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.
Love Magic: Cupids and Corpses
Some love charms are simple; binding two dolls together with red and white rope, sowing hemp seeds in a churchyard, soaking your lover’s socks in whiskey and spitting the shot (simple, and icky). Some love charms however, are, to put it simply, gruesome.
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.
life reflections
Today I was having a conversation with my husband about other people’s marital woes. we spoke on fidelity, trust, work ethics (both at the relationship as well as providing for the family). It got me to thinking about the vows people take as they enter into their relationship and what it really means to them. […]
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.
Danu
Danu is an obscure figure who appears only a handful of times in Irish mythology, and always under the genetive form of the name: “Danann” or “Danand”. This has led many to suggest that the name of the Goddess is a reconstruction based off of the name Tuatha Dé Danann, which is often translated as “people of the goddess Danu”. Tuatha Dé Danann itself may be a term added later by the Irish monks to differentiate the native Irish Gods from the biblical characters referred to as “Tuatha Dé” (People of God) in the writings, making the subject slightly more complicated.
Interfaith and Workshop plans
Today’s blog will be a brief one, as my daughter has a same day surgery procedure tomorrow and I have a lot to do today, but I read an interesting blog by Jason Mankey discussing his views on interfaith work which he ended by saying that he prefers to focus on building within the pagan community rather than working on interfaith outside it.