This is the first part of an e-book that I will be publishing. This part is free, you'll need to pay for the rest. Don't worry, it won't be expensive.
A Pagan Place To Be
by Michele Briere
I had all intentions of sending this to a publisher, but I
was unable to get over the reality of killing trees for this. So here it is. A
little love is appreciated: michele.briere@gmail.com.
This is my view of paganism as I have lived it. There will
be many people who disagree with me on various topics in here, so I point them
back to the previous sentence.
With so many people turning away from organized religion to
something more personally spiritual, it isn't surprising to see more and more
pagans out and about. Paganism is natural. It's focus is on nature and the
well-being of nature's critters. I was always interested in nature and Her
creatures, reading in a tree, following a grass snake through the lawn, or
wandering around in the nearby woods, so you could say my finding the pagan
within was a foregone conclusion.
I disagree with the way Pagan 101 classes are set-up, so
this book is set-up in the way I feel the classes should be set-up: FAQ's
first, then intro to gods, the universe, and everything, followed by magic and
ritual for those who wish to continue to 'higher learning'.
While paganism is more of a spiritual view of life, for me,
this book is about things I have learned in life, in my associations with other
pagans, and in my studies. Feel free to email me or Facebook me, if you'd like
to talk.
Table of Contents
The rest of these topics will be in the e-book when it is available.
Part 2: Cosmogony and Cosmology
A Dipartite Universe
The Three Realms
The Heavens
The Earth
And
the Air Between
The Four Corners
Conclusion to Part 2: Forming Our Universe
Part 3: The Ritual State of Mind
Magic
Energy Signatures
Light and Dark
Candles
Rope
Bowls, Letters, and the Ancestors
Leaves, Twigs, and Grass
Onions
Sacred Space Set-Up
Part 4: Writing a Ritual
Ritual Form 1
Ritual Form 2
Part 5: Advanced Magic
Conclusion
What
On Earth Are They Doing??
(Note: when I speak of ‘pagan’ written
with a lower case ‘p’, I am speaking of a lifestyle or life/world outlook. When
I speak of ‘Pagan’ with a capital ‘P’, I am speaking of the modern religion.
The name of a religion should be capitalized.)
When I was about six years old, my mother left me at home
alone so she could go and get the babysitter. This was about 1971, so there’s
no need to call CPS. It was close to Christmas, I was in my jammies, and Mom
needed to meet my stepfather at an office Christmas party. It wouldn’t take her
long, only about twenty minutes or so, but not minutes after she left, I had a
panic attack. Her car would slide off the road and no one would know I was home
alone. I did the one thing I could think of to protect myself –I moved the
presents out from under the tree and moved myself in. I knew that the spirit of
the tree, call it Santa or whatever, would protect me. I imagined that this
spirit moved down the tree and enveloped me in a warm, reassuring cloak of
protection. That’s where Mom found me when she came in with the babysitter
–curled up under the tree. Since then, trees have always held a special place
within me.
The totem animal that I’ve always had is something else that
didn’t quite fit with my Catholic family. He’s been with me for as long as I
can remember. Not having been exposed to any culture that would have influenced
my active imagination, one must to ask –how does a child in a Catholic family
come up with these ideas?
Does this sound familiar? Since you are reading this, I’m
going to assume it does.
I’m not going to rehash the whole history of paganism,
ancient or modern, although I will reference them. Check with your local public
library –they have an entire section devoted to ancient world history. I won’t
be teaching you Pagan 101, either. There are plenty of books already on those
subjects. Personally, I recommend Scott Cunningham for an appetizer, and then
Janet and Stewart Farrar (and then Janet writing with Gavin Bone since Stewart
died) for a more advanced main course meal. While I am not Wiccan, I think
Cunningham is a good intro for basic concepts. Just don’t stop there, keep
advancing by reading as many books as you can get your hands on. When your
brain is stuffed completely full, dump about 98% of the information, and use
your instincts on making the rest your own path. And I include dumping much of
this book, too, since these words are my thoughts on my own spirituality. Take
what works for you, dump the rest. I know there will be plenty of people who
will want to argue with me about various things in here –refer to the above
sentences, and to control your control issues.
What I will do in this book, however, is discuss my thoughts
on modern Western paganism and how the practice of paganism is more about a
world-view or outlook, than it is about dressing up in pretty robes and drawing
Circle. Said robes and rituals will be discussed, so don’t despair.
“I don't understand,” Mom said. It's kind of hard to explain,
actually, because it's mostly an internal, experiential thing, just like any
other spirituality. Being pagan isn’t about setting up altars, waving wands or
lighting the appropriately colored candle. It’s about how you see the world.
It’s about how you view life. One all-encompassing deity doesn’t work for us;
we tend to view life in multiples. Just as we all have different personalities,
we have deities that also have different personalities. Our gods live among us;
we breathe them in as long as our lungs continue to move.
Many of us don't have gods at all. It's also about the Feminine
Divine, the Living Earth, Gaea, the Living Universe.
Most of us do our best to live in at least relative harmony
with the world. We try to recycle, although not all cities have a recycle
program (for shame!), and we do our best to be good neighbors. During holidays,
it isn’t unusual to find a pagan household inviting people with nowhere to be
into their home for a potluck meal and a little community sharing. We share our
space, our time, and our resources when we can. Even stray animals find a home
when a call goes out to the community. I can’t think of one pagan home that
doesn’t have some kind of animal sharing the space. When someone is in need of
clothing or furniture, closets get cleaned out. Need a meal? Come on over. Need
a ride? We’ll find a way to get you there. I call this being a good neighbor.
And we don’t particularly care what religion our neighbor
practices or doesn’t practice. While the Christians seem to have a strange,
sometimes violent antipathy toward pagans, we tend to shrug off this oddity
unless we are directly threatened. Any pagan will tell you to worship as you
will, as long as your heart is happy and you don’t try to force your path on
others. Their religion doesn’t bother us one way or the other; all we ask is
the same consideration. That whole ‘do unto others’ concept works well for us.
It’s a good thing, no matter whose book it came from. Although, we also tend to
be big readers, so most of us can probably point to the same concept in any
ancient religion. We call it karma, and we know it works.
Another thing we have in common is our view of the ethereal
plane. While it is not a ‘job’ requirement, most of us have had some sort of
paranormal experience. Ghosts, precognitive dreams, reincarnation memories. I
certainly have my share. I think that these experiences may play a part in why
people find their way to paganism. There is nothing in paganism that prohibits
the concept of other-worldly experiences; in fact, they are right at home in
paganism. Just as the earth renews itself year in and year out, so do all other
living things.
Odd things happen, and Pagans are usually
receptive enough to not only see them, but to look on them as a normal part of
life.
I have about six past life memories, three of
which I've had since very early childhood. Used to make Mom look at me weird
when I asked about them. "Michele, that never happened." It took a
while for me to learn that they didn't happen. Not in this lifetime. Also used
to make Mom look at me weird when I told her someone wasn't home just as we
were on our way to that person's house. And no, they weren't home.
UFOs? Saw lights in the sky twice in my life.
(This lifetime. :D) They did this crazy zig-zag and then straight up and gone.
I was about 8yrs old, in upstate NY. Saw lights once here in Phoenix (no, not
THOSE lights) many years ago. My brother was in the car with me and saw them,
too. Three of them, playing in and out of the clouds before disappearing.
Mom had something happen to her years ago. She
was sleeping and woke up thinking that my dog Penny was scratching at her bed,
trying to get up. (Chihuahua-Toy Poodle, little girl with short legs.) Well,
Penny had been dead a few years, so that wasn't quite possible. Two hours
later, my uncle called to let us know grandma had died. Two hours earlier.
I've always had a way with energy. I can
'clean' places. An office I used to work at had this old spirit that used to
walk through in the middle of the night. This guy who worked with on third
shift on my off-nights saw it long before I started there, but he never said
anything until I mentioned it. We were the only ones who ever saw it. It was
old, sort of like an image from an old projector. It wasn't even aware. It
would sweep in from one direction and out the other wall. It was harmless; it
just spooked anyone working that shift. So I 'cleaned' it. It never came back.
A friend had a messy divorce, but she was
jittery, thinking her ex had left something in the house because she kept
getting creeped out. I went in, went room to room, felt a need to look into a
closet that no one used, and found a picture of him on the floor. Then I went
outside and was taken to the vegetable garden. I saw an image of him standing
in the corner of the garden as though he were a sentinel over it. I looked down
and asked what was buried in the garden. My friend shrugged –they hadn’t buried
anything. She put a hand in the section of dirt I was looking at and came up
with his wedding ring.
