Believing in Santa – a Pagan’s perspective

Today I'm linking to my blog over on Hartford FAV's http://hartfordfavs.com/2013/12/22/believing-santa-pagans-perspective/ where I discuss Santa Claus in today's world. Personally I believe Santa plays a huge role this time of year - as he should - and deserves to be honored. Of course I also think if you squint really hard he resembles a certain Norse God...

The Alfar and the Fair Folk

 I've mentioned before that the main focus of my practice are the spirits of the Otherworld and I honor both an Irish and Norse/Germanic cultural paradigm. I thought it might be helpful to explain a bit more about how those two cultures' views on both the spirits of the land and on the Otherworldly spirits are similar and different, specifically how the Norse alfar (elves) are like and unlike the Irish  daoine sidhe. I'll handle the land spirits part in a separate blog. I'd like to get into the actual comparison of the alfar and aos sidhe here; this should help illustrate how I can honor both the alfar and daoine sidhe.
   Both the Alfar and Fairy People, the daoine sidhe, are described as tall, beautiful, and shining, although in later folk stories they are also seen as looking like ordinary humans except with an Otherworldly aura about them. both were later said to have diminished in stature and are often conflated with smaller Otherworldly beings which may be called by the same name but appear distinct in folklore. The Irish use euphemisms, such as Good People, Fair Folk and Gentry when speaking of the people of the sidhe to avoid offending them and in the same way the Icelanders call the Alfar Huldufolk (hidden folk) because its believed that it offends them to be called Alfar (Sontag, 2007).
     In Ireland the daoine sidhe live in the hollow hills, mountains, and lakes; in Iceland the Huldufolk similarly live in natural features like boulders and cliffs; both cultures believe that construction which destroys a place belonging to the these beings will bring great misfortune. In the Irish it is believed that the Fair Folk live within the fairy hills but also that they make their home in the Otherworld, while the alfar similarly live in natural features but also have their own world, Ljossalfheim. Both worlds have a different flow of time that can affect those who visit.
  Both groups are known to ride out, the alfar in processions, the daoine sidhe on fairy rades, and both are connected to the Wild Hunt. Arguably the Irish Fairy Rades, encomapssing the Slua sidhe, are more dangerous, although it is never safe to cross paths with an alfar procession either. Both groups are known to ride out especially on certain days; however the Irish Fair Folk are believed to be most active on the quarter days of Beltane, Lughnasa, Samhain, and Imbolc, while the Norse alfar are most active on or around the solstices.
  In the Norse material we often see references to the Gods and Alfar (example from the Voluspa: "48. How fare the Aesir? How fare the alfar?") and in the Irish we have the phrase "deithe agus an-deithe" (Gods and not-Gods). I tend to see parallels between these two concepts, with both cultures seeming to have an idea of the Gods and the alfar/daoine sidhe as related but separate groups. this separation is more clearly defined in the Norse material than the Irish which shows a much less firm delineation between gods and daoine sidhe.
   Both the Alfar and the Aos Sidhe are intricately bound up with the dead, and it is not uncommon in stories to see the dead, especially the recently dead, among the ranks of both cultures' Otherworldly beings. In the Norse and Germanic cultures the dead might join the alfar in the mounds and conversely the alfar were believed to have many similar abilities to ghosts or spirits. In the Irish the dead often appear among the daoine sidhe, usually explained as people who did not die but were taken. In both cultures the ancient burial mounds are believed to be supernatural homes of these Otherworldly beings.
