One of my first steps in approaching Germanic Heathenry has been to look at what holidays to celebrate. Up until now I’ve divided my holidays between the Norse and Irish, with the solar holidays – the equinoxes and solstices – being Norse, so this represents an entirely new approach. I believe though that its important to have a solid idea of what is being celebrated, when, and why because it not only connects us to the cycle of the year but also creates a pattern of offerings and reciprocity with the gods and spirits.
Sommer Entdeckung – My Family’s First Walburgisnacht
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.
A ritual to dedicate the next year to studying Manannan Mac Lir (along side my Gods)
Purifying Self:
Dip your hand into water, touch your forehead and say: “May I be pure that I might cross through the sacred.”
Dip your hand again, touch your lips: “May I cross through the sacred that I may attain the holy.”
Dip your hand again, touch your heart and say: “May I attain the holy that I might be blessed in all things.”
Petition Ritual:
My Beltaine ritual
This was a quiet ritual for me last night at home.
The Ritual:
What is needed: four candles (three for representing the gods, ancestors, and spirits, and one to represent the central or ‘hearth’ fire), offerings (bread, raw meat, and apples) a drinking vessel, a vessel to hold offerings (apple juice). Purifying water (I use rain water or spring water).
Renewal of my formal contract with my household Deities
I decided to do three different rituals this Beltaine, the first of which was last night. I decided to renew my contract with my household Deities and ask them if they would be okay with me studying Manannán Mac Lír for the next year. It is a huge commitment for me and so I needed to be sure it was okay with my Deities. Here is the ritual I used:
Purifying Self:
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.
Journeywork
I’ve done a few different types of what I call generically “journeywork.” There are a lot of different techniques that I have read, learned, and practice for these experiences (“accident” is perfectly valid, by the way), and many of those techniques can be path specific and rather complicated and time consuming. So I’m not going […]
Closing the Sale
So I had a job interview. I had a second interview for the same job. This is a good sign. It is a sales position. I’m not normally enthusiastic about sales positions. I’m not generally suited for aggressive sales. That kind of high energy persuasion wears me out quickly. But the nature of this job […]
Magic in the American Fabric
My family is typical, very American in that we are diverse and representing of every demographic that makes this country the culture it is. My ancestors migrated from region to region all over this place, collecting the folk magic and superstitions of the cultures we encountered, adopted or descended from. We are a blend of the typical American bloodlines; various kinds of European, Native American, African and Latin American. My generation, my siblings and I, are the culmination of hundreds of years of immigration, adoption, homesteading and assimilating on this land. From my family and my own experience moving along the West Coast; being raised by Southerners in the Southwest and later the Pacific Northwest, I have developed a kind of strange and intimate relationship with regional forms of folk-magic in America– things I never really thought about as being cross-cultural syncretic religious practices turned out to have heavy and deep roots, and I’ve dedicated most of my life to researching the roots of magic and witchcraft through my family.