We talk a lot about goddesses of sovereignty, especially in Irish polytheism, but there is a disconnect between the ancient understanding of what those goddesses did and what they are seen to do in a modern context. Often the way that sovereignty is perceived is heavily colored by modern ideals of the value of the individual and of individual freedom, while the ancient view saw sovereignty as the right of one person to exert control over others. This disconnect is born from a misunderstanding or romanticism of the historic concept and yet may also represent a way in which the old gods are evolving and adapting to a new world.
Frau Holda, physical worship and a story about knitting
Recently there was an interesting blog about hands-on worship, the idea of honoring our Gods with practical physical actions. I thought it was well written and made good points but it also got me thinking about how often we may be called to do that in our own lives and how – or whether – we respond. So I wanted to share a story about my experience with Frau Holda, and the way that tangible skills are an act of worship in themselves.
In the Earth – a poem
In the Earth
(Out of respect to the author, no mangling snippet of the poem will be posted. Please click the link below to see the full work.)
Gather.
To the woods, for nightshade, coneflower, cornflower, pears, apples, vervain, mullein and old clay mud from under the rotting pines. The flowers bust form every corner of the meadow, a blue ocean in between islands of ancient broom bushes, and I bless every herb at the altar of the ancestors, witches and old gods.
Gods With Us
An interesting topic that crops up in Celtic pagan discussion groups from time to time is whether the Irish (or more generally Celtic) Gods and spirits travel with the people who acknowledge them, or whether they are stationary, tied as it were to specific locations. People who argue for the latter view point to the way that Irish Gods were strongly associated with specific locations and the way that they were said in some cases to be embodied by the land, such as the hills called the Paps of Anu. How, this argument says, if the Gods are so strongly connected to those places can they also be elsewhere? Now my own view takes the former side and I decided to use today’s blog to explain my viewpoint.
Brón Trogain 2014
This year we are celebrating Lughnasa by it’s older name of Brón Trogain. For my family it begins today, July 31st as we go out and start picking berries. Berry picking for several years has been the main activity of our holiday, the way we officially begin celebrating.
Luck.
Celebrating Lughnasa, Together or Alone
It is clear from my last blog that for a modern practitioner there is an abundance of material to work with in finding ways to celebrate Lughnasa. I’m going to offer several suggestions for practice that could be used for anyone with a Irish leaning, or who would like to celebrate this holy day in a Irish manner, but I leave the actual ritual up to the individual or group to design. Personally I follow a basic structure of blessing the space, invoking the ancestors, daoine sidhe, and Gods and offering to them, praying or saying something about the purpose of the ritual, making a main offering for the holiday, divination, thanking the Powers, and feasting. My own approach is Irish Reconstructionist in nature and that doubtless colors my view, but I would like to offer this to anyone of any faith who celebrates Lughnasa.
Books to share with the Kids
In the previous blog post, I mentioned I had been working on a few projects, thus causing the blog to sit without any recent update. I’d like to share those projects with you because they could be beneficial to other Celtic Recon, Druid Recon, or Irish Recon Pagan parents.
ReVamping The Blog
When I first had the brain child for this little blog, I envisioned it being constantly contributed to with blogs from other Reconstructionist Pagan parents of all different traditions who wanted to share their insight with other parents who could relate and put that information to use. As you can see, due to other projects I have been involved with and a lack of time or interest from other Recon parents, the blog has sat dormant for a very long time. I have decided to change that.