Hurricane Irene

  So I am sitting here preparing to head out to Connecticut's pagan pride day, a great event that I think it's important to support. This year I am teaching a couple workshops at PPD as well as helping out by making posters of four of the neopagan wheel of the year holidays and an intro to Druidism poster. And you can't even imagine how hard it is to try to describe what Druidism is in a single poster, especially in a fair and objective manner, but that can wait for another blog...as I'm sitting here getting ready to head out in the back of my mind I'm thinking about Irene, the hurricane that's headed my way.
  We haven't had a hurricane (that amounts to anything) hit here since 1992, I think, with Hurricane Bob. In a practical sense I have bought supplies - water, batteries, non-perishable food - and come up with a Plan. Actually, being me, I have several Plans in a real practical sense of what I can do to keep myself and my family safe. I have done everything magically that I know how to ward and protect my home and strengthen what I already had in place. But still, I keep looking up at the large White Oaks that tower around my house and thinking that it won't hurt to appeal to powers beyond myself to help out here.
  This may be one of the few instances were my spiritual worlds collide, because I am making offerings to both sides of the aisle, as it were. I am asking Odin, who I often see as the Storm Rider, and Thor, God of Thunder, to ward the area of my home. I am asking Manannan to let the ocean be gentle here. And, of course, I am asking Macha to ward my home and family because I tend to ask either her or Odin, as the two I am dedicated to, for aid any time things get very serious. This time I don't think it's going to hurt to ask everybody....and of course I am asking the spirits of the land here to work with me in protecting my home and I am calling on my ancestors. My father especially has been very much in my mind with all of this; my whole childhood he used to spend each hurricane season with a dry erase map plotting the courses of each storm...
   At this point I feel as prepared as I can be, mundanely and spiritually, for this storm. It makes me wonder though for my other esoteric friends out there in Irene's path - are you doing anything "extra" to preapre for the storm?

Book review - The 21 Lessons of Merlin

I've decided to dedicate Monday's blog to book reviews. These will be fairly short and to the point, and try to focus on books relating to CR Paganism, Druidism, and Heathenry.
  To start, here is a basic book review of the (notorious) 21 Lessons of Merlin  by Douglas Monroe:
   21 Lessons is allegedly based on the secret teachings of Merlin, as revealed through the Welsh Book of Pheryllt; however this is nothing but a ploy to draw the reader in - the Book of Pheryllt is a well known forgery and there aren't any existing "ancient" lessons of Merlin. Rather the author seems to use these claims to set up his own authenticity as a teacher of true ancient Druidry while actually inventing a system almost whole cloth. I say almost because the author does include at least one "ancient" chant stolen from the 1981 movie Excalibur; anyone familiar with the movie should recognize it right away.
   I found this book was not worth reading as well because it was poorly researched and is full of historical inaccuracies and anachronisms. There is little to no actual Celtic mythology or material in the book at all, which is clearly a problem. Monroe at various points asserts that the ancient Druids were vegetarians and that Easter was a Druidic festival to the Goddess Ishtar, neither of which is either true or even possible. He mentions pumpkins as if they were a native European plant when they aren't and also talks about using pumpkin flowers at Samhain, long after the plant has stopped flowering. Worse than all of that though is Monroe's deep-seated misogyny which is displayed throughout the book. For example in 21 Lessons the Druids are divided by gender based on the theory that men generate magical power but women can only gain it by taking it from a man, something that not only makes no sense but goes against basic Celtic cosmology which says that all beings have their own power and which tends to see women as specifically holding the keys to sovereignty and the power of the land.
   It may well have spiritual value for some people - as does The Mists of Avalon, another Arthurian novel - but it loses credibility with me for trying to pass itself off as nonfiction. The argument put forth by some supporters of the book that anyone who criticizes it is not enlightened enough to truly understand it is typical of books that can't back up what they claim - since there is no "ancient" document or tradition of Merlin's lessons, which are entirely the author's invention, the only possible defense is to denigrate the spirituality of the books detractors.  It might have been alright as an Arthurian novel except for the fact that by passing itself of as legitimate "ancient Druid" teachings I feel that it is actually hurting modern Druidry and Celtic spirituality by misleading people who are new to the spirituality. This book, in fact, has little to do with any actual ancient Druidry and even less to do with modern Druidry, and is worth reading only as a poorly written novel.
     If you like Arthurian fiction I'd recommend the The Mists of Avalon series and for studies on ancient Druidry try Hutton's the The Druids or his Blood and Mistletoe or Markale's  The Druids: Celtic Priests of Nature. For modern Druidry Brendan Meyers' Mysteries of Druidry, Bonewit's Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism or Carr-Gomm's Druid Mysteries: Ancient Wisdom for the 21st Century would be a good start.

Leaping off the edge...