   Both groups are known to steal certain types of humans and to mix bloodlines with people. In both cases brides and newborns are considered tempting targets for abduction, but in the Norse it is also possible for a human to win their Otherworldly lover as a bride (most often) by casting iron over them (Gundarsson, 2007). In the Irish it is more likely for the human to be taken, with a changeling left behind to wither and die, although there are a few stories of men who took fairy wives, something that usually didn't end well. Both culture's hidden folk are prone to taking midwives as well, and the Norse may take wet nurses, while the Irish may also take musicians. The Irish daoine sidhe are also known to take horses, cattle, and steal a family's luck by borrowing or tricking a family member out of milk or fire from the home.
    Both the Alfar and the daoine sidhe are offered to by the common people, usually to earn their good will or to avoid strife or ill luck. In both cases milk is found as a traditional offering, although otherwise offerings can vary.  Generally offerings are left outside, usually in a place associated with the alfar, such as a boulder with a depression in it or a hill, or with the daoine sidhe, such as a fairy hill, lake, or solitary tree. A positive relationship grants blessing, luck, and prosperity. With both groups the consequences of angering or offending those powers is very similar and can include illness, madness, and death. Interestingly, while both groups have alfshot or elfshot (invisible projectiles) the Irish version are more mild, causing cramping or inexplicable pain, while the Norse version is thought to cause far more serious maladies like arthritis and cancer.
   While the gifts of the Irish daoine sidhe are often not what they appear to be in a negative way - a fistful of gold might be revealed at dawn to be worthless leaves - the gifts of the alfar go the other way, with leaves turning into gold. Generally speaking the alfar are also more generous and benign in nature than the Irish sidhe (Gundarsson, 2007). Similarly the alfar seem slightly more forgiving and more willing to overlook human faux pas than the daoine sidhe who operate with a rigid etiquette that accepts no excuses.
   Iron and rowan are good protections against both groups, although exactly how the iron is used varies slightly. The Norse also see sulphur and juniper as  good protections, while the Irish see hazel as having some protective qualities along with several other herbs, including Saint John's Wort and Mothan. There are numerous charms in both cultures to defend against these beings; in the Irish there are specialists called fairy doctors or bean feasa as well to help people afflicted by the daoine sidhe.
  The best way to get a firm grasp on the qualities of the hidden people - of either culture - is to read the mythology and folklore relating to them. While it is largely true that both groups have many things in common they also have key differences which make it clear that they may be closely related but are not identical in nature. Someone choosing a blended or syncretic approach would do well to carefully study both sides of the supernatural aisle in order to best honor these important spirits in their practice; similarly someone honoring only one culture should realize that while they have much in common they are not entirely the same and should be careful not to assume that what is acceptable or viable with one would be the same for the other.

