A Song For Equinox

Artio, you’ve rested so long
Artio, through frigid white.
Mother-Bear, I hear the bird-song,
Emerge with us into the light.

DPWOTY Week 3: An Essay on the Autumnal Equinox

The Autumnal Equinox occurs near to September 21st each year and marks the day in which the time shared between the light of day and the dark of night stand in equal balance. Known in some Neopagan groups as Mabon, it is a time to recognize efforts made throughout the year and to give thanks on what one has harvested through those efforts. It is also a time to reflect on missteps taken and consider how to do your planting, literally and figuratively, when winter passes once again.

In my Gaulish Hearth Culture there does not seem to be a particularly notable feast or celebration associated with this season apart from Diocomrextio or Tiocobrextio depending on your interpretation. This event, suggested to additionally take place at other times of the year, is focused on the righting of wrongdoings and renewing old or breached contracts. Evidence on the Roman calendar suggests working with several different gods throughout this time of year with Jupiter (Taranis in the Gaulish pantheon) coming up regularly. As he is commonly associated with the wheel and the sun I find this particularly fitting, as one might give thanks to him for the warmth given throughout the growing season.

I have been with my Grove at this time for a little over a year and as such have had the pleasure of celebrating this high day with them twice. Raven’s Cry often honors different pantheons throughout the wheel of the year but since I have known them we have celebrated it in a Welsh fashion, as Alban Elfed “The Light of the Water”. In this rite we would give thanks to both Beli Mawr and Llyr, of the houses of Light and Dark respectively, and give thanks for what we have harvested in addition to asking Llyr for support in His time of darkness and cold.

It is for both my Grove and for myself personally a time that is much looked forward to. In the part of the country in which we live the summer season (and a good portion of the fall season) is quite hot. While we do love the bright sun of the Southwest, the turning of the season promises cooler breezes and beloved most of all – rain. It is also a time of strong reflection after the busy summer season. It is a time to slow down and look back and see what worked and didn’t work. For me I find it a time of rest where I can reap the effort and time spent through an incredibly taxing summer work season and begin planning things for the coming year. With Samhain and the end of the Pagan calendar coming fast and the American Christmas season coming shortly thereafter it is a good reminder to take a breath and contemplate as the bookends of the year fast approach.

While my involvement in agriculture is nonexistent I still observe the harvest themes fiscally as the summer is one of my busiest times work-wise, so it fits nicely into my personal life rhythm. I also very much enjoy the increase in cool breezes and the rain, rare as it is, is one of my favorite elements of the dark half of the year. While storage for winter is not a specific need for our climate there is some preparation to be made for winter. Financial planning for potential family visits or end of year gift giving is smart, as is preparing the home for potential invasion by pests as the weather cools. It is also, of course, the time of year to dig out hats and scarves!

Should I have the pleasure of passing down any traditions from this time of year I would emphasize strongly the elements of harvesting, reflection, planning, and honoring the forces of balance as that balance shifts. With modern lives as busy and complex as they are having a definite season to put on the brakes, reap what has been sown, acknowledge successes and failures, and plan for next year is a valuable thing to have. Seeing and communicating with the spirits of light and darkness and acknowledging their role and relationship to one another, to the Earth Mother, and those who are nourished by Her, is just as important. I feel these are the key things to take note of for the Autumnal Equinox and a strong foundation for growing further practice around this high day.

All in all this is my favorite time of the year. Even in a completely non-spiritual context I feel that there is a calm and a comfort in the air to this season unlike any other. While in the past I rarely looked forward to this time particularly it always hit me once it was upon me how much I loved autumn. Now that I have an active pagan practice at home it comes with a handy holiday attached, allowing me to better acknowledge and embrace the magic that comes with the turning of the leaves.

The Morning Omens – 2/9/17

Bright and early I rose this morning. It was the dawn of a day with a lot of emotion tied into it.  Dear friends we’re going through fear and pain and excitement and healing, I found myself lost in a sea of worry around my Dedicant study with a map-in-bottle bobbing toward me, and I arose with contemplation over dreams, earlier omens, and my relationships with the Gods over the past year. 

The card drawn this morning was the Water Dragon.

Such a feeling washes (hah) over me with this card. The serpent looks suspicious, sad. It emerges from the sea foam, still dripping. It looks to me as if it knows their time is ending. The waters are gray. The sky is gray. All is silver and morose. 