Tarot cards -I've spooked people with those
things, too. I told one woman she was going on a vacation far away. She
laughed, shook her head, and said no, she didn't have money to go anywhere. She
came back the following week and said her husband had surprised her with
tickets to Egypt. I also told her she was pregnant a week before her doctor
did.
I told another woman to keep her husband from
driving that weekend. It was a really strong message, so I did my best to
stress the message. She didn't come to work on Monday. We learned that her
husband had been killed in a car accident that weekend. That was the only time,
in about 30 years, that a card spread meant an actual, physical death. Usually,
the 'death' spreads just mean a big change is coming. A transformation of some
kind. Rarely a physical death. That one made me feel really bad.
I went to a full moon circle, and after ritual
everyone gathered for food and drinks. Non-alcoholic. It’s a family event. Lots
of people socializing and having a good time. I was talking with a friend and
this woman I had never met before. From across the room, I saw this black
shadow come our way. It looked like someone's long, black curtain was being
dragged across the room. It had a feminine shape to it, though, and came up to
my friend, touched his shoulder, and disappeared. He put his hand on his
shoulder, turned around, and asked who had touched him. The woman I didn't know
looked at me and said, "You saw that, didn't you?" I said yes, and we
both said to him, at the same time, "Female figure, long black dress and
long black hair." My new friend didn't know which gods were which, she was
new to it all, so I told them it was the Morrigan, mainly because the figure
‘felt’ underworld, and since his path was Celtic, he’d understand ‘Morrigan’
much more than he’d understand any other pantheon’s warrior queen. That sort of
spooked him because he didn't play with the warrior gods. The underworld was my
territory, not his. I told him the Morrigan had chosen him for something and he
needed to pay attention. I don't know how things turned out, we lost touch.
We also learn to be careful of how we discuss wants and
needs. The gods have a sense of humor:
One year, I went to a Pride parade. After the parade,
everyone gathered in a park for music, food and community. I was alone, having
just moved to the city and didn’t know anyone. Watching people who were
coupled, tripled, and whatever other combination, made me a little depressed
and self-pitying at my aloneness. So I walked to a book store that I had
quickly come to enjoy, all the while informing the gods that I needed
companionship. It was a small store, pagan, not new age, and I was comfortable
there. I took a book and started reading. Not a half hour later, three women
walk through the front door, clearly coming from the Pride festival. They were
each very large ladies (by which I mean a lot larger than me), with green teeth
and enough grease in their hair to coat a fleet of trucks. They were looking at
me as though I were a candy bar. I escaped out the side door and walked home, informing
the gods of what I thought about their sense of humor.
I know of someone who decided to do something about the
stifling heat one summer. He did a rain ceremony. He made the mistake of doing
the ceremony inside his house, however, and a pipe burst.
The gods are also helpful. When I had my dog Penny, and I
needed something for her that I couldn’t afford, I’d ask Anubis. I’d give him a
rundown of what was going on, and I’d ask him for help so that I could keep his
puppy safe and healthy. It wasn’t too long after our talk that something would
happen that led me to whatever I needed for her. While Egyptian isn’t my
pantheon, I still keep a small statue of Anubis on my altar in thanks for his
kindness.
The gods don’t need to be bargained with, they need simple
honesty. None of that ‘you do for me, and I’ll do for you.’ We serve the gods,
they don’t serve us.
This service to the gods is one of the major changes from
ancient worship to modern worship. In the past, people were slaves to the gods.
People were taught to fear the gods. The gods weren’t there to be loved, they
were there to be served. Apparently, after going through the trouble to create
the physical world, it was too much of a bother for them to fix themselves a
meal, so human slaves were created.
From the time the concept of divinity came about, the growth
of the gods and the growth of society has been a symbiotic relationship. When
one changes, the other changes. We now know too much about science and how the
natural world works to be afraid of the gods, so they have become our guides,
our companions and our spiritual parents. It’s OK to update your gods for
modern needs; if they don’t change, they stagnate, just like anything else that
doesn’t change. We can see the changes to the gods when we read ancient
mythology, and gods changed and combined when territory was taken by an army or
when ‘transplanted’ to another country by travelers, so there is clear
precedent for updating our gods.
We no longer fear the gods; they have become our family.
You won’t find two pagans who agree on everything. We are all
very individual people, and trying to get us all to agree on something is like
trying to herd cats. We even view the gods in different ways. While the main
aspects are pretty much the same, the details are personalized. Some people
insist on referring to Inanna as the goddess of love, while others point out
that the myths never claimed her as the goddess of love, but she displayed lots
of passion both in her bed and on the battlefield. I see her as the goddess of
passion, which is much different from a love goddess. 'Love', in the romantic
sense, is an invention of the middle ages.
Then you have some people who practically make a warding sign
at the mention of Loki, while others dance with glee at the thought of his
chaos mixing it all up. Personally, I think a little chaos is needed; without
it, things stagnate and stop growing. As we say –whatever floats your sun boat.
Getting back to a comment earlier, you’ll also find pagans
who don’t believe in deity at all. No, it isn’t a contradiction. As I said
before, being pagan is a world-view. For us, life itself is a living thing. We
don’t worship it, we don’t worship trees and rocks. We do, however, acknowledge
it and do our best to respect it. Sometimes it’s easier for us to see this life
in the form of a personality, so we give the different aspects a name and a
face. It makes us happy to do so. In this book, you will find me referring to
various things in conjunction with deity, and without deity. Sometimes a thing
strikes me in a poetic way, other times the scientist comes out for some common
sense. Either way, it's all the same to me. You take it as you will, put
whatever names and faces on it as you wish.
On the other end of the spectrum, you’ll find conservative
Pagans (an oxymoron to the rest of us!) who insist that the gods do exist. My
argument to them is that if one set of gods exist, they ALL exist. Including
Abraham’s god. If they pick and choose which gods exist and which don’t, that
makes them no better than followers of any other religion. Republican pagans
confuse the hell out of me, so I won't even delve into that topic.
Such is the general environment of pagans. This is our
normal, natural world. Is this at odds with science? No, not to us. Most of us,
especially the magicians (think shaman or ceremonial), understand at least the
basics of quantum physics, and we find those basics to be a perfect definition
of our worldview. And no, physicists don’t like it when we say such things;
they are convinced that we truly don’t understand. Yes, we do. It’s the same as
being bilingual; we can go back and forth to each language as the occasion
needs. Just because the physicists don’t understand us, doesn’t mean we don’t
understand them.
While I'm not going to delve into ancient history, I do want
to point out that, while many pagans believe that there was a primordial
matriarchy, I'm going to tell you no, there wasn't. At least not one that has
been proven. Those little clay female figurines do not constitute a matriarchy.
Not one of them is labeled as 'goddess.' As far as we can tell, primitive
humans didn't have a concept of deity as we know it. They were more of a
shamanic/animistic peoples, looking at the elements as living beings.
The figurines are found in caves and graves. They are found
IN something. Female-container-womb-fertility. If they mean anything at all,
I'd say they were fertility dolls. Let's follow lines of thought logically,
please.
I remember reading a history book about a cave in France, I
think it was, (I don't remember what the book was or who wrote it), which had
legs painted inside the cave entrance, one leg on each side of the entrance.
The author stated that the reasons for the 'legs' were unknown. I tossed the book
down and refused to read more. I mean really...!
So, let’s see what we can do about advancing some concepts,
and learn to communicate, before we head into things such as cosmology,
rituals, and magic.
First, let’s deal with some odds and ends for anyone new to
all this. When something is very new, we often don’t know what questions to
ask, much less know enough about the subject to formulate even a basic
question. In no particular order, here are a few basics that many of us find ourselves
griping about:
The first thing someone usually does after buying a book on
the subject of ‘Wicca and Spells,' is lighting some pretty candles, wafting the
incense, and looking for others to play with. Finding community. Nothing wrong
with finding community, it’s a good thing. Humans are social creatures, so it's
natural for us to looks for others and be part of the group. A group is a great
way to take those first steps, learning to walk while having family around us
who understands the language and culture we are learning. Isn't that how any
child learns? The best way to looks for these groups is your nearest
new-age/pagan book store. Go to the store and check out the events and
offerings that are posted to the billboard that most of these stores have. Any
groups who have an open Full Moon ceremony, or are offering classes on one
topic or another, will post a flyer. You can also ask the clerk and anyone you
see wearing a pentacle. Most will be honest and advise you on groups to avoid.