   I'm taking a break from the more spiritual discussion topics and going personal today.
   I've always been a very self-sufficient person. I pretty much took care of myself from about age 12 on, and I knew that if I didn't no one else would, at least not consistently. I had what you might call a difficult childhood that way, but it made me a strong person. I moved out of my parents house when I was 18 and was married by 19, working 3 part time jobs and handling all the messy details of life like finances and groceries - because you know the old joke about drummers right? (What do you call a drummer that breaks up with his girlfriend? Homeless.) I started babysitting for pay at 12 and had my first "real" job at 16, and in my adult life I have rarely worked less than 2 jobs at once, even after having children. I've always been the one who did what needed to be done...
  Yesterday I quit my job, gave up my nice weekly paycheck, and I'm kind of terrified about that. I worry about what will happen, how we will manage. Although I will be picking up what I can doing tarot, rune, and assorted card readings, teaching esoteric classes, and helping out at my friend's store this is the first time since I was 16 I haven't had a set income. So, why did I do it?
  I took a leap of faith, with every logical ounce of my being screaming the whole way. I did it because my youngest daughter, who is 3 years old, has several chronic health problems and it has gotten to the point where doing what I need to for her and giving my job a 100% was impossible. And when it comes down to it no matter how scary this is for me, no matter how much I worry about what will come tomorrow, I promised myself when she was a baby that I would do whatever I could to make her life one that is defined by possibilities and not limitations. I made a choice to put what I feel is best for her in front of the security that has been the focus of much of my life so far, because I love my children more than I love my own desire for security. Did I do the right thing? I don't know. It will mean changes for the entire family and that certainly brings up the very Star Trek debate of whether the good of the one should outweigh the good of the many. But in my heart I feel I made the right choice and now I can only have faith that somehow it will all work out, even though it goes against my nature to step blindly over that precipice.
    I'm usually the one with the map, backpack full of supplies for every possible eventuality, compass, and 12 emergency back-up plans....but not anymore. Now I am leaping into the unknown. And we shall have to wait and see what happens.

Familiars and why I don't believe in them

This is from a response I wrote to a question on an email group.

     Do Wiccans and neopagan witches have familiars? It really depends on who you ask. There are plenty of people that will say that a familiar is an animal who is bonded in some way with the witch and that helps them with their magic. Familiars are often beloved pets, are said to choose the witch, and seem drawn to magical workings (http://www.netplaces.com/wicca-witchcraft/the-animal-kingdom/familiars.htm). It seems like everyone has a familiar these days and people will talk about theirs with little reason to - and show pictures. New witches will wring their hands and worry about why they don't have one and how to get one, and be offered sage advice from those who do claim to have them. Familiars are a hot commodity.
    In all honesty I am in the other camp, which is the minority; I do not believe that familiars exist in the sense of pets we bond with. The idea of familiars is medieval, based on accusations that "witches" were assigned a demon to serve them and that this demon took the form of a common animal to blend in - the word familiar itself is shortened from familiar spirit, as in "she hath a familiar spirit". Obviously since Wiccans don't make pacts with the Christian Devil or work with demons they don't have familiar spirits, ergo no familiars. There is a secondary approach that views familiars as faeries that attach themselves in animal form to specific people, especially those who practice cunning craft or are closely allied with the Fey, but this concept is not as well known or widespread and would apply on in very specific cases. In either case the historic views of what a familiar was are not often understood in a modern context.
    The modern idea tends to focus on familiars as closely bonded pets who are sensitive to magic workings, but historically a familiar would actually be used for a variety of magical purposes such as carrying messages, enhancing magic, delivering spells to their targets etc.,, effectively making the animal a source of magical energy and an energetic servant. How many of us actually want to use our beloved pet as a magical battery? Others will argue that a familiar is an animal that is not a normal animal but has a special spirit, sometimes even the spirit of a person or guide within it. Do you really want to believe your cat is possessed or overshadowed by a secondary spirit? Because the alternative is to believe that the spirit has permanently bound itself into flesh for the lifetime of the animal which is very limiting to the spirit and would reduce its ability to effectively guide you.
    To me it seems like some people who are very very close to a particular pet choose to view that pet as a "familiar" because it sounds special and important, not because the pet is actually serving the traditional role of a familiar. I would not want my cats to "serve" me magically, or to be possessed, or to be anything but happy kitties living happy kitty lives; maybe that's my bias showing ; )  I do think there may be certain cases where an animal actually is a familiar or at the least is bonded to the person in a way that is genuinely unusual, but I think these cases are far less common than the ones that are just pets. And there's nothing wrong with that. I can love my pets as they are without needing them to be anything but pets.

Bibliography:

Davies, O., (2003). Cunning-Folk: Popular Magic in English History. London: Hambledon Continuum.    

