...and it's good!

Those who follow this blog will know that earlier this summer I did a working for the vow breaker.  This working entailed three main points.  The magico-religious dissolution of her marriage, offerings to the kindred to make amends for her breaking of the vows, and a cleansing to banish the evil spirit my guides showed to me that was about her.  In nursing we are taught that whenever we do an intervention we must then return to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention.  What follows is my evaluation of the interventions used. 

                When I met the woman a few days after the ritual she went on for some length about how much better she immediately felt after the ritual.  She used words such as “happier” “lighter” “free”.  She was smiling and in good spirits.  It was at this time I choose to reveal to her all of what had been shown to me in the way of the spider headed malicious spirit.  I also explained my reasons for not telling her all I had known before this time.  She indicated that she understood and appreciated my tact.  I have not spoken to any others of the it except here on my blog. 

                Two weeks or so after the ritual the client went to places of business looking for a job, to replace the one she suddenly and unexpectedly lost, and in one day not only had in interview but was hired on the spot.  This was a blessing but also prevented her from joining the community at our Lughnasadh ritual. 

                I recently had lunch with the client and she is still doing well.  She is now looking for her own place to live with her son, and working hard on her spiritual self as well.  This young lady has done more soul searching in the past two months than a lot of people do in their whole life.  She has started dating the man with whom she had the affair and it is my sense that they are perhaps a very good match.  At least for now they are happy and working to have a healthy relationship. 

As it is with such things, I don’t know if I can ever know how much of her successes is due to the working we did.  I do believe however that it was a very positive event and helped her in many ways. 

Lughnasadh 2012

                I have been back from our Lughnasadh campout and ritual for a few days now.  I have had time to unpack and let the events settle.  Lughnasadh for me started on Wednesday as I pulled up to the last available camping site along the river Po-Sun-Co-La at 8:00am.  I unpacked and registered with the rangers when they finally came around many hours later.  Why so many days early?  Well there are no reservations at this site and if someone doesn’t take the spot by Wednesday, there won’t be any spots at all for the weekend ritual.  As it was the entire 50 campsites were taken by Wednesday afternoon.   I spent most of Wednesday studying Pharmacology, and watching dragonflies do their dance for me.   On Thursday evening a new comer to our pagan community joined me, as well as one of my Grove mates.  By this point of being alone for almost two days I was ready for some company. I really enjoyed getting to know the new member.  He is friendly, open, honest, very energetic and always there to lend a hand.     As part of the camp and celebrations I used a large extra tent I had and created a shrine and alter in it for a spear I made that was to represent the spear of Lugh, the Gae Assail.  I placed cloth strips in a bowl and a pen on the altar so that people could write out prayers and tie them on to the spear.  These were later placed in the fire during the main ritual. 

                On Friday evening I held a Sumbel.  Not very many people attended this, but it was a lot of fun and very intimate for those of us who did show.  We were given homemade mead from the husband of the kitchen-witch, and it was the best Mead I have ever tasted!  We all loved it and it made the experience that much better. 

                Saturday was the main ritual.  People started showing up at the camp site a little after noon.  The ritual wasn’t until 7:00pm.  We had games planned, but honestly it was so hot that most people just wanted to sit around in the shade and talk and eat, and drink tea or water.  Right before I started ritual, I was told of a beloved member of the pagan community who had fallen very ill.  With some quick discussion it was decided that a healing would be included in the ritual.  The ritual went very well and everyone participated with the call and response and giving of offerings.  I got to recite the story of the second battle and why we celebrate Lughnasadh.  I feel that I did a pretty good job of it.  Interestingly, as I was telling it, I found myself talking on a slight Irish accent.  I wasn’t doing it on purpose, and then I found a style of speech coming out that wasn’t mine.  I could help but wonder if I was channeling the way in which I was telling the story from some ancestor.  It was a fun if peculiar sensation.  As we did last year we make an offering to the River on which we live.  We do this for several reasons. One as a way to say thanks, and to build a friendly relationship, another is the hope that if we do, she won’t take as many lives in the year.  Last year the river claimed eleven lives.   Just after the impromptu healing we did for the sick community member, she suddenly showed up!   We were all overjoyed to see her, wheel chair and all. 

                After the main ritual, we held our first Bardic competition.  Each contestant had to sing, or recite a poem or story.  We had several of each and it was a lot of fun.  I am sure this will happen again!  All in all I think everyone had a great time this year.  A few people went home with headaches from the heat and humidity.  I can’t help but feel honored that so many people are willing to come to my rituals year after year and suffer the intense heat to do so.  I guess I am doing something right.  

