions give equal respect to all genders, one god religions focus their attention to a male god figure.
Without actually sparking a huge debate on which religion is better or worse than the other, the point I’m trying to make is that civilization has morphed its worship practices into a highly ritualized, indoor, date and time specific event.
It’s not even really publicly acceptable to announce that a person follows Paganism, Pantheist, Wiccan or what have you. Revealing an interest in nature-based worship earns no respect but instead tends to invite the “What a crackpot” mindset from the general public.
As a result, nature-based worship cultures tend to keep a low profile and stay silent on their faith of choice. This seems like a dichotomy of the most ironic sort to this most humble and impartial reporter.
We have a modern society which looks at its very own religious beginnings with scorn and intolerance while it chooses to hold on high a derivative of the very parent of its current belief system. That was a mouthful and a mind boggling statement.
Do any of us choose to explore the depths of the religion we follow? Where did it begin and with whom? Are we allowing ourselves the opportunity to get to know who we worship or are we simply attending in our parents footsteps? Not that there’s anything wrong with that—it’s certainly none of my business—but it’s called a “flock” for a reason.
Sure, you might be reading my words and getting all hot and bothered, righteously indignant, even angry. But all these reactions are fear based. Maybe I’m way off topic but may I most sincerely invite you to get yourself back to nature?
What if your faith could be empowering, all encompassing, blessedly bright and accepting and on your own terms, just the way our forebears and the gods intended?
Open for Interpretation
How many times have you awoken to a dream so startling that you have no idea what to make of it? For myself, I have dreamt of flying, drowning, being shot, having kittens, being in public with no pants and so on.
Once we close our eyes for our nightly sleep, we are transported into dreamscapes which can sometimes leave us wondering just what the Hell is going on in our minds. Before you start seeking therapy to help you understand why your REM state is making you crazy, why not try a little online research to help you figure out what your dreams are trying to tell you?
When I went through a particularly creepy dream phase, I called up a search engine and typed in “interpreting dreams.” I was rewarded by multiple sites through which to data mine. Just now, I performed a dream dictionary search and came up with just over six million results. Not bad for a quick type and click!
If you are particularly haunted by a recurring dream or awaken absolutely terrified by your night visions, take a breath, relax and gain some insight as to what might really be going on in that gorgeous mind of yours. My favourite go-to web page is Dream Moods, which I have used heavily when my mind was running rampant and jolting me awake with terror.
On Dream Moods, there are multiple ways to investigate for dream translations: a search box, a “common dreams” tab sits on the top banner of the page and an A to Z function. Let’s have a peek at one or two of the dreams I described above, shall we?
Because everyone I know has had the weirdo dream of being in public at least semiunclothed, I’d like to share what Dream Moods advises on the subject: Nudity indicates vulnerability
Nudity indicates fear of exposure
Nudity indicates insecurity
Nudity indicates feeling unprepared
Nudity indicates arrogance
Awesome choices to drill down into! Since the likelihood of you leaving your house and not realizing you forgot your pants until you are in the mall parking lot are incredibly slim, your dream is telling you something about yourself that you might not have even considered.
Let’s try one more, just for fun. Since I found the birthing of a litter of kittens rather strange and unusual, I’ll head to Dream Moods and do a quick search.
Under “kitten” I found a few paragraphs and selected the following:
To see a kitten in your dream represents a transitional phase toward independence. You are ready to explore new things that life has to offer. Alternatively, the dream symbolizes innocence and purity.
And, since I can easily throw innocence and purity out the window (sorry Mom), my best interpretation here is that I may have been going through some sort of life transition at the time. Either way, the explanation I found online made me feel a lot better about the crazy cat lady dream I had. Six kittens, really?
Regardless of how accurate the translations are, it’s fun and interesting to see what might be behind a REM escapade, I highly recommend trying it out next time you wake up in confusion about what just played through your mind.