The evening of this past April 30th my family celebrated our first German-oriented May Day. It has been an interesting experience so far shifting focus with the children; their questions are pushing me to clarify and have an understanding of what I am doing that I probably wouldn’t worry about otherwise.
Category Archives: By Land Sea and Sky
Walburgisnacht by Any Other Name….
Like the Irish the pagan Germans originally seem to have acknowledged only two seasons: summer and winter. In Teutonic Mythology Grimm discusses at length the way that these two halves, personified as “Herr Summer” and “Herr Winter” battle against each other with each one winning dominance over half the year (Grimm, 1888). Grimm emphasizes May Day as the beginning of summer, “Again, as summer begins with May, we have that month acting as its representative, and just as full of life and personality.” (Grimm, 1888). And also discusses its importance as a holiday, “Everything goes to prove, that the approach of summer was to our forefathers a holy tide, welcomed by sacrifices, feast and dance, and largely governing and brightening the people’s life.” (Grimm, 1888).
Shifting Focus
I’ve talked before about the fact that I follow a spiritual path that incorporates both Irish and Norse practices, but I tend to blog mostly about the Irish. Part of the reason for that is a struggle with talking about the personal aspects of my Heathenry; the other part is that my real connection is with Germanic Heathenry not Norse, but I defaulted to Norse early on because of the difficulty finding accessible modern Germanic Heathen material. I never felt quite at home in Asatru but hesitated to try to shift to the Germanic because I knew on some level that I’d end up having to do my own reconstruction of it, similar to what I do with the Irish.
Celtic Idolatry, past and present
Some people in Celtic Reconstruction prefer not to use images of the Gods, following the idea that the Celts themselves did not do so. A main source for this belief is a quote from the Gaulish Chieftain Brennus, who sacked Rome and was said to have been incredulous at the idea of statues of the Gods in human form in temples: “Brennus, the king of the Gauls, on entering a temple found no dedications of gold or silver, and when he came only upon images of stone and wood he laughed at them, to think that men, believing that gods have human form, should set up their images in wood and stone.” – Diodorus Siculus
Blessing the Growing Season
Preparing seeds to plant in the spring was something that was approached with great solemnity and ritual. The seeds to be planted would be sprinkled with water, in a sunwise motion, while a blessing charm was recited (Carmichael, 1900). This was done on a Friday, as it was seen as the day best for any action not needing the use of an iron tool (Carmichael, 1900). Interestingly Friday is also the day that the Good Neighbors were thought to be most active – they who are said to abhor iron – and in Irish belief the growth and success of crops is intertwined with the favorable interactions of the Good People.
Find Your Passion
When I was in high school I first ran across the maxim “carpe deim” – seize the day. I remember reading it and feeling how much the idea resonated with me, but I was unable to actually take the advice. My life for a long time revolved around doing what I needed to do and trying to conform to what others expected me to do – none of which involved seizing the day or embracing the moment. I was a people pleaser, even in my non conformity. How that changed is a long story, but I think we all at some point come to a place where we realize that making ourselves happy matters as much as making other people happy and that we need balance between the two. Whether we choose to act on this realization or not, and whether we over-react and go to far towards only pleasing ourselves, will depend on the individual.
Finding Balance
The spring equinox is upon us once more, a holiday that I celebrate several ways. Today, the equinox itself, I will honor Artio and leave offerings out for the Good Neighbors. This sunday I’ll honor Idunna and my children will enjoy coloring eggs and hunting for treats.
When The Gods Speak – part 2
In my last blog I talked about when the Gods speak to us with signs and omens, today I’d like to talk about some other methods, namely dreams, intermediaries, and directly. All of these methods have historical basis to varying degrees and also occur in modern times, but like signs and omens require a level of awareness on our part. No message gets through if we aren’t listening.
When The Gods Speak
Something I see all the time is people saying that they don’t understand people who say that the Gods talk to them, or that people who say it are looking for attention or delusional. Well, certainly that is sometimes the case and I’m not denying that, but I also think that the Gods do speak to us all the time and we just don’t listen. Maybe its the fact that one of my main focuses is Seership but I think it is important to learn to hear the Gods. We’ve been taught not to listen, not to pay attention to the signs and omens around us that can be their voice. They speak and we ignore.
Popular fiction and Modern Paganism
I’ve been pagan for a couple decades now and I’ve observed a couple trends over that time. One of the most perplexing to me is the way that popular fiction – by which I mean novels, television, and movies – shapes and influences paganism. The reason it perplexes me is because the things that get picked up and absorbed into the pagan paradigm are often based in plot points and rarely fit well or make sense (to me) in actual practice. I’ve had friends argue, however, that this reflects a normal growth and evolution within the wider community, creating the dynamic which is modern paganism.