Thomas, K., (1973). Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century England. London: Penguin. 

Wilby, E., (2005). Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits: Shamanistic Visionary Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and Magic. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press. 

Massello, R., (1996). Raising Hell: A Concise History of the Black Arts and Those Who Dared to Practice Them. Perigee Trade

Hear my prayer...

There's a saying in neopaganism "ask three pagans a question and you'll get five answers", well I think if you ask three neopagans about prayer you may get seven answers. It always surprises me that something that seems so essential to me can cause so much controversy in the larger neopagan community; after all prayer can be found (as far as I know) in every culture and religion around the world. Yet there are some people who are very firm in their opinions that prayer has no place in neopaganism. The same is true in Recon. although I've seen it more in heathenry than CR. There just seems to be something about prayer - especially daily or devotional prayer - that really puts some people off. Now don't get me wrong I'm all in favor of personal practice being unique and I don't think what works for me should be required for anyone else; I may pray daily and someone else may never pray outside of ritual, or at all, and that's fine. What I don't understand is people who are totally against the concept altogether.
   There seems to be some idea that prayer, daily or devotional prayer that is, is a "Christian thing", despite the fact that it is seen in many other cultures.  I am not as open about this as I used to be because when I talk about it I almost inevitably am accused of having Christian baggage - hilarious since I wasn't raised Christian and only studied Christianity as an adult long after my habit of daily prayer was begun. But the whole "Christian baggage" thing is a common accusation in some pagan and Recon debates, tossed out without any supporting argument, and used as if it were the final word. The equivalent of saying "No one should listen to you because you think like one of them". Like a child shouting "you have cooties!"
   Personally I love prayer; I pray in the mornings and I pray at night because I find it helps me feel both connected to Powers beyond myself - be they my ancestors, the daione sidhe, or the Gods - and that I get a feeling of peace and centered-ness from prayer. I pray because I want to pray and because I enjoy praying. Prayer is a little way, on a regular basis, to strengthen and reaffirm my relationship with those Powers. I may accompany my prayers with little offerings - incense, candles, herbs, actions - or I may only offer my own energy. I tend to follow the Celtic practice of singing my prayers, making little chants and songs out of traditional material I have reworked or writing my own. I may pray to ask for things like protection for my home and family or blessings, or I may just pray to honor whoever I am praying to. I try to have fun with it; I once made a prayer to Odin in limerick form, even. I feel like I am giving my energy and focus to those Powers for that time and I also feel like I am getting something out of it because it does help me feel better and more connected to them.
   There is a lot of beauty in prayer that I wish more people were open to, even if they don't choose to do it.
  

Fáed Fíada - The Deer's Cry

The Deer's Cry is a portion of a prayer called Saint Patrick's Lorica, or breastplate from around the 8th century CE in Ireland. The portion that makes up the Deer's Cry is thought to be a survival of an older traditional prayer by some people; whether it is or not it is a beautiful little prayer and very useful.

Old Irish:

"Atomriug indiu
niurt nime,
soilsi gréne,
étrochtai éscai,
áni thened,
déni lóchet,
luaithi gaíthe,
fudomnai mara,
tairismigi thalman,
cobsaidi ailech." *

Modern Irish:

"Éirím inniú
I gcumhacht na bhFlaitheas,
I soillse gréine,
I ngile na gealaí,
In áilleacht tine,
I mire lasrach,
I luas gaoithe,
I ndoimhneacht farraige,
I mbuanseasmhacht talún,
I ndaingneacht carraige."**

English:

"I arise today
strength of heaven
light of the sun,
brilliance of the moon,
splendor of fire,
speed of lightning,
swiftness of wind,
depth of the sea,
stability of the earth,
firmness of rock."


*Old Irish courtesy of http://www.daltai.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/daltai/discus/show.pl?tpc=12465&post=10574#POST10574
** Modern Irish courtesy of http://www.cumannnasagart.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=18&Itemid=45

Prayer for Lughnasa

This is based on the Carmina Gadelica, but modernized and made pagan...

Reaping Blessing 89

Gods may you bless my reaping,
Each ridge, and plain, and field,
Each sickle curved, shapely, hard,
Each ear and handful in the sheaf,
Each ear and handful in the sheaf.
Bless each maiden and youth,
Each woman and tender child,
Safeguard them beneath Your shield of strength,
And guard them beneath the shadow of your power,
Guard them beneath the shadow of your power.
Encompass each goat, sheep and lamb,
Each cow and horse, and store,
Surround the rocks and herds,
And tend them in a kindly fold,
Tend them in a kindly fold.
May Lugh, the many skilled, bless us,
May Danu’s blessing flow to us,
May Brighid of curling locks bless us,
And our ancestors of the graves and tombs,
and our ancestors of the graves and tombs.