Further reading:
  Grimm's Teutonic Mythology  http://www.northvegr.org/secondary%20sources/mythology/grimms%20teutonic%20mythology/01701.html
 Yeats' Celtic Twilight http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/yeats/twi/twi39.htm
Briggs, Katharine (1978) The Vanishing People: Fairy Lore and Legends.
Evans-Wentz, W. Y. (1966, 1990) The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries.
Sontag, K (2007). Parallel worlds : fieldwork with elves, Icelanders and academics. University of Iceland. pp. 13–14.
Vincenz, M. (2009) To Be or Not to Be http://www.grapevine.is/Features/ReadArticle/Article-To-Be-or-Not-to-Be
 Gundarsson, K., (2007). Elves, Wights, and Trolls
 Kirk, R., (1893) The secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/sce/index.htm
Croker, T., (1825). Fairy Legends and Traditions http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/flat/index.htm
Assorted Norse mythology http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ice/index.htm

What is Service?

  I've talked a couple times now about the idea of service and I've realized that maybe I need to clarify what I mean by that.
   Most people who honor the Gods and spirits* do so as the equivalent of what might be called laymen: someone whose religious activity is a part of their life but who would look to others to lead or for specialized help. Some people, in my view, end up being called by the Gods and powers to serve the role of being those leaders and specialized helpers. This is a logical process and its how most things work, really. I use a computer, but I look to a more tech savvy person when I need help with my computer, whether that's getting my pc and printer to talk to each other, removing a virus, or updating something. In the same way religious communities naturally are mostly people who are content to practice the religion without wanting the responsibility or hassle of having the specialized knowledge. Now obviously not all leaders in paganism are leaders because they are called to it by higher powers, but I do think many are.
  So, I've talked in my last blog abut how people who are called by the Gods are called to serve - what does that mean? I would say that it means to serve that God or those Gods within the community, either directly or indirectly. How this will actually work will be different based on each person's skill set, but some people may be called to be ritual leaders, some to write prayers (or books), some to teach; all iterations though on the theme - re-building the worship of that particular God, or more broadly that religion, in the world. Even the people who end up with a more reclusive approach tend to contribute to the broader community in some way, usually through their writings.
   Those who serve fill a need, one that is painfully present in our modern community - call it Deity outreach. Because someone has to do it, has to be out there rebuilding the broken connections and teaching the new generations how to interact with the Old Powers. Someone has to step up and create community; someone has to be a guide for beginners seeking something they don't fully understand; someone has to teach us how to connect to our own roots; someone has to bring back the honoring of Gods and Powers almost forgotten. And that is, I think, ultimately the types of service I see people being called to.  When the Gods find a person suited to serve their purpose they push, nudge, poke, inspire - aka call - that person to that work. It isn't fancy or glamorous, its mostly just hard work, and I often wonder why anyone would do it if they didn't feel called to do it.
   Now, having said all that in my own cynical, it-must-be-done, way, I'll add that it isn't all hard work and no play. There is plenty of joy and just plain fun in doing what needs to be done. There's moments that are absurd and ridiculous, particularly if - like me - you do much with the Fey. There are beautiful and moving experiences and there are indescribable moments of Mystery that are invaluable. The Gods are all about reciprocity; it isn't all just giving, giving, giving on our end and nothing back. I can honestly say that I would never have personally chosen to do many of the things I've done in service, but I have truly enjoyed the experiences I've had along the way and I'm glad I took the road less traveled by.

* really this could be Gods, a God, daoine sidhe, ancestors, anything like that but for simplicity here I'm just going to say "Gods" and you can switch in or out whatever specific term you want to.

Why None of Us are Special Snowflakes

This blog should probably have a blogging while ill warning label. So you've been warned.

      There's an expression in modern pagan communities: special snowflake. It's used for people who are very vocal about having a strong connection to the Gods, or who claim unusual knowledge, power, or authority or otherwise seem to be trying really hard to get attention. It's based, of course, on the idea that all snowflakes are unique while simultaneously being uniform but the special snowflake believes they deserve extra attention and praise for being themselves. In paganism there's a wide array of ways that people fall into special snowflake categories, but the one that I probably see the most often, and hence that annoys me the most, are the ones who feel that they have been called to some unique service that deserves automatic, unquestioning respect.
   You know what though? Many of us, myself included, are called to serve; service doesn't make you special, it makes you useful. The fact that people don't like to acknowledge is that we are all extremely temporary to the Gods and spirits. Our mortal lives are moments in their far broader reality. Do we have value to them? I 'm certain we do, even on an individual level, but that value is not eclipsed by their wider need to accomplish certain things and keep an eye always to greater goals. I won't ever pretend to understand the wheels within wheels of Odin's plans - I know I have a value to him and serve a purpose, but I am also keenly aware that when I am gone someone else will take my place. We are none of us special in the grand scheme of things because we are all ultimately utilitarian. We serve our purpose, either well or badly, and when we fall to time's inevitable limits the next one will come along to serve the next step. No matter how knowledgeable, how powerful, how skilled, or how well a person serves the Gods their time is limited and the importance of their power, knowledge, skill, and service in their life is not measured by how special they think they are, but by how they effect the lives of other people and how well they serve their purpose. And that, ultimately, is only truly measured and judged with time.
   Special snowflake syndrome annoys me because it distracts from the important issues. The things that matter, that we should be discussing as a community, don't revolve around cult's of personality and one individual's (or many different individuals') need for special attention. As a community we waste far too much time and energy encouraging or fighting special snowflake syndrome when we should just be ignoring it. There is so much work to be done and we need to focus on doing it, not trying to prove how much more important we are to deity X or spirit Y, or conversely that some other person isn't. If a person is actually a special friend in that way to a God or spirit then it is the God or spirit that will make it plain, not the person - that's how its always worked in mythology and folklore and I don't see any reason why the internet would change anything. In fact if one were cynical, which I clearly am today, one might point out the many prohibitions in some cultures, like the Irish, about talking or bragging about special consideration you receive from the daoine sidhe, for example, lest you lose that friendship...
   None of us are special snowflakes, and we need to stop encouraging people to try to be.

