By Fire Well and Tree

I forgot to hit enter!!   I had started writing some imaginary fictional stuff around high days. I of course can't find them... so I'm just starting over here... I every so often day dream about my ideal neopagan experience.  I decided to start to record them for... I don't know... a book? a guide to manifestation for the future? Who knows... So what follows here is just that. It is also MINE and I will hold and enforce all applicable copywrite privileges.   The leaves were just beginning to turn. The community had been in the fields for what seemed like days on end, bringing in the harvest.  Those that were not in the fields were in the kitchen, preserving whatever they could for the lean months to come.   The children were grabbing the corn husks and gathering them together fashioning two figures, male and female.   The sun was beginning to set, earlier than the day before, and the people returned to their dwellings for the evening's m...

 Here in suburbia, it is "my Lughnasadh," and I've begun a 12-day devotional in honor of the Many-Skilled One.  If anyone has ever spoken to me at great length about such things, you may have heard me called the Fire Festivals "portable."  What I mean is that the solstice and equinoxes have fixed astronomical points, related to the Earth's orbit around the sun. The fire festivals (Samhain, Imbolc, Beltainne, and Lughnasadh) have been assigned points mid-way between them, but my own UPG is that this is a modern convenience, and the folklore surrounding them may indicate that events in the tribal pastoral/horticultural rhythms were indicators of the time for being festive.  If you take, Imbolc, for example, one of the things surrounding Imbolc was the ewe's milk coming in, so a key indicator of by how much your heard may be increasing. Well, what if that doesn't happen on February 2?  What if it happens on February 5 or January 27?   What if we haven...

(I started this on 1/2 and then the world went kerblooey again....)  Once again, I was happy to host a Twelfth Night Celebration and Sumbl at our house. Well, it was via Zoom.  And there were a LOT more oaths this year, so we'll see :) The toasts were moving, the boasts were worthy, and the oaths were  S.M.A.R.T.   Because of the pandemic, it was all on line. I really hope we can be all together next year. I don't know why I can never center these! Throughout the Twelve Nights, I took an omen each night for the coming year, each one a rune to describe the energies for a month. So on the first night it was January, second night February...you get the idea.  I used Taren Martin's Anglo-Saxon deck, so some of the names may be different that you may be used to (and some don't appear in the Elder Futhark systems).  My mind has been all a-jumble with all things pandemic and politics, and I don't see either of those ending any time soon. 2021 will be as challengin...

Not really a dream. More like a daydream.  I was reflecting on the Solstice Vigil I had with friends via Facebook Messenger and Zoom, and then kind of let my mind wander.... The sun was starting to set as the residents of the settlement started to arrive at the common house.  They trudge through snow-strewn paths from their individual dwellings in this eco-village, carrying baskets of food and carrying slow cookers of assorted tasty foods for the feast.   As one walks into the main common area, the counters begin to fill and be arranged by type of food and the course of the meal. Salads over here, sides over there, deserts along the far wall. The timbers and railings along the second floor where the library was were all decorated and festooned with greenery, red and white bows, strands of cranberries and popcorn. A large fir tree had been cut down in the forest and was in the process of being stood up in a stand, with some of the folks judging if it were straight, or...

 I remembered to do this! And now I've remembered to share it! I used the Druid Oracle.  These are TWO sets of cards designed to work together.  The Druid Animal Oracle I am more familiar with. The Druid Plant Oracle complements it, and I'm less familiar with it. Normally, I take pictures, but as there are likely copywrite issues there, I will kindly request that you Internet search.  They also have a phone app, but I did use the physical cards.  I drew 9 cards from each deck.  There is one for each high day to reveal the energies (animal) and insights (plants) at play starting on that high day through to the next.  The ninth cards are sort of a keynote or theme of the whole year. (I do this type of thing often. Sometimes it's interesting to compare the Samhain card themes with the Yule Rune spread for the year, and then my own Tarot horoscope thread... but that's kind of crazy obsessive too, so I don't know if I can recommend it. So, with out further ...

 Fun times... So many times during this pandemic I've said "I  will take this time to blog" and, as you can see, I have not. The pandemic really shattered my plans, as it has done for everyone.  Instead of my "Lent"ish goals I posted about previously, I instead tried hold it together as best as I could. Some days I succeeded, but most days I did not, until a call to the doctor and some "better brain through chemistry" could be achieved. I did work with my land spirits, but when it came to officially marking the turns of the Wheel, I opted for the group rites (now via Zoom) and none of my normal home-based work.  Just wasn't feeling it.  And as you and I well know, that is EXACTLY the time that work needs to be done! The corn dolly was placed in the garden, and given flowers and herbs, but with little more than a "Thanks for being here."  I don't know if that's exactly WHY my garden was not so dandy this year...but I have taken not...

I know...I know... Pagans are not about austerities or otherwise about giving things up to honor a particular deity or things like that. But...hear me out. In Irish mythology, we have the concept of geas  which is often a taboo or other personal "rule" (for want of a better word) that a person cannot break without suffering dire spiritual or even physical consequences.  For example, Cuchulain cannot eat dog meat due to his association with dog as what we could argue is his totem animal.  His geas  is forever, though.  "Lenten austerities" only last for 40 days (although it's really more like 46. The Sundays somehow don't count, if I remember correctly). The other thing is that even among Christians the idea of Lent is misunderstood.  Lent is not supposed to be a time of giving up something as a display of one's awesome willpower.  One should give up something meaningful, but for the purpose of improving oneself and one's relationship with God...