If it's an open ritual, you can pretty much assume that it's a family place,
therefore safe for you to give them a try. Go with an open mind and an open
heart and no expectations other than a new experience. Don't judge -you don't know
enough to judge, yet, other than by going with your gut.
Like most western pagans, I started out as Wiccan. My first
coven was eclectic, which was fine with me since I was still searching for my
pantheon.
This particular group was a teaching coven. There was always
a series of classes happening, and they had a good reputation of being good
classes. One class was on imaging and receiving. One person would picture
something in the palm of their hand, the other person would try and ‘see’ it.
When my partner in this exercise held out his hands, I looked carefully. Taking
my glasses off seemed to help, despite the fact that everything was blurry (I
still do that). I saw a pine tree shape in his hand, said so, and he confirmed
the image to the class. Since no one else had been in the ballpark with their
exercise partners, the class leader asked us to do another one. All I got was a
dark box, which was really so basic that I felt I had failed that one. My
partner said he was picturing a mahogany box on his father’s desk. I was
invited to join the group.
Some of the initial aspects of Circle with them were
disappointing, I felt that they rushed through ritual, but took their time with
the wine and pot afterwards, but I wasn’t ready to give up. Summer was here, and
having enjoyed camping all my life, I was quite excited to head out with the
group for a Midsummer camp-out. We went to a site in Northern Arizona, found a
good place that was away from others, and set up tents. The fresh, cool air of
the forest was a welcome change to the hot, stifling valley of Phoenix. As soon
as the tents were up and the fire had been made, someone got out wine, beer, a
boom box, and the pot. My first reaction was to question how they could disturb
the beautiful sounds of the forest with their hard rock music. I’m also
allergic to pot, so I questioned their use of it. Did they really need to get
high on that smelly crap instead of breathing deeply of the forest? I was told
to go up-wind, if I didn’t like it. That was painful to me; they felt their pot
was more important than the growth of their coven or me. When we got home, I
quit the group.
Do tribal magicians use various hallucinogenics in their
rites? Sure, they do. They claim it expands their mind. What the coven members
were doing, though, had nothing to do with mind expansion. I won’t argue the
aspects of hallucinogenics other than to say that I’ve never needed them to
expand my mind; I can ‘fly’ quite well without them, and I believe finding my
way to the astral realm without drugs has made my mind stronger. Using a crutch
doesn’t teach anything, it only weakens.
Walk away. It doesn’t make you weak, it makes you discerning.
You didn’t fail, they failed you.
Since I’ve never been known for my tact (although infamous
for my lack of it), here’s some plain-speak right up-front on the topic of
community:
Paying someone money for a class is fine, as long as the
price is reasonable. If it’s over $50 for the entire course, I’d start to
question it; cults do exist in all religions, so be careful. And how do you
know this person knows what they are talking about? They could be a complete
idiot. Anyone doing a job should be paid, but not if they are claiming divine
providence. Paying money to get into a group is not good. Chipping in for group
supplies or when renting a space for a public ritual is expected. Even if there
isn’t a sign up, it’s an unspoken expectation. Chip in what you can, there are
no free rides. Which reminds me - offer a couple bucks to the driver, if
someone gives you a ride. Have you seen the price of gas?
I’ve heard many people say that things like tarot classes
should be offered freely, since being able to read various types of scrying
things is a gift of the gods. My opinion on this? Bullshit. Don’t be cheap.
Someone is taking time out of their schedule, and working to teach you
something. Pay them for their work. If you have no money, be honest about it
and ask for other options of repaying the person for their time and effort.
Clean their house, do the yard, wash the car. Something. Just don’t sell your
body. That one disrespects YOU.
Claiming poverty? Well, many of us are barely holding a roof
over our heads, so don’t feel bad. If you are claiming poverty as an excuse to
get free stuff, though, ask yourself this: do you really need that pack of
cigarettes? Do you need that six-pack of beer? Is it more important to you than
paying someone for their time or chipping in for that ritual and the pot-luck
afterward? If you are that cheap and selfish, I’ll tell you now –we don’t want
you.
I advise you to run in the opposite direction if anyone tells
you sex will be involved. Now, many of the ceremonial groups do have rituals
that involve sex. OTO, Golden Dawn, probably a few others. Fair warning. This
is not a hidden aspect of their protocols, it’s right there in the books on the
shelves. These groups are usually not open for guests in ritual, though, so you
need to wait to be asked. You’ll be vetted, first, questioned, allowed to hang
out around the out-skirts of the group. When you start gaining their trust, or
at least a little of their respect, you’ll get invitations to beginner classes.
When you get the invitation to attend a ritual, you’ll know by then the basics
of what’s going on. There are no absolute newbies in a ceremonial ritual. You
won’t be asked of anything in the beginning, and you never have to do it at
all, if you don’t want to. Your body, your choice. A lot of these groups are
skyclad at some point in the ritual, so get used to your skin. There are higher
ranks, however, that will require a ‘sacred sex’ act, if you want to achieve
those ranks. Those are higher ranks, though, and if you’re still around
by that time, you will have made up your mind on your path. Your basic
Wiccan/Celtic/whatever coven does NOT require it. If you find one that does,
well, return to the first sentence in this paragraph. Every religion has its
share of assholes.
If you are going to a ritual with a group you don’t know, ask
beforehand if kids (and animals) are welcome. If the ritual is public, it’s
more than likely a family thing. You are expected to be a responsible parent
and police your children as well as doggie poopies. If the kids have not been
taught the appropriate Circle manners (no talking, no whining, no running around,
save questions for later), don’t bring them or have another adult come with you
to take them off to play while you are in Circle. No one appreciates a chatty
or whiny child during ritual. If the baby starts crying, quietly back out of
Circle and take your baby away until he/she has calmed down. Someone from the
sponsoring group will advise everyone whether or not the Circle needs to be
formally cut before leaving or entering. Pay attention to what they tell
everyone in the pre-ritual opener, ask before Circle if you aren’t sure of
protocol. Questions concerning protocol are greatly appreciated, as each group
will be slightly different than the others.
Guys, if you see or hear the word ‘Dianic’, tread very
carefully. Most Dianic groups are women only. A few can be found that will
include men, but those men are subordinate to the women. Any men in the ancient
temples of Diana were usually eunuchs. Ask the group if they allow men. Respect
the ‘no.' I’ve met many women in these groups who have an extremely abusive
past involving one or more men, so this space is safe-space for them. Whether
or not this is a healthy way to deal with their issues isn’t your concern. No
means no.
Ladies, if the group is Mithric, you also need to ask before
assuming you can attend a function. Many Mithric groups are men only. While
women did participate in ancient times, they were subordinate to the men. You
may be a submissive, and you can ask if you may attend the group in such a
position, but a lot of men use this as guy-space, so you, too, need to respect
the ‘no.’
Guys, if you want to honor Diana but you can’t get into a
group, start your own ‘Men for Diana’ group. Ladies, you, too, can start a
women’s Mithras group. Is it historically correct? No. Would it make your heart
happy? Yeah? Then go for it.
No matter what your sexual preference is, many of the
Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wiccan covens, as well as the ceremonial groups such
as OTO and Golden Dawn, are male-female duality. If you are LGBT, and you
attend a ritual of one of those covens, expect the duality. It isn’t that they
are homophobic, it’s that they are all about the dual male-female energies via
God & Goddess. Yes, I know, us LGBT family members ARE dual energy, but
that tends to confuse some of our straight brothers and sisters. There was a
reason we were considered a third gender in ancient times. Again, ask first.
Don’t assume that anything anyone tells you is the absolute
ONE TRUE WAY. There is no one way. If you are not comfortable with anything you
are being told, keep moving on. It doesn’t mean they are wrong, it only means
it isn’t for you. Most neo-Pagans are solitary because their spirituality is
something between that person and the gods, so the entire ‘group’ setting
doesn’t work for us except as an extended family. People who don’t understand
this tend to think this makes us disorganized. Well, if we wanted an organized
religion, we’d create one. A good look at the morning’s world news shows us
exactly what ‘organized’ religion does to people. Most of us are happy in a
solitary spirituality, and would NOT be happy in an organized religion.
Organizing a religion means creating an ideology and book of rules that
everyone needs to follow. No one tells me who, what, when, where or how to
worship.
Get involved in the community. Not just the pagan
community, but the community in general. Volunteer someplace. Even if you don’t
have money to do squat, you can still volunteer. Anyone who is a volunteer will
tell you that there is a sense of pride and accomplishment in knowing you are
helping someone else. This sense of pride translates into self-esteem. Other
people will see your self-esteem, your kids see it, a possible employer sees
it.
