The thing about Gods, see, is that they tend to make you focus on things you’d rather not. Wherever they find resistance is where they dive in, guns blazing. When Inanna called to me I was like “eh, yeah, why not?” I admire her story and the poetry of Enheduanna is powerful stuff. As Goddesses go she’s pretty groovy without a whole lot of baggage. Besides, love and beauty are in her domain, and since Aphrodite/Venus are out of bounds... Read more
This morning I found the most fabulous video in my Facebook feed. It was a young woman describing irresponsible eclecticism as “treating the Gods like Pokemon”. What a brilliant way to describe this phenomenon. When people first discover Paganism they tend to delve into practices that can be considered unethical by the larger community. Generally it’s a combination of exuberance, ignorance and bad information that leads people to do rather silly things in the name of religious exploration. I blushingly... Read more
I make no apologies for my lack of blog contributions these past few weeks, for this is ‘Summer’ and here in Wales our summers are desperately short and when we aren’t having rain it’s time to reconnect with nature. The computer is neglected, so are all other indoor activities, and with straw hat, gloves and basket I spend my days communing with creation and my Talog faeries. The ‘garden’, my hard fought for little level patch that sits perched within... Read more
For the next few weeks on the Pagan Portal at Patheos we’re going to be engaging in the discussion of Pagan theology. Who are the Gods? What is their nature? Their origin? How do we account for a plurality of religious experience? What is our relationship to the Gods? Why do we exist? Is there a greater purpose? We’ve started off the series with Mana for Heaven: Bonewits Polytheology and American Capitalism by Alison Shaffer, a comparison of the “worship... Read more
Sigdrifa’s Prayer is a rare remnant in our lore, as it’s the only non-Christianized, complete prayer that we have from the historical sources. In it’s short simplicity, it is a microcosm of the vast macrocosm of Northern Tradition cosmology. It holds a very special place in my heart, which a few of you might remember from my previous blog entry: http://www.patheos.com/community/paganportal/2010/06/07/wyrd-designs-sigdrifas-a-prayer-and-a-song/ I have created bookmarks featuring this prayer, and would now like to make them available for free (yes, I’ll... Read more
A good, solid, human and engaging introductory text to a religion, particularly a minority religion, is worth its weight in gold. Crafting an introduction to a religious practice, mythos, cosmology and values is a bit like walking a tightrope: too far to one side creates a text that is inaccessibly esoteric and too far to the other side leaves you with a “dummies guide” that even the most ignorant novice will scoff. In Exploring the Northern Tradition Krasskova has created... Read more
Star Foster asked: The Asatruar rituals I have seen call on the four dwarves holding up Ymir’s sky-skull. It’s an awful lot like calling the corners in Wicca. Is there any controversy over the similarity? To answer this question, I’m going to back out a bit to the bigger picture to hopefully explain the connection from what we know of the ancient past, to certain aspects of the evolution of the modern religion and how it is practiced today. When... Read more
Some of you die-hard Springfieldians may have already noticed the hub-bub on the web, but according to the invitation shown in a fantasy sequence in a 1995 episodes of The Simpsons, today is the day the world’s most famous Wiccan weds: Lisa Simpson! Congratulations to the brainest Simpson of them all! Read more
Ritual complete, feasting finished, and hugs all around, I drove home under the waning moon on Lughnasadh Eve and was struck by it’s beauty. It struck me that we were not losing light. It was not being diminished. It was being harvested. Although I’ve tried not to invest too much meaning in the waning and waxing phases of the moon, I have felt their influence particularly strongly this year. Perhaps it’s the economy, but the waning of the moon just... Read more
I think what I like best about Lughnasadh is the many names for the festival. The beginning of the harvest is celebrated the world over and it’s an exciting time. Berries are ripe on the vine and the fields of grain are ready to be gathered in. By Mabon we’ll have apples and as Samhain approaches we’ll be eagerly anticipating that first hard frost so we can harvest our winter greens. Once more I’m digging up 13 songs to celebrate... Read more
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