When I first started exploring a relationship with the gods my mentor led me to Artio. I was immediately struck by her majesty. I love bears and their image is strong in my heart. I was visited by a bear in a vision many years ago, a vision that led me to seek a faith practice once more. My love for Artio still feels as strong as ever. Visions of Raven and a whole lot of bird houses led me to discover Nantosuelta later on, which in turn led me to discovering my Grove of Raven’s Cry.

Then came emotions over a loss of nature. They’d always been inside me, waxing and waning, but my stronger connection to more Druid friends (particularly back east) made me long deeply for the brooks and forests of my youth. I whined and envied all the while having spent a decade of my life with the sunny shores of Southern California literally a walk down the street. So I made a real effort, a strong pledge to seek out a Goddess of the sea who struck my eye. I sought out Nehalennia and opened my heart to her. I recieved a stone and I devoted a lantern to her, the lantern taking the role of my hearth fire at the altar, out of necessity. 

My mentor cautioned me, in one of many emotional tangles, that relationships with the Gods are fluid. They are just like mortal relationships. They may come and bond with you for life, they may arrive to teach a lesson or pass a warning and that’s it. To be honest, the idea of saying goodbye to any of the Goddesses I have spoken to and made offering to is heartbreaking. It saddens me. 

Very recently I was called to act in the role of my Grove’s membership to give offering to the Shining Ones during Imbolc. As it was to be my first performance at a public ritual I made a strong effort to meet with Brighid, as we would be working with Her primarily during the rite. What resulted was an intense and vivid meditation, an omen guided by Her, and an unforgettable Imbolc followed shortly by great blessings flowing from Her grace. I was stunned. I didn’t know what I could possibly do to thank Her. I made a huge offering during a long personal ritual at home and have been thinking on Her since, the change She has brought to our family so powerful that it stands as a trinket itself to remind me of the promise I made.

While I know there is not a rule pertaining to the number of Gods one can worship upon ones altar, I am left this morning feeling that Nehalennia has left me a stepping stone and is a guiding hand forward. My outpouring of love for Her did not go unnoticed but She shows no sign of wishing to wed. I am a little saddened, but I also fully understand. And as I type this out I feel that I truly mean that. I’m not just “saying that” because it’s right to do so. 

But the sadness still lingers and it makes me think about the potential for more separation. I have all these icons on my altar for Artio and Nantosuelta. I have the lovely lantern at the center of my altar, an icon for a Goddess who is no less important than any other but does not share the bond I share with others. The thought of having these physical reminders, honestly, makes me sad. If Artio took Her leave what would I do with the little ironwood bear carving? Would I put it away? Would I get rid of it somewhere? Would I just leave it there? These are questions I can’t honestly answer right now.

But as I see that serpent, sad and gray amongst a turbulent and muted sea, I realize that sorrow and sadness is a reality. It’s inevitable. The Water Dragon reminds us that we must embrace the sorrow as it comes, but know it. Be patient as one can and let the sorrow emerge slowly and carefully. Do now rip the arrowhead from your skin but push it slowly through. Feel the pain and know where it comes from, know what it means, and when the sorrow emerges fully and when it is slain watch where it’s bones fall. Seek out the broken remains of that sadness and see what fruit they bear. Sorrow is not merely a poor beast meant to be feared, it is a journey with potential for great reward should you see all of it’s gray scales and it’s haunting stare and understand.

Now I face an emotion I’ve not felt since meeting Artio… Perhaps moreso. Brigantia. Bright Brighid of the forge. She has come into my life with such fire. I feel such a warm sensation whenever I look on an image of Her. It’s easy for me to say “Yeah! Brigantia! Take me under your wing! Let us forge an eternal bond!” but that is my beastly heart rushing on.

Still though I cannot help but think of Her constantly. Perhaps the stone from Nehalennia was indeed a pathway to Brigantia. Perhaps it is a foundation meant to support an anvil with a heart of flame. 

Meeting Brighid & Morning Omens – 1/30/17

The last ten hours or so have been full of intense, intimate magic. While I did not dream (at least not that I can recall) I did have a surprisingly long and powerful home ritual last night before I went to bed. I think I will take the time to detail the vision in another post but, in short, I met Brighid. I was in my mental grove, the woods by the creek, and when She arrived She was forging an ever shifting tool on Her anvil. She sang a poem as she did so and as I tried to discern the words I felt myself drawn deeper and deeper away from my anchor. It was as if I was a fish chasing a lure, blind to how far I was swimming. I was just… Falling. I was simply entranced.