Being an active participant of the
general community has always been a major focus of any pagan society. Being a
good neighbor, participating in the voting process, and supporting community
leaders are very important things to do.
What’s being a good
neighbor? It’s helping your neighbor when they need help. Ask the elderly or infirm
person if you can help bring in their groceries, ask them if they’d like you to
take their trash can to the street; after all, you’re out taking your can to
the street. Get their cat out of the tree. Yes, I know, it’ll come down on its
own, but you know the elderly can worry. Being a good neighbor is sharing your
sandwich or a piece of fruit with that smelly person at the bus stop, or giving
that take-out box with the leftovers from lunch or dinner to someone who
clearly needs it more than you do. Being a good neighbor is sending a few bucks
to the local food bank or food kitchen each month. It’s inviting a lonely
neighbor to a pot-luck meal and telling them not to worry if they won’t have
something to bring. Being a good neighbor is being a decent human being.
Are you healthy? In your late teens, early 20’s? Join the
military, police, fire, or Coast Guard. Get off your ass and quit yer bitchin’.
Two years in the military will get you a paycheck, a scholarship, medical
benefits, and maybe a little self-respect. People have died so that you have
the freedom to sit and bitch. While I don’t condone invading THE WRONG
DAMNED COUNTRY!, I do support fighting for our freedom to sit and bitch.
For Pagans who whine that we should be a peaceful people and
not support warfare, those Pagans clearly don’t have the first clue as to their
own history. The Wiccan Rede says, “An it harm none, do what thou will.” OK,
but I'm not Wiccan. I don't believe in charging full steam ahead, guns raised,
unless all other options have been tried, but neither do I believe in turning
the other cheek. Pagans have had some of the best armies in the world! The
Celts didn’t paint their faces blue just to go to the ball, and chariots
weren’t invented to race around the castles. Hekate and Morrigan, to say
nothing of Inanna (and gods’ help whoever pisses those Ladies off!), would be
appalled by any Pagan who sat on their ass while others defended the borders.
Get involved in your world. It'll make you feel better.
Just because someone has been at this a lot longer than you
have, doesn’t mean they know what the hell they’re doing or that they deserve
to be listened to. Mental conditions exist in all aspects of society.
While I do admit to having issues with any practitioner with
less than five years experience attempting to pass themselves off as
knowledgeable enough to lead a group or teach a class, I’ve also met ‘elders’
of the community who should have been kicked out long ago. Overlooking the fact
that quite a few of the rituals I’ve been to have been led by people who
couldn’t raise or direct energy if Zeus himself handed it to them, my biggest
soapbox are the ones who gossip.
If someone spends their time gossiping about events long
past, events which had absolutely nothing to do with them, or talking about
people without verifying facts (such as actually asking the person in question
for confirmation of said fact), stay clear of that person. Sure, take a class
from them, they do have hands-on experience, but don’t get close and certainly
don’t share personal information with them. Yes, there are bad people in our
community whom we do need to warn newcomers about. It happens in all
communities. But warning someone about a dishonest person or an abuser is different
than telling tales about shit that the teller never personally experienced.
I caught one person spreading tales, had been for years. When
I moved back into town after years away, most of the original ‘crew’ had moved
on, and everyone was new to me. This person was spreading stories of events
long past, events he/she had nothing to do with, telling all these new people
‘the facts,’ and arguing that the warnings needed to be given. Well, since I
had been personally involved with three of the main ‘facts,’ I called him/her
out on it.
I don’t give a shit who someone is, get the facts before
believing a story. And then ask if it has anything to do with you. If it
doesn’t, move on. Gossip is a nasty, hurtful thing.
Most people have good in their heart, though. Mistakes
happen; be upfront and honest about them, correct them, learn from them, and
move on. An honest apology is appreciated more than excuses. The phrase 'the
devil made me do it' has no meaning for us. Free will means owning one’s
actions. (see the section on Free Will)
Whatever someone wants to teach you, it’s coming from their
heart. It is experience, which is better than anything a book could teach you.
Just remember that one person’s experience doesn’t make it law. It may not work
that way for you, and if it doesn’t, don’t worry about it. Appreciate the
experience, and appreciate the teacher for sharing it.
Most of the ‘traditions’ of modern, western pagans really
isn’t that much of tradition, yet. Gerald Gardner started all this in the early
1900’s after combining Masonic rites with bits and pieces of the old Celtic
festival calendar and who knows what else. That doesn’t make them any less
legitimate, it just means don’t put too much stock in the word ‘tradition.’ A
more proper word to use would be ‘path.’ Christians use the word
‘denomination,’ we use the word ‘path.’
Being a young group of people, we are only just getting into
second generations, maybe a third generation, here and there, that is
practicing this new spirituality. Yes, it’s based on ancient religions, but the
way it is practiced is new, as are the ritual formats. Our ‘elders’ are maybe
entering their 60’s or even their 70’s, by now. And if anyone tells you they
come from a 'trad' family, meaning their family has been pagan for generations,
tell them to prove it. If they're Wiccan or some other 19th-20th
century invention, how many generations are they really talking about?
I’ll let you in on a rule of thumb that newbies can’t stand
when they learn about it: anyone who has been practicing less than 5 years is
considered a baby pagan. They’re all over the place, they switch paths
practically on a monthly basis, eventually settling on ‘eclectic/ Celtic/
Wiccan/ Shamanic’ mainly because they don’t know what they’re doing and those
topics are the majority of the books on the New Age shelf at the bookstore.
They haven’t taken the time to work out their own thoughts and feelings, and
have watched one too many episodes of Buffy
and Charmed.
While some people never leave this under-five age, it isn’t
until after 5 years that many realize there’s more to discover. Five to ten
years tends to be ‘seeker’ mode. They discover books. They get outraged that
someone may diss them by suggesting they invest in a library card (it’s free,
folks, come on). They begin to redefine their world, and begin to get an
inkling of where they may want to walk a little more closely with their gods.
If they are open enough, they may also get surprised by discovering that a
pantheon they hadn’t considered is taking an interest in them. The person’s
true path begins to align during this time.
It’s after ten years of practice that we usually realize we
don’t know what the hell we’re talking about. It’s then that we settle into
becoming a student of the gods. After fifteen years, we start putting it all
together. When you can define it, when you can debate it, pull the puzzle apart
and put it back together, this is when you are experienced enough to teach.
Until then, you can find someone, somewhere, who is practicing
a path that closely resembles the one that will fit you. Go to classes, go to
open rituals, get involved online. Talk to people. Ask lots of questions. Tell
people you are new to all this, and they will go out of their way to help you
assimilate and get new definitions straightened out. We are a very helpful
crowd, even if we do bicker. When you need someone at your back, the bickering
gets put aside and we close ranks to help. You gotta speak up, though –we read
tarot cards, not minds.
Finding your path can be a tricky thing. Find someone who has
been at this a while, and ask them for a little of their time to talk. Let them
know you’re new, and you’d like a little direction. All the books on the
shelves can be a little over-whelming, so of course you may have a problem
figuring out where to start. Tell someone your thoughts. Tell them all those
confusing feelings about the gods, about what feels right to you. These people
with more experience than you can probably point you toward the paths that
sound most like what you describe.
Guess what? There is no rule saying you need to teach! There
is also no rule saying you need to learn magic!
Isn’t that a shocker?!
Listen, would you learn how to make a cake when all you
wanted to do was go to the bakery and pick it up? Of course, not. You also
wouldn’t learn how to use a scalpel if all you wanted to do was spread PB&J
on some bread. Sooooo….. why would you learn magic, if all you wanted to do was
walk in a pagan world? Being pagan has nothing to do with waving wands and
chanting cute nursery rhymes.
Why is it that the first thing people learn in 101 classes is
to set up an altar and start waving a wand around? Shouldn’t they be learning
how to ditch the Christian brain-washing and getting a new vocabulary in place?
Maybe learn a little about the pagans of ancient history? A few of the more
popular deities, maybe some comparative religions? Give them a firm foundation,
first, and THEN toss in some candy.
All this altar business with wands and chalices and athames
(and no, we can’t agree on the pronunciation of ‘athame’) is a pretty new
thing. These are NOT historically accurate to the pagans; they come from
Masonic rites which Gerald Gardner ‘appropriated.’ If you like it, fine; I’m
not saying don’t do it, I’m saying get some facts, first, and ask yourself WHY
you want it. If it’s because everyone else has one, well, that reason isn’t
good enough.