Nation Novel Writing Month

 I am doing Nation Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this year for the first time. The past few years I have sat and watched many of my friends do it and felt rather envious of how much fun they seem to be having. All the talk of word counts and plots; even the wailing over blocks and rewrites seem like a great time. Me, I write non-fiction or on occasion poetry. I enjoy it, but its definitely more work than any kind of fun.
   This year I am going totally out of my own comfort zone and writing a novel. I haven't written fiction in almost 20 years and my own taste runs to an ultra niche genre that isn't likely to interest a huge audience. So I decided not to write it for anyone but myself; I'm doing it just for the pure joy of telling the story. I'm not worrying about how well or badly I'm doing it or whether other people will like it. I'm not planning to publish (although I think I will take it all the way through to a final draft) so I'm not writing it with an eye to marketing it or making it appealing to the public. After talking with a few friends I even stopped my own inner critic who automatically tries to write for what I think others want to read.
   So far I've found it to be an amazingly liberating experience. I'm remembering why I used to love writing, why I have so many notebooks from high school full of tediously handwritten stories. I'm telling a story I want to read, and its fun.

Celebrating Samhain

   I've blogged about this before, but several people have asked this year so here is how I celebrate Samhain:

  For my family Samhain is a three day holiday which begins on October 31st. Although I tend to favor the idea that originally the holiday was agrarian based and timed depending on environmental signals which would have brought the herds in from summer pastures, I chose a set time for convenience and so my children could look forward to the date. Since generally the four fire festivals are dated on the kalends of the month, which would make Samhain on November 1st, I start my celebration the day before and end it the day after that date.
  The first day of the holiday is dedicated to the daoine sidhe and wandering ghosts. Since we also celebrate secular Halloween with trick or treating my children give the sidhe a tithe of candy from their take at the end of the night. Porridge is offered as well, left out near the woods and I tell the kids fairy-stories. After the kids go to bed I also re-swear my oath to my Druid Order because this is the anniversary of my dedication as a Druid in White Oak.
   The second day is dedicated to the Gods. Usually an Morrighan and an Dagda, but this year I am honoring Macha and Nuada instead. As part of this I tell my children stories about the Gods or spirits and things that happened on Samhain, of which there are many to choose from in Irish myth. This year I'm planning on talking about the second battle of Moytura and the Tuatha De overcoming the Fomorians. As part of my ritual I extinguish all the candles on my altar and relight them to symbolically re-enact the Samhain fire lighting at Tlachtga. We have a small ritual feast as well, of pork and apples with seasonal vegetables, some of which is offered to the Gods, spirits, and ancestors. 
   The third and final day is for the ancestors. I light candles on my ancestor altar and tell my children stories about the family members who have passed from this life. We set an extra place at dinner and leave out a plate of food for the dead. I also often talk to my children about the turning of the seasons and the approach of winter now. We take our Halloween pumpkins and offer them to the woods to feed the deer and other wildlife. 

Patrons and Priestesshood

     Recently I was reading John Beckett's essay "Hearing the Call" and I think he raises several good points about the way that modern pagans approach the ideas of patron* deities and dedication. Obviously I can only speak about this from a more Reconstructionist-flavored viewpoint, but I do think its a valuable discussion to have. I want to say up front though that this is a topic that I'm very ambivalent about. Despite being dedicated to a Norse God and Irish Goddess, and having a relationship with the daoine sidhe that is very similar, I am not a big advocate of patronage or dedication.
   Firstly modern pagans do tend to immediately assume everyone should have a patron. One of the most common questions I see asked on discussion groups and in classes is how a person can find their patron or know who their patron is. The common perception seems to be that all pagans have patrons or are dedicated to a specific deity and that, therefore, finding and declaring yours somehow makes you more pagan. Of course that isn't true; many polytheists don't have patrons, some don't even believe in the concept, and whether one has one or not has nothing to do with how pagan a person is or isn't. 