When I found my feet again, as it were, we were together and alone on top of a great tower or platform high amongst the mountaintops. It was there I asked for her to grant me sight through the runes. She struck her hammer three times and with each ringing of the anvil I drew a rune.

Gebo. Fehu. Mannaz. Prepare to recieve blessings and share them with those around you.

So yeah. That happened. It was beautiful and I will surely never forget it. That gorgeous encounter with Her goes ever on to the mantle of my heart. Also Her poem at the anvil ended up swallowing about an hour of my evening. I of course bear no I’ll feelings at all towards this. If anything I am extremely honored that She would offer me Her presence for so long.

So this morning’s Animal Oracle draw presented me with Hind, strolling through the forest, bright and ephemeral. Her reversed position suggests that I be wary of being too withdrawn, that I should seek opportunity to stand up and be in front.
Well we both know what I’m doing this weekend. Maybe this week is greasing the wheels.

The Brighid-Along and Being Close To Brothers and Sisters Afar

Imbolc comes swiftly and this High Day comes with great importance to myself. It is my first foray into knowing Brighid, goddess of fertility, creativity, and flame. She is a Goddess of birth, of nurture, and of art who oversees the forge, guides the calf from his mother, and fills the breast with warmth. 

This time of passage from winter into warmer days is also significant for me personally, as it will be the first High Day with my home Grove where I will be an active participant in the ritual presentation. Our Senior Druid has asked that call to and make offering for the Shining Ones in our rite and it is a tremendous honor and an important step in my journey along this path of piety. 

I am honored and humbled that such a great and revered Goddess such as Brighid might be honored at my first public ritual as a celebrant. I pray She will come to know me better as I seek to know Her in the coming days.

Which leads me to part two of this post. The part in which I marvel at these times where people of magic and piety might do great work and share in a loving bond over great distance. I was blessed to be able to participate in Northern Rivers’ Winter Solstice ritual over the internet recently and that selfsame Grove led me to discover the Sassafras Grove of Pittsburgh and their 2017 “Brighid-Along“.

Along with my own study and prayer, this nine day event affords me an opportunity to learn and participate in prayers and meditation with brothers and sisters on the other side of the country and it is so, so wonderful. This morning I spent my ride to work melting into the midwife meditation, and I clutch that fertile acorn deep inside me, swirling with charged water and dancing flame. My eyes now seek gently over the beauty that surrounds, watching for a warm nest to birth what lies within.

The Internet has become a challenging place for many of my beloved friends and family. It is easy to get swept up in the negativity, hate, and fear that seems to come at all angles at all hours… But being able to join hands across tens of thousands of miles to better know and honor the blessed Kindreds we all love? I’d be hard pressed to give up such a beautiful opportunity.

Many thanks to my wonderful brothers and sisters of Northern Rivers and Sassafras for sharing your love and traditions with me. May the branches that grow out of me from your care one day shelter and nourish you in return.

The Final Nights of Yule & Looking Forward To Future Days

For my final journal entry on Yule… It’s going to be a bit different. Less clinical, less step by step. Let’s just talk. Pull up a chair.

December 28, 2016 – Honoring Our Patron Gods

There are only three nights of Yule remaining. Nine candles dance at the front of the altar, casting bright lights to dance off the icons of this home’s Patronesses. While the dead and the breath of nature are all integral to the health and power of every Druid, our relationship with the Gods is one of the most if not the most special bond we hold in our practice. This ninth night of Yule is dedicated to honoring the Goddesses of our home and thanking them for the great words and deeds they have exchanged with us this year.

The intimacy of this bond led me to a ritual slightly different than the previous nights. The candles were lit and I just read to them in turn, from an earlier prepared script, detailing my sincere emotions about knowing each of them…

Artio. You were the first to call to me. You came through the hands of a dear friend and have been beside me ever since. You have been a fast friend, a kind mother, and a fierce guide. I’ve felt your heart, heard your voice, the warm trickle of blood rent from your savage claws. My love for you is so deep and should our paths ever part, I’ll forever carry your blood within me.

Nantosuelta, Lady of the stream, friend of Raven and Hive. Where a bear may feast, a raven may crow. I was led to you on my journey, following a trail of black feathers, mischievous song, and bird houses…. So many bird houses. You have been a welcome ally in our home, ensuring a purity of being and lending the aid of your flock to guide visitations between the realms.