Cutting the ties that bind

Tonight I performed the ritual for the vow breaking woman.  The ritual went smoothly and as planned.  I didn’t leave out any parts of it and I feel that it was a truly powerful ritual.  When I called up on the gods, the wind picked up and the energy of the grove changed palpably.  Later when they were thanked, you could feel the energy change again to what it was before.  The woman shed silent tears as I bound her hands in the hand fasting cord that had been used in the hand-fasting to her husband, that was then cut.  I held the cut cord up and asked her if she wanted me to place it in the fire or do it herself.  I was pleased when she wanted to do it herself and she did.  Having not only been at the hand-fasting, but hosting it in my home, it was a poignant moment for me as well.  Another poignant moment was the taken of the Oman.  I used my Ogham and asked the big question, “are these sacrifices accepted?”.  This was gut wrenching moment for me, as the woman has made some pretty big sacrifices already and I did not want to have the holy kindred reject them.  Gladly they did not. The omen was very positive.  Once all was done, I guided the woman on a journey to speak with the kindred.  She shared a little bit of that with me, but that is not my story to tell.  I never told her or any one other then the readers of this blog about what I saw two weeks ago in regards to the spirit that was around her.  However, when the ritual was done and she was getting ready to leave she stopped and said “ya know, I already feel better now than when I came.”  I am taking this as a strong affirmation that my magical working has banished the spirit from her.  My hope is now her luck will change, and she can move forward with her life, learning what she needs to learn to find her power, and gaining in wisdom.  Time will tell, for all answers are told in time. 

Ablution of the young woman's soul.

So to continue with the spirit work that I talked about last post…the woman who was the subject has chosen to come to me and ask for some spiritual and magical help.  In her words she says that she has tried to commune with the goddess, but seems to need more.  We sat down together and have come up with a multipart ritual.  The first part of this ritual will be about making Priacular offerings for breaking of the vows she made, and hoping to again get into the good graces of the Kindred.  The second part of the ritual will be a ritual to act out the spiritual cutting of the handfasting.  Lastly will be a cleansing of her with the sacred waters of the well, the waters of the deep, and smudging with incense and the sacred fire.  I have done Ogham readings to get an idea of what the kindred want in the way of offerings as well as to the correctness of this ritual.  All signs seem to point me to carry on.  For a verity of reasons I have chosen not to relate to the young woman what I experienced on my spirit walk.  I assess that she’s already under a lot of stress and pressure with all that’s going on.  I see no value to adding to it by telling her that I think there is a malicious spirit attached to her.  I also have my own fears, mostly I don’t want to come off as seeming “crazy” or to “out there.”  I do believe that the working we have come up with will do the job and rid her of the nasty around her.  If not…I’ll do something more.  Ritual is set for this Thursday. 

8 winds and a broken vow

The wind blows

It knows, it knows

Its secrets it whispers,

To the trees, to the trees

Its fingers twist and twirl

In my hair, in my hair

The wind blows

It knows, it knows. 

                Two weeks have passed since my time at ADF’s Northwest regions 8 winds festival.  This druid get together brought ADFers from all over the country.  It was a time for learning, a time for laughing, a time for making friends and family, a time for healing, and a time for spirit art. 

                I got to meat for the first time face to face Rev. Ian Corrigan.  I must say that after learning his spirit art and following his style of ritual for two years now it was a pleasure to finally meet the man in person.  What’s more, I got to share in a spirit working with the Court of Bridget.  I learned much from observation and participation in this working.  Seeing the ritual working is very enlightening and one can pick things up that just can’t be well communicated in a textual format.  My role in this ritual was that of a seer and to see if a spirit would come to me.  As the call for the spirits was given, I sensed more then saw a number of spirits approach our grove.  In my druid’s sight I did make eye to eye contact with a spirit that I interpreted as a wind spirit based off its form and color.  It was like when you make eye to eye contact with a “lovely” person whom you have never met across a room.  I thought for sure this was going to be the spirit with which I would palaver and make an alliance.  As Ian called out the oath and the charge that the spirits do us no harm, several left, but the wind spirit stayed.  Then when Ian began to speak of lasting alliances and asking for its oath, it left.  I admit I was disappointed.  I then searched with my Druids sight for another when suddenly a young girl of a spirit in a white robe holding a golden harp jumped into my view and got “in my face” as they say.  She was sweet and jovial and told me her name was Siarah and that she was the bringer of the desire to sing; in a word inspiration.  She flooded me with images and words and in my altered state it all made sense, but like a dream you can’t quite remember when you wake up, a lot of it was gone when I came out of the trance. 