   Secondary to this is a pervasive idea that a person's patron is simply the deity they happen to like the most or, in some cases, feel is the most impressive. I think this comes from a common misunderstanding because people who have patrons do tend to talk more about their patrons than other deities they may honor, giving an impression that their patron is their favorite deity. In this case though it isn't a case of choosing the one you liked the most, but rather that a certain one is the closest to you and so gives the impression of being a favorite. It's also not as simple as choosing your own patron in some cases, unless you are choosing one based on a career or specific activity; there are some people who choose to permanently or temporarily oath to a patron of a certain activity that they participate in, usually with a formal ritual contract. Outside of that though many people believe that you should not choose your patron they should choose you; I can say that I did not choose mine, nor was I looking for patronage of any sort. I believe that, ideally, patronage should be something that grows organically as a person develops their personal practice, rather than a matter of selecting deity x from column b. It's also important to remember that the choice to enter into patronage requires agreement on both sides. Just because you want a deity to be your patron does not mean that the deity will actually be, anymore than asking a famous person to show up at your house means they will be knocking on your door. Of course the flip side to that is sometimes you can enter into such a situation blindly or without enough thought, the deity will accept the offer, and you may regret your impetuousness.
   The reality is that polytheism does often have general patrons for trades or careers, but the idea of personal patrons is more complex. Does it happen? Yes - historically as well as now - but so often the modern view lacks the understanding of service that goes along with it. Patronage, like so many other things, is a reciprocal relationship. To have a personal patron means to be give something back to that deity. Patronage can also be either temporary or permanent, and it is generally a good idea to clearly specify which one you intend. 

    Beyond patronage, and something that is often confused or conflated with it, is dedication. To me dedication is the choice to enter into the service of a deity; in modern pagan terms this might be described as being the clergy - the priestess or priest - of that deity. In my experience many people who talk about having a patron deity are not actually talking about having a deity that is a special guide or protector, but are actually talking about being or wanting to be a priestess of that deity. It is true that patronage can and sometimes does evolve into dedication, and perhaps this contributes to the confusion between the two, but whereas patronage (in my opinion) is like having a good friend among many casual friends, dedication is like joining the military, at least in as much as you are turning part of your life over to the service of that deity. 

    Being dedicated to Macha, and Odin, makes my life very very complicated and means that I serve their purpose as best I can. Being dedicated to a deity on a personal level, to me, means acting as clergy for that deity, especially. It means making offerings, conducting rituals, prayers, and generally being willing to fill whatever role ultimately serves that deity. I have done many, many things in service I never would have done otherwise, from writing and teaching certain subjects, to officiating weddings and founding groups, to helping total strangers. Service has been about literal blood, sweat, and tears at times. Its part of being a Druid in my opinion, beyond serving the community as clergy, but it isn't simple or easy. Its not something to choose lightly and it changes you. There's a price to be paid, and its hard to understand what that price will be until you are living it. I don't think its possible to fully understand what it means to be dedicated (just like you can't know what its like to join the military) until you're on the other side of it. Its always, at best, a leap of faith. Some people take that leap with as much preparation as possible. Others do it on a whim. The one's motivated by whim baffle me, in a way, especially when its purely human motivation - no "calling" from the God, the person just decides it's super cool - because whatever the motivation is the offer can be accepted. And sometimes it is. 

 Quite frankly I don't know why anyone would want to do it, except that obviously it has to be done. The idea that its glamorous or makes a personal special (or should I say Speshul?) just strikes me as ridiculous. I am not special; I am utilitarian, serving a purpose in the world. It's work, and the work never ends.

   

*Patron: 1 a :  a person chosen, named, or honored as a special guardian, protector, or supporter http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/patron This is the definition most closely in line with the modern pagan usage of the term; a deity who is believed to have a special connection to a person through the person's dedication or oath which forms a reciprocal relationship