Nehalennia. You are the latest to sit at our altar. Our meeting was long overdue, the ocean a forest long ignored by my fool, longing heart. When I felt the courage to pour my heart out at you, to surrender myself to the beauty over which you survey, your voice finally came to me. And it echoed again and again, louder and louder. I could have never assumed that your guiding light might find its way to the heart of our home altar, but here we are. I thank you for your protection in all my travels and treasure our moments together where the sea strikes the sand.

Also too I would give honor to Sucellus and Belenus. You both have been kind to us this year and hope to know you better in the coming days. Too, love goes to the many Gods and Goddesses we honored in this year’s Grove rights.

December 27, 2016 – Celebrating the Evergreen

We have arrived on the eighth night and on this night we sing the praises of the robust Evergreen. In the east and west both, the mighty Evergreen stand in summer lights and in the darkest and longest nights. A boon to animal and man in the cold winter, these robust Evergreen are a mighty symbol of immortality and renewal.

On this day we honor the great spirit of the Evergreen, which will stand forever between the waters and the stars, a great spirit of health and well-being in this dark time of the year.

We light the lantern, touching eight candles of Yule with the sacred flame.

Evergreen, we honor you on this eighth night of Yule!
With perseverance you grow, in the face of overwhelming obstacles,
in circumstances that make you stronger,
you transcend the odds, rising in strength,
renewing after every dark night.
Teach us, by your everlasting presence,
to persevere through dark and cold,
to wait and weather the most furious storms,
to bloom ever-green and shining no matter the gloom of the sky.
Your power to harm and to heal are balanced within.
Teach us to balance within ourselves,
for our greater good and for the good of our tribes.
Evergreen, shining tree of wisdom and strength,
Accept our offering!

An offering of cool, clean water is given.

December 26, 2016 – A Celebration of Winter

The days grow longer, the nights grow shorter. Winter is still very much upon us but as we dance and celebrate the return of the Sun to the skies, so does the Goddess of Winter, for His light melts her beautiful snow and ice, returning the water to the cold where She reigns, coloring the mountaintops with sparkling white that he might, again, cast his light upon in their dance… All while the Earthmother slumbers in the cold.

On this night we honor the hag of white, Callieach Bheara, who strikes the earth to ice with her ancient staff. She who is most ancient. She who cavorts playfully upon the peaks even here, where the ocean resists her hoary touch, where the warmth of spring rules near endlessly even on the longest nights. Still, even though this place is not blanketed by your ice and snow, we still honor and respect your time of the year and we still feel your frigid winds on late nights and early mornings.

The lantern is lit and seven candles of Yule are kissed by the holy flame.

White maiden, hag of many faces,
Callieach, we honor you.
You of ice and snow,
you, herald of Winter and mistress of the cold!
We honor you with wine and with praise.
With your icy breath and your frigid stave
you breathe white blankets over far fields,
blow cold wind down from the mountain’s peak,
storing the waters of the land as we wait for the return of Spring.
Starry skies reflect your light,
from tundra fields of sleeping earth,
keeping watch over all the land,
who sleeps beneath a quilt of snow.
Winter Goddess, we honor you.
Winter Goddess, accept our offerings!

An offering of wine is poured. (My hand slipped a bit during my giving so She got a little extra. Also I made a mess.)

December 24, 2016 – Honoring the Housewights

Tonight, when the fifth light is lit, we honor the spirits of the home. While we, man and animal both, inhabit this place we call home other spirits are just as alive within these four walls. The Housewights, the spirits of this place, are with us always, have been with others, and will be with those who set here when we should depart. They protect, bear ancient wisdom, and sometimes engage in a little light mischief. To honor the spirits of our home, whom we find often very joyous and playful, I prepared a humorous little poem just for them.

As always, the flame is lit, and the Yule candles brought to life in turn.

On this night the fifth candle is lit and we pay honor to you, kin of our home,
those beings who share this space with us, neighbors and friends all.
We honor you.
We have spent many years under this roof together.
You have heard our joys and triumphs.
You have witnessed our sorrows and pains.
You have heard our laughter and anger and prayers.
You have secreted away treasures in the dark, and left mischief.
You, dear house-kin, are family.
I have prepared a poem of mirth to share with you, in the spirit of the mischief and joy you bring to us.

The offering is given in a space set aside for them.

Tonight we honor you for the important place you hold in the home.
We share that you may know our heart’s fullness and that it might be worthy to fill this space in which you have long resided.
House-kin, accept our offerings.