               

                Recently a young witch woman in our community broke her hand fasting vows made in the presence of the kindred.  Two weeks after her broken vow her toddler became suddenly ill and had to be taken to the hospital and was admitted for dehydration.  The child recovered quickly and the illness left as quickly as it came.  Then a week later she was suddenly fired from the job she loved and very much needed at this time.  Just bad luck?  I suppose it could be, but last night I was beginning to suspect there might be more to it.  It is well known that the kindred do not take kindly to broken vows and oaths.  Through my druid and priestly lens I see these events as related.  Not that the kindred are punishing her, but that there are lessons and consequences to be had.  The job, I believe, was acquired with the aid of magic and the blessing of the goddess.  Thus perhaps she has, for the time, lost that blessing.  Wanting to see if I could learn more I chose to do a spirit walk and talk to my guides.  I did so and my suspicions were confirmed.  Then my old teacher wanted to show me something.  The world around me grew pitch dark and out of it I caught the form of man with a huge head like the abdomen of a spider with many eyes that glowed red, and where a mouth should have been was many spider like legs.  I was completely unprepared for this.  I had no protective charms on my physical body.  I followed my first instinct and that was to call into me the two powers as strongly as I could.  To literally glow with them and project the two powers out from all around me like an aura.  Then I commanded the spirit away and sort of “shooed” it off. One of my spirit allies showed up and also helped.  I am sure this is far from a permanent fix.  I think that this spirit has something to do with what’s going on, but not sure of the details.  After the encounter I found myself quickly back in my body in this world and quite tired.  I didn’t get a chance to ask any other questions of my guides.   

                I’d love to once again delve into the spirit world tonight, prepared this time, and find out more and see if there was something I could do, however, I have my children with me and my daughter has a guest staying the night and this is not going to allow for me to do that.  I have felt tired all day, but that could be the oppressive heat we are having today just as well as from the experience I had last night.   If the chance arises I will again do a spirit-walk, but it could be a few days.   

Retreat #1

Today was my first retreat day that I have been able to do as part of my clergy training.  The instructions we are given are pretty vague.  The only thing I knew I had to do was morning devotionals, prayer at each meal, and a full druidic right.  There is nothing about how long a “day” is, or what to do when we are not doing any of the above.  As I was thinking about what I would do, it occurred to me that in a lot of ways every day for me right now is a retreat day.  I am on summer vacation and I am not currently working.  So I stay at home, do some chores each day and do work for my Clergy training.  I do morning devotionals each day, and often say prayer over meals (though not as consistently as I should).  I don’t do a full druidic rite each day however.  In the end I decided that I would cut myself off from all electronics for the day.  No phone and no computer.  I also decided I would keep myself to the room where we have our alters and which also functions as a guest room. 

                I started the day off with morning devotionals and meditation.  I got very deep and had a nice Spirit walk but nothing of great import was passed on to me.  It was more like a spiritual recharging and resting.  After that it was breakfast and prayers to the ancestors, offering a bit of the breakfast to them. I used the prayer suggested to us, but I didn’t really care for the way it was written.  I then set to organizing the alter room.  It was beginning to be used for storage which really it shouldn’t be.  I got rid of a lot of junk and made it much more comfortable.  I then set to reading and writing.  I rewrote the prayer to the ancestors to say over meals to be more to my liking.  I also wrote an invocation to Airmed for the upcoming summer solstice ritual.  I didn’t get one done for Miach just yet.  Not sure how to go about that considering in the tale he’s killed.  Well we offer and invoke our dead relatives, why not a god? 

                I did a lot of reading in Serith’s book “a book of pagan prayers”.  This helped me to write the invocation.  I also spent some time just doing some plain old thinking.  I started to get anxious as the day wore on however and found it difficult to sit.  At around 4 I did my full ritual of blessing.  During the divination phase I asked these questions; is the offering accepted, what is the nature of the blessing, and what do I need to be aware of?  To the first question I received Duir, to the second I received Emancholl, and the third I received Or.  My interpretation is that the offerings were accepted, that I will be challenged with an illness in some way, and that I need to be more aware of my money.  Not really what I was hoping for, as I was already challenged with illness this winter, and not looking forward to doing that again, then again, it could be an illness of someone else such as a friend or child.  Time will tell. 

Snow White and the Huntsman through pagan eyes (warning spoilers)

             Last night, I and many members of the local pagan community got together to go to the release of “Snow white and the huntsman”.  Over all the consensus of was that the movie was so-so.  I am not here today to talk about the acting or the dialog.  No I am here to point out how incredibly pagan this move is.   Some of these elements are really obvious and only the most uninformed would miss the connection.  Other elements are more difficult to pick out if someone isn’t intimately familiar with the lore.  Let me start with the ecological changes.  The ancient Celts had the idea that when a man became King he was to be married to the sovereignty goddess of the local area.  The details of the ritual was likely different from tribe to tribe.  If the king’s rule was just and he was a “good” king then there was peace and prosperity for all.  The crops grew, natural disaster and famine stayed away.  Enemies would be defeated and life was good for all.  However, if the king was not an honorable man, if he broke his word and dishonored himself and his tribe, the goddess of the land to which he was married would desert him.  Famine and drought would come.  Enemies would come and the king’s forces would be defeated.  The goddess would betray the king and in the end he would be killed and a new king would take his place.  This concept is played out in the movie with slight variations, but the pattern is the same.  The movie starts with the king and queen and their daughter “Snow white” (who also comes by her name in a very pagan way, but I’ll address that later) and all is well in the land.  There is peace, the land is fertile and the people happy and healthy.  Then the queen grows ill one winter and dies.  The king is “inconsolable” and we begin to see the land fade a bit.  Still there is the hope and youth of Snow white and this helps to keep things going.  Much later the king takes a beautiful and mysterious woman as his bride, marrying her only twenty four hours after meeting her.  This new queen kills the king and sucks away his life on their wedding night, lets her army in the gates and takes over, locking Snow White in the north tower.  Her rule is so harsh that all the life of the land retreats and “nature turns upon itself”.  Thus our analogy is complete.

                Oh but we are just beginning to see the pagan roots of this movie.  This new “evil” queen and the permanent winter her rule bring ties us to yet another pagan myth, this one from Celtic Scotland.  The main conflict of this movie is the queen who is very old and stays young and beautiful by sucking the youth out of young woman, wants Snow white’s heart, for the queen is told that if she eats the heart she will stay young forever as Snow white is the embodiment of youth and purity, which is easily associated with spring and growing things.  Compare this with the tale from Scotland where the spirit of winter, a hag, called the Cialleach.  She brings winter, and she rules over the winter months.  She captures the young goddess Bridget and imprisons her, because Bridgit will take over and rule during spring and summer.  The Cilleach wants to rule all year, forever.  Yet a young god from the ever green isle (Ireland) comes and rescues Bridget and together they make their escape on Imbolc and the Cialeach sends the last storms of the season to try to recapture her.  In the end she fails and the Cialeach is turned to a standing stone until the next Samhain.  One can thus see the very obvious pagan heritage this story carries. 

                The more obvious pagan portions of the story is the time the heroes spend in an enchanted forest full of fairy and friendly animals, the secret last bastion of green and growing things.  This too harkens back to many an pagan story where the hero is taken to a magical otherworld.  What I found really astounding is the directory/storywriters inclusion of a magnificent with antlers seemingly made of birch saplings.  This white stag was only referred to as “him”.  It was plainly obvious to every pagan in the theater that this was the representative of Cernunnos.  The stag bends his head to Snow white giving her his “blessing” and thus making her the embodiment of a sovereignty goddess. I also feel I must point out how similar this stag was to a scene in the Gibli animated movie Mononoke.  

                There were many uses of magic through the movie and plenty of aspects that smack of the shamanic journey and working with nature spirits, not to mention the magic mirror.  This movie was so amazingly pagan to its core that the one very Christian head nod, the reciting of the lord’s prayer by Snow White while she is a captive, is jarring and completely out of place.  There is no other reference to Christianity in the film, not even at the end when Snow white is being coroneted by a priest!  I can’t help but think that the inclusion of the Lord’s Prayer was in fact added in by another party, perhaps the actress herself.

                Lastly I want to point out another reason why I feel this film has a strong pro-pagan message.  The road to success for our character was obviously helped by the Fey and dwarfs, and of course that magnificent white stag.  Never were our characters aided by angels, or the Christian God, or Jesus, nor were they opposed by devils or demons.    All in all as a pagan I really enjoyed the film and was pleasantly surprised at how pagan it was.