The ancient temples were places for the priests, not the
general public. Public participation happened during the festivals, they didn’t
participate in temple activities. For the public, living in a world where the
gods were alive and walking among us was a given; the birds flying a certain
way, the breeze suddenly gusting, a chirp of a grasshopper, these were the gods
talking to us. Sure, we call it ‘superstition’ now, while they called them
‘omens,’ but for people who are in-touch with the natural world, these are
messages to be heard and heeded.
I honestly can’t tell you where this whole ‘wands’ thing
comes from prior to the Masons. So far, I haven’t seen any sign of them used in
ancient temples. Maybe they come from walking sticks that people used when
walking all over Europe? That sounds reasonable, to me. Spiritual people
unaffiliated with temples walked everywhere, offering help where it was needed;
it would make sense that they’d carry as little as possible with them, bringing
only the things that could be used for both mundane and spiritual needs. They’d
carry a cup for water to drink, which could also be used to make holy whatever
liquid was in it and used for a ritual need. They’d have something to make fire
with, and they’d have a knife for dealing with dinner and cutting up something
to offer the gods or the local elementals. I can see all this as a reasonable
assumption. But these things are more shamanic, than temple. I suppose an
argument can be made that wherever you take a squat and talk with the gods, is
holy or temple space. Semantics.
We here in the west have been raised in a Christian world for
centuries. The lore of Christian myths and legends is ingrained in us from the
moment we are born. But if this was the ‘One True Way,’ everyone in the world
would know it. It would be a provable aspect of science. Since it needs to be
taught, however, it is not a ‘natural’ way.
What we are NOT taught is that the stories in the Christian
Bible are not original. From Genesis to Revelations, the stories can be found
in older cultures. When you read the Old Testament, you are also reading Ugaritic,
Canaanite, Egyptian, Babylonian and Sumerian myths. You’ll find that not only
is the style of writing the same, a common style during that time period, the
stories are also the same. For the New Testament, read not only the above
mentioned cultural myths but also Greek and Roman myths.
Lots of Pagans nowadays have an entire pantheon of gods, with
a Lord and Lady at the top. While most of the ancient gods did have a spouse of
some kind, only one god was in charge of the temple. The gods of the ancient Middle
East weren’t all that jealous; although the temple was dedicated to just one
specific deity, that god/dess had their ‘court’ along side them. For some
reason, the gods of Europe seemed to have more of a petty streak in them.
They’d become jealous at the drop of a hat or even a misinterpreted look. They
always seemed to be warring with each other. The gods of the ANE (Ancient Near
East) tend to take things more in stride; even when the tribes raided each
other’s territory, the gods mingled, fused, and generally had a grand time with
each other. Sure, there were spats, just read the Canaanite-Ugaritic Ba’al Cycle, not to mention the Babylonian Enuma Elish (I have issues with Marduk over that one).
A normal sight in ancient homes and businesses was an altar
for the god of the house or whatever the building was. Sure, put up an altar
for your gods; it’s a good focus point, it shows them honor. Talk with your
gods; you don’t need to set up a ritual circle just to have a chat with Them.
Speak from your heart, talk with them as you would talk with your family and
friends. There were altars for the god of the house, for the god of the family,
of the city and a personal god. While there have yet to be any ‘home’ rituals
found in ancient writings, so we don’t know how the public dealt with home
altars, we do know that formal rituals were the purview of the priests. If a
citizen needed a little something extra, he/she would ask a temple priest for a
special ritual or they’d go to the local shaman.
We now know that we don’t need a third party to speak to the
gods for us, so unless you want the help of a priest, you’re welcome to do it
yourself. Nothing special is needed, just an open heart. Altar toys are very
pretty, but consider this: what are they for? The ‘magic’ isn’t coming from the
objects, it’s coming from you. Anything you hold in your hand is nothing more
than an extension of your reach. It goes back to the concept of owning one’s
actions. It comes from YOU, not some supernatural, invisible force outside of
you. Don’t let the pretty baubles fool you.
If you DO want to get into the how-to’s of magic, just keep
reading; we’ll eventually get to that chapter. Until then, relax. Get to know
the pagan world before you start waving a wand and poking people in the eye
with it.
One day I was in the supermarket and I spotted someone
wearing a pentacle necklace. So of course, I stopped and greeted her. She was
very excited, having recently completed a ‘Start Your Own Wiccan Coven’ –type course
that was given by a famous witch on the East coast. Her coven would have
beautiful robes because everyone knows that REAL witches don’t go naked in
Circle. I smiled and nodded, and wished her luck.
Ignoring the fact that there is no evidence of ‘real’ witches
in history, robed or otherwise, beyond the hysteria of the Catholic Church,
let’s looks at what we DO know. In order to find what we know, we need looks no
further than mythology, archaeology, anthropology and sociology. Do a web
search for the pantheon of your choice, and then looks at the history and
culture of the people who wrote the myths for your pantheon. Look at the images
of the priests of that culture, and look at the common fashions of the people.
Did the priests go naked? Sure, some did, but pay attention to why and when
they were naked.
Some robes were fancy, others were not. Quite often, the
robes were white. This had less to do with purity of spirit, than it did for
cleanliness. Dirt could be better seen on white. Raise your hand if you
hesitate to wear white as your every day clothes. I have very few white shirts,
and no white pants or shorts. They get dirty just looking at them the wrong
way, and then they are impossible to get as white as when they were first
bought, right? Well, temple space was clean space. Priests were freshly washed
when they went into the temple. In some cultures, priests went into ritual
naked and then dressed in front of the altar. In Egypt, the priests kept their
hair shaved off; it was much easier to deal with bugs, if there was no hair for
them to hide in. Whatever it was, things were done for practical reasons.
But that is for temple priests. What about non-temple
priests? The shaman or village sages? They might wear beads, feathers, bones
and skins. They might wear nothing at all except streaks of clay or paint.
Watch the Discovery or History Channel, or the Learning Channel, and pay
attention to the tribal shows. Should you walk around with a gourd on your
penis? Probably not. At least, not in the city. Unless it’s your kink. But you
can still up your game by figuring out your god’s totem animal, and wear
something symbolic to honor him/her.
If you feel better by having ritual-wear, if it helps you to
alter your state of mind and prepare for ritual, go for it. I’ve seen plain
robes of various colors, fancy robes, ragged t-shirts and cargo pants, and lots
of naked skin. You don’t have to be naked, the gods know what you look like;
it’s your heart they’re interested in, not your wardrobe. And don't let anyone
try and send you on a guilt trip by telling you naked means you have nothing to
hide. They can mind their own damned business; my spiritual communing is
between me and the gods, so tell them to get their thrills someplace else.
There is nothing wrong with skin; get over your (Christian)
fears of it, and enjoy the sun, moon and breeze on your body. No one cares what
shape you are in; this is a celebration of the gods, not an invitation to an
orgy. Unless we’re talking a Bacchus festival, of course…
So dress comfortably, and remember that this is about the
gods, not your wardrobe.
To destroy, to build up,
to tear out and to settle are yours, Inana. To turn a
man into a woman and a woman into a man are yours, Inana (119-120)
I say, "Hail!" to
Inanna, First Daughter of the Moon!
The male prostitutes
comb their hair before you.
They decorate the napes
of their necks with colored scarfs,
They drape the cloak of
the gods about their shoulders.
The righteous man and
woman walk before you.
They hold the soothing
harp by their sides.
Those who follow wear
the sword belt.
They grasp the spear in
their hands.
The people of Sumer
parade before you.
The women adorn their
right side with men’s clothing.
The people of Sumer
parade before you.
I say, "Hail!"
to Inanna, Great Lady of Heaven!
Inanna, Queen of Heaven by Kramer and Wolkstein[Owner2]
A Sumerian myth called "The Creation
of Man" (ca. 2000 B.C.E.) declares how Ninmah created seven types of
people including: "the woman who cannot give birth,” "the one who has
no male organ, no female organ." Enki finds each one an occupation and
position in society. The sexless one "stands before the king," while
the barren woman is the naditum priestesses.
In the Akkadian myth of Atrahasis
(ca. 1700 B.C.E.), Enki instructs Nintu, the Lady of Birth, to establish a
"third (category) among the people," which includes barren women, a
demon who seizes babies from their mothers, and priestesses who are barred from
childbearing.
Jacobsen, The Harps, pp. 151-66; Thorkild lacobsen, The Treasures of
Darkness[Owner3] .
Old Babylonian contains the word ‘pilipili’ which means
homosexual or transvestite lover.
In Akkadian, it would be assinnu "(male cultic prostitute)"; parrû "(homosexual) lover"
http://psd.museum.upenn.edu/epsd/nepsd-frame.html[Owner4]
When a word or concept exists in a culture, it’s happening in
the culture.
All the old references are for men; I can’t argue for the
female side of all this, because ‘sex’ was about ‘entering’, and two women
can’t ‘enter.’ A few other odd things are also still believed, such as
countries where people still believe that women are incapable of sexual pleasure,
and that a hymen cannot be broken except during intercourse. I saw an interview
with resident doctors, male and female, from a Middle Eastern country. One of
the women said clearly that a hymen cannot be broken during general children’s
play such as running, riding an animal, or climbing on things, it can only be
broken during sex. I read an article in a magazine, some science magazine I
don’t remember which one, and there was a story in it about a resident doctor
(who was from a North African country) who found himself listening to a female
patient speak frankly about her lack of sexual pleasure. He went to his
attending and told him that he never knew women could experience sexual
pleasure, so he didn’t know what to say to her. Much to the attending’s surprise,
he found himself giving this grown man, a doctor no less, a lesson in basic
sexuality. But I digress.
People still believe this, so any commentary on ancient
homosexuality will concern men and ‘entering,' not women.
Most of us are aware of the Native American two-spirits,
neither male nor female, living as one or the other, and any close looks at a
Greek vase or bowl will show clear images of same genders ‘playing’ with each
other. According to James Neill in his book The
Origins and Role of Same-Sex Relations in Human Society,[Owner5] the gala-priest usually sang lamentations in the temples
of Inanna. The word gala, says Neill,
“was written using the signs for “penis-anus,” an explicit reference to the
sexual role taken by these male priests with other men.” Another type of
priest, the assinnu, has the same
root word as assinnutu, which means
‘to practice anal intercourse.’[Owner6]
(page 84 of said book)
This was not only common in the temples, but also in the
royal bedrooms. The story of Gilgamesh and Enkidu may bring to mind the story
of King David and Jonathan, which is no coincidence:
(from The Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet 1)[Owner7]
He walks around in the enclosure of Uruk,
Like a wild bull he makes himself mighty, head raised (over others).
There is no rival who can raise his weapon against him.
His fellows stand (at the alert), attentive to his (orders ?),
and the men of Uruk become anxious in ...
Gilgamesh does not leave a son to his father,
day and night he arrogant[y(?) ...
[The following lines are interpreted as rhetorical, perhaps spoken by the
oppressed citizens of Urnk.l
Is Gilgamesh the shepherd of Uruk-Haven,
is he the shepherd. ...
bold, eminent, knowing, and wise!
Gilgamesh does not leave a girl to her mother(?)
…
Ninsun, the mother of Gilgamesh, interprets a dream Gilgamesh
had:
"There will come to
you a mighty man, a comrade who saves his friend--
he is the mightiest in
the land, he is strongest,
his strength is mighty
as the meteorite(!) of Anu!
You loved him and
embraced him as a wife;
My own personal two-cents on the subject of why this all
became taboo, if not outright illegal, is due to the advancement of monotheism.
Not only did the new monotheistic groups need more members, of which the
easiest way was to give birth to them, but since it was common practice among
the polytheistic tribes, it makes sense that the monotheists would lump it
among all the other taboos that didn’t fit their new religion.
While it is a choice as to who we accept into our bed, our
attraction is born with us. A boy of four who prefers his mother’s dresses,
shoes and make-up is not confused; he’s expressing what is in his heart. We are
a sexual creature, which it isn’t something that is taught.
I would get crushes on both genders, and I remember this from
about age five and on. Being from a Catholic family, and being a child of the
early 70s, I never saw a representative of such a culture, and it never even
occurred to me that I was that much different from other girls. There was a
vague reference to something called ‘lesbian’ which was a woman who ‘wore
comfortable shoes’ and had something to do with other women. This didn’t impact
me at all. And that small, white, miniature wedding dress I wore at my First
Communion humiliated me. I have the pictures to prove it:
I was almost to the point of tears the entire day, having
been forced to wear it. I hated it. I grew up never once wanting a
‘traditional’ wedding dress. I hated dresses, high-heels, purses, and diamonds.
My mother tried giving me Barbies and dolls, but gave up when I was around 7 or
so; the day after Christmas, I’d be down the street trading them for a baseball
or Frisbee. The fact that it was a boy who was trading these things never
occurred to me until much later in life. Trying to decide if I ‘liked’ men or
women wasn’t an issue: I ‘like’ them both. Bisexuals are NOT fence-sitters, we
are attracted to a person, not a gender.
Feeling the blood rush from my face and my heart pounding as
my best friend across the street, also 5 years old, was running around her
house naked, and me practically drooling as I watched her, and not yet old
enough to know WHY she intrigued me, or at 14, in junior high school, and
wanting to join this little group of one boy with 4 ‘girlfriends,' being
attracted to a girl with short hair and who dressed like a boy, being attracted
to a boy who really smelled nice (I know it now as testosterone), were not
things I was taught at home, nor did I see them as I was growing up. They were
a natural expression of my heart. I was born this way.
I think the acceptance of multiple gods, male and female,
makes pagans much more open to this concept. The topic doesn’t even cause a
momentary pause for us. We accept the duality of male and female among the
gods, in nature, and within ourselves. We know we are born with our sexuality,
whatever that may be, and attempting to prohibit someone from their sexuality
would never occur to us. Love and sex are gifts from the gods. While there are
pagan groups who practice male-female duality within ritual, no one would
consider frowning upon the choice of a particular life-partner or bedmate.
There are arguments that our main reason for being is that
nature expects us to procreate. Well, as someone who has had a complete
hysterectomy and doesn’t take hormonal supplements, I can assure you that the
entire ‘nesting’ instinct is hormonal. Yes, of course nature made sure we had a
reason to procreate, and so these instincts are ‘normal,' but ask yourself
–would nature have created something without checks and balances? Would that
not be complete chaos? What would happen if EVERYONE on the planet created a
child? It makes sense that nature would create people who can’t have children,
people who don’t want children, and people who are attracted to the same
gender, i.e., on the assumption that they won’t have children. This is nature's
method of population control.
Some of the best parents I’ve seen have been LGBT parents.
Those kids tend to grow up tolerant, giving, and with a higher self-esteem than
kids who are told that ‘others’ are wrong or bad. Take a look at the headlines
of the daily news, and tell me who is abusing whom.
I won’t get into two male cats I know who are always….
Uh-huh… If it happens in nature, it’s natural and She wants it to be this way.
If She didn’t, ‘gay’ would go the way of the dinosaurs.
Gay is common in pagan history, so come on home to us.
I was waiting in line at the market and I overheard two men
talking about how Jesus saves us and that the devil makes himself known by our
deeds whether we realize it or not. The devil made me do it? To modern Pagans,
this phrase holds no meaning; we don’t believe in a devil. Modern Pagans
believe in self-responsibility which means we own our actions, we don’t push
them off on an outside influence. The devil didn’t make me do anything, and the
opposite holds true, also –if the devil didn’t make me do it, neither did the
angels. We don’t believe in angels, either. We don’t believe in absolute good
or evil, we believe in gods who have good hair days and bad hair days just like
everyone else.
Headache? Someone must have hired a witch to cast a spell on
that person. Got a cold? It’s the demon of pestilence. Sounds ridiculous? Of
course, it does. The ancients believed in the influence of outside influences,
that much is apparent in the myths and rituals, but this isn’t the Dark Ages.
The gods can influence, if they really wanted to, but why
would they? They are creators –if they wanted something that badly, they could
create it for themselves. A snap of the fingers, and presto-whammo (it’s a
technical term)! It appears. Ancient pagans tended to believe that we were
created to serve the gods in a serf or slave-like capacity. So it says in the
myths. We toil for Them, day in and day out, with no other purpose while,
according to the myths, They sit around all day drinking, eating and having sex
with anything that moves. Or sometimes doesn’t move. We have evolved beyond
that in our understanding of life and the universe. Now, we serve the gods in
our service to each other. We care for each other, help each other, and fearful
dedication to the gods has turned into honoring Them with open hearts, and
through our honoring of the gods, we honor each other and all of creation.
Where one is afraid of life, one fears the gods. Joy of life is joy of the
gods.
Why bother to believe in the gods at all? Or even believe in
one god? Because some of us feel more connected to life when we are in
communion with that which we hold sacred. A child’s response to the unknown? Perhaps.
We sense the ‘living’ aspect of life, though, that barely tangible thing which
breathes and has a soul just like we do. The universe is alive, it is a
sentient, living force, and we are all part of that living force. Just as we
know rain is in the air by that iron smell of ozone, we know that there is a
living force in the energy that binds everything together. Is it our Creator,
or were we created along with it? That answer is going to come down to
individual choice. I, personally, don’t believe there is a wrong answer.
Does this Life Force influence us? Does it force us to do
things either with or against our will? No, I don’t believe so. It is our own
needs which we act upon, and sometimes there’s that tiny voice within that
tells us that something is wrong and we do it anyway. Our guilt points that
finger and blames the Other. Someone once told me, “When you point a finger at
someone, there are four more fingers pointing back at you.” Here in the west,
we are raised with the idea that there are outside forces, good and evil, which
tell us what to do. This supposes an entity or entities that have a stake in
what happens here. I refer back to my previous argument –why? We are
responsible for our own actions. We create our own future.
Does this explain the people in the world who do evil?
Murderers, rapists, abusers? Yes, it does. No one forced them to do evil
things, it was their own choice. Bad upbringing? Nurture or nature? Could be
one or the other or both. Abused as a child, a learned response, or perhaps a
few mixed wires in the brain. Any way you looks at it, it comes from within,
not from an outside force.
There was this small apartment complex I used to live at, it
had maybe 35 apartments. I think I was only 1 of 3 white people there. Everyone
else was Hispanic. I gotta tell ya, when those ladies got to cooking, the smell
was wonderful!
They were amused by their local white bruja, to the point where, when I brought home a small stray
kitten, one of the ladies pointed to the kitten and mimed holding it to her
breast for suckle. That got them rocking with laughter. But it was
good-hearted, so I laughed, too.
Loud arguing is normal; the Latin cultures are a very
passionate group of peoples, so I usually ignored it. It never lasted long. One
day, though, the arguing wasn’t the normal, good kinda sound, so I looked out
my door. All the men in the complex were gathered around the door of one of the
families. Not a good sign when the neighbors are so concerned that they butt
into what is usually a family affair. So I went down, wanting to check on the
wife and the kids.
I couldn’t understand much of what was being said, but I knew
a drunken man when I saw one. His wife had had enough, and they were arguing
about him. Now, most of these men were at least a whole head taller than me,
but I pushed my way through them and got to the door of the apartment. Somewhat
surprised, the family stopped yelling for a moment. I looked up at this drunk
man and waved a finger at him. I said, “If you get drunk again, I will ask the
Old Gods to judge you.” The men all muttered and backed up a step, a few of
them crossing themselves. I went back to my apartment.
Three days later, one of the girls comes up the stairs with
her mother and knocks on my door. Mamacita wants to know when the gods are
going to let her husband out of jail. He was arrested for drunk driving. I
thought about it and picked the first number that came to me. “If he behaves,
the gods will let him out in about 3 months.” Mamacita nodded gravely, and through
her daughter, the interpreter, said, “That’s what the judge said.” They went
back to their apartment.
Sometime later, another child-interpreter came up to my
apartment. Her little sister was very sick, and mama needed to know if she
should take the toddler to the hospital. I went down and looked at the child, a
two-year old girl who was very unhappy. Her stomach was hurting enough to make
her whine and look like a pitiful mess. Her belly looked a little bloated, so I
touched it, gently feeling around. When I felt gurgling in her intestines, I
waited to feel where the bubbles would go. When they moved down into her colon,
I told the big sister to put her on the toilet. Seconds later, there was this
loud explosion of gas followed by the most god-awful smell that no one could
believe came out of a two-year old child. Mama and the big sister laughed,
waving their hands in front of their faces and opened windows. The toddler was
fine after that.
Later that afternoon, mamacita’s son came up the stairs, the
rest of the local boys behind him, and he held out his wrist which had a cast
on it. He wanted me to heal it. Hey, I’m not stupid –I told him to mind what
his doctor said!
Many cultures still believe in an outside influence, many of
these are still living in a world of ancient tribalism. Modern pagans have
grown beyond this, and while we may call upon the elementals, it still comes
down to common sense and science. Did I cause the little girl’s gas bubbles to
move? No, I was just paying attention and waiting for the right moment to make
a move. And no, I didn't lie or misrepresent myself to them; I never said
anything about magic. If it wasn't for the language barrier, I would have
explained the bubbles. I was responsible for my actions, not some outside influence.
While I personally don’t believe in an ultimate Creator, I’m
of the Darwinian school of theory, I have no problem putting names and
attributes to various aspects of nature. It makes me comfortable to do so.
Other Pagans DO believe each and every god is a real deity, and that’s OK, too.
Whatever makes you happy. It all boils down to free will and what we CHOOSE to
believe.
We pride ourselves on how many neuron
connections we have and how many books are on our bookcases. Those with the
most books wins! In other words, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll find an
illiterate Pagan. Pick a subject, and we will give you a good debate.
Pagans gave the world the alphabet;
how crazy would it be for us to not make good use of it? Within the walls of
schools (which we also invented), flourished the scholar, the scientist, the
doctor, the poet, and the laws which govern society. We gave the world the
philosophers, musicians, and the story-tellers. We wrote the first great epics.
Let’s face it –if it was invented
prior to monotheism, we invented it.
Support your local schools and the
arts. Buy your books from local store owners, whenever possible, and help
support them. Buy second-hand, and help with conservation. Buy from local
farmers, if you can; not every town has a local farmer’s market. It might be a
little more expensive, or not, but that fresh produce is a lot more important
for your body, and that of your children, than the beer, the cigarettes, or the
pot. Unless, of course, you are having a festival for Ninkasi, the goddess of
beer. –No, I’m not making her up! Google her.
I don’t read palms. Never got the
hang of it. All I know is that I have this weird ‘M’ or ‘X’ between my Head
line and Heart line, crossing the Fate line. I have no clue what that means,
other than it’s the same on both of my palms.
(this is my left hand; it’s in the same position on my right hand, too)
I don’t read astrology, either,
although I know the basics of the signs, and I know that I’m so Aquarian that I
irritate people. Runes have never done a thing for me, and the Celtic Ogham
makes me cross-eyed. My Chinese astrology sign is the horse, and while I’m
quite fond of the critters, my personality in no way resembles what the Chinese
say I’m supposed to be. (Oooh, bad English! Mea culpa). I do, however, have a
few aspects of my Egyptian sign, Mut, as well as my Aztec sign, Year 5 Calli,
day 4 Quiahuitl, that speak well to me. After my Greek Aquarius, the Aztec sign
is closest to who I am.
Since I have a great deal of trouble
with numbers (I don’t ‘compute’ them), numerology is pointless for me to
attempt to translate, although I know enough to calculate basics. I’m an 11.
Name and date of birth are both 11’s. I’m as much 11 as I am Aquarius. When I
was able to, I hired a paralegal and changed my last name. It was my father’s
name, and since he and my mother had been divorced since I was a toddler, and
neither he nor his family were in contact with me, I saw no reason to keep his
name. So I went through my maternal family tree, trying to fit names that would
allow me to keep my 11. I finally found that if I altered the spelling of my
middle name slightly, my great-grandmother’s maiden name would work. Of course,
when I went to court to explain to the judge why I wanted my name changed, I
only discussed the paternal issues. I didn’t think the judge would understand
the whole numerology aspect. So my energy stayed pretty much the same, it was a
smooth transition.
Fire, water and mirrors were always
easy for me to use. Well, fire was usable after I dealt with a childhood fear
of it. (One of my past-lives died in a forest fire). Fire and earth are my
strongest elements. They are easy to focus on and relax into a contemplative
meditation.
Tarot cards were always the easiest
for me. I picked up my first deck when I was about 13, didn’t quite ‘get it’ at
the time, and picked them up again when I was 15. It was the Rider-Waite Deck.
I know there are people who don’t care for the deck, mainly because of the
darkness of the images, but they work for me. I understand them. While there
are a lot of beautiful decks, they won’t work if you can’t read the face of
each card. The books for these decks are nothing more than suggestions. They
are the opinions of the writer, and should not be taken as ‘gospel.' Read the
book if you want, then put it on the shelf and let it collect dust. Everything
you need to know about the card should be right there on its face. If you can’t
read it, it isn’t for you.
The Rider deck has the best imagery
because it is basic western psychological symbology. Each card has color,
elementals, flowers, and the number of the card, giving the reader many ways to
read the card. If it looks as though a green sky and yellow stream isn’t
logical, that’s because you’re not supposed to read it logically. These cards
correspond to the subconscious, not the logical universe. What does ‘green’
represent? If it’s in the sky, how would the meaning of ‘green’ be translated
in regards to the sky?
Let’s looks at the first card, The
Fool. The 0 card.
This is The Fool, from the
Rider-Waite Deck. A white sun, yellow sky, blue and white mountains in the
background, and a little white dog at his heel. Although, the thought just
occurred to me -are those mountains, or are they high waves? The figure is
androgynous, hard to tell if this is a man or woman. The gender of the person
in the card doesn’t really matter; what matters is the energy. An androgynous
person is usually young, that pre-teen age where a lot of kids are between
worlds. The person the card is talking about may be an older person, but their
energy or the energy of a new endeavor may be young.
See the bag at the end of the wand?
It’s filled with potential. The next card in the deck is The Magician. On the
Magician’s table are the elements, things to represent earth, air, fire and
water. With these elements, a person has access to all the magic in the world.
Those elements are in The Fool’s bag, which he/she hasn’t opened, yet. The Fool
is staring off into the distance, dreaming, instead of paying attention to
things at hand. Such as the precipice he/she is about to walk off of, and the
little white dog which is his/her conscious nattering for attention and in
warning. See the sharp points on those distant white mountains? Be careful when
stepping off that cliff, those sharp points could be dangerous.
The yellow sky is a future of
knowledge that is available, and the white sun a new beginning. The white rose
in his/her hand is also a symbol for innocence and purity, as well as new
beginnings.
See how easy it can be to read cards?
Each card meaning will adapt slightly depending on other cards surrounding it.
You can start out with a three-card spread, five-card, or even the typical
Celtic cross spread. It doesn’t matter. Find a spread that speaks to you, just
make sure you have a firm grasp of the meaning of each card placement. Is it
past, present or future? How far past? How far future? The more you work with
them, the easier it will be to ‘feel’ these things.
I don’t recommend reading for someone
you know well. The reading is easy to become biased because of your
subconscious interpreting what you want it to be, instead of what it is.
Reading for yourself is hard for the same reason, no matter what someone else
tells you. When I need quick advice for myself, I pick a card from a kabbalah
deck and read the summery out of its book.
Nay-sayers will complain that all
this ‘reading of the tea leaves’ business is crap. The readings are too
general, much can be read into them. Well, yes, usually. The point of reading
for someone is to help them make a decision, or to point them in a direction to
make a decision. To tell them what they already know. Sometimes someone needs
to hear someone tell them it’s alright, when telling themselves doesn’t work.
If what you say to someone helps them to consider something in a new light, to
help them feel better, then you’ve done your job.
Once in a great while, if you can
catch the ‘wave,' you can be a little more exacting in your reading and spook
someone with your specifics.
When I was practicing reading for
people, I would go out each week to the local SCA fighter practice and sit on a
blanket and read for people. I started getting the same people over and over,
and always with the same problem. I started getting impatient with them. If
they refused to change their situation as per my advice, why should I continue
to waste my time and energy on them? I started telling people I couldn’t read
for them anymore.
Every move, every decision we make,
has repercussions, yes? Cause and effect. Basic science. That movement creates
more movement. It creates energy. A decision in the past is the energy that has
brought you to the present, and unless you takes steps to alter the path, that
same energy will propel you into the future. If you continue to make the same
decisions, or you continue to NOT alter your path, you will remain in your
current situation.
Sometimes a person will come to you
and say that the reading you gave them wasn’t the same reading someone else
gave them. This is OK, don’t think you did a bad reading. I tell people that
it’s because at some point between readings, they changed their mind about
something, their way of thinking about something, and it altered their path.
Change is a good thing. Change is
growth.
Good mental health is important. I’m
not talking about crazy verses sane, I’m not even talking about your brain on
drugs. I’ll give you an idea of why this is important: A few years ago, I tried
to teach three older teens the basics of tarot reading. The boys did fine, but
for some reason the girl was reading the opposite meanings in the cards. A card
of strife was being read as cooperation, cards of affection were read as
distrust. I shuffled the cards, had her shuffle them, and I read her cards. It
turned out that she was from, and was still living in, an abusive home. There
are times when the writing on the wall needs to be read straight out, and
that’s what I did. I told her that before she started giving advice to others,
she really needed to get out of that house and get counseling. Her world-view
was so skewed, that she was unable to see the facets of life in a healthy
manner.
Someone who is depressed, who is a
victim/survivor of abuse, this is not mentally healthy, and this person needs
to get themselves together before offering advice to others. How can someone
offer advice when they cannot even see life in a healthy manner? We all have
our Moments of panic, anxiety, depression and doubt; if you are living this on
a daily basis, however, you are not in a healthy place of being. Go talk with a
councilor. There is no shame in it; I think everyone should take a time-out,
once in a while, and do a check-in with themselves. If that means sitting down
with a stranger and telling them your current thoughts and anxieties, then do
so. Those strangers are safe-space.
The mental health PSA is over, on to
our regularly scheduled program.
Do you HAVE to find something to use
as divinatory? No, not at all. If you don’t feel the pull toward it, don’t
worry about it. Divination is NOT necessary to be pagan. A lot of us just
happen to have fun with it.
While I don’t believe in demons and
such, there is something unusual about Ouija boards. I don’t know what it is,
but there is something about the set-up of them that connects to the deep,
negative aspects of the subconscious. I DO NOT recommend using them at any
time. It seems to attract troubled teens, so it’s probably hitting on the
psychic energy that crazy hormones tend to produce. The people it attracts are
potentially psychic, and usually from non-pagan families, so they immediately
jump to the ‘devil’ conclusion instead of going to their parents and asking for
psychic training. There are advanced practices for people who want to get rid
of negatives within themselves, which I will get into later. This ‘game,'
however, isn’t useful for anything other than fire fodder.
Dousing with twigs or a crystal? That
one’s a little iffy. Too much room for conscious or unconscious manipulation.
Astrology? Yeeesssss…. I have a
theory about astrology.
The light of the stars are thousands,
if not millions of years old by the time it reaches the Earth. The stars it
came from are more than likely dead or dying. So how are we being influenced by
them? I don’t believe they have much of anything to do with us.
Look, this little planet is
continuously moving. It spins, it tilts, it wobbles, it goes through seasons,
it gets pummeled by solar radiation 24/7, and it gets tugged back and forth by
the moon’s gravity. The light from stars so far away has less of an affect on
us than what we get from right here in our home neighborhood.
So here’s my thing: from the time we
are a tiny cell, to the time we rip Mom’s innards apart with our birth, we are
in continual contact with the basic rhythms of life. Those vibrations feed us
just as much as the oxygen and blood nutrients we get from Mom’s body. Every
place on the planet has a specific vibration to it. Even the rocks themselves
vibrate at specific levels. Each day, each hour, each minute, each season
changes the vibrations all around us.
When I was a tadpole before being
born January 24, 1966, in Lake Worth, Florida (I’m estimating about 3am; Mom
said she was a little busy, at the time, and didn’t notice the clock, only knew
it was early morning and still dark outside, and the state wasn’t putting birth
time on certificates, yet), I went through nine months of vibrations from the
earth, surrounded by the Earth’s EM field from the Moment egg met sperm. It is
my theory that the earth’s vibrations in the area of the planet I was gestating
in during those nine months are what makes me so Aquarian, not the light of
stars from so far away. Music makes a fetus happy, but not the song of the
planet?
I don’t believe in an invisible god
‘out there,' so why would I believe the light from certain stars have to do
with who I am?
This is just my personal opinion, and
believe me I’ve heard feedback from an astrologer friend, and as with
everything else here, do with it as you will. It’s all theory.
Ohhhmmmmmm…….
No, it isn’t all about sitting in
weird pretzel positions that cramp your legs and kill blood-flow to your feet,
pretending you can breathe better through a haze of incense, and getting shaken
from your comfort by a gong every minute or so. Meditation is centering
yourself. It is clearing away the cobwebs from your brain, relaxing the mind,
dumping the stuff that is polluting your well-being.
There are lots of ways to do this,
you only need to try things out until you find the way that works for you. If
pretending to be a pretzel works for you, go for it. A couple thousand years of
yogis in India turning themselves into knots can’t all be wrong.
With my slight case of ADD, I have a
problem with sitting quietly and delving deep into my brain through guided
meditations. I can’t hold my concentration that long. My usual preference is
contemplations. It can be done anywhere, at anytime. I used to put myself to sleep
contemplating The Big Bang in the silence of space. Yes, yes, I’m a nerd.
Another one I came across years ago
was from a book on Jewish meditations. I don’t have the book anymore, so I
can’t give you exact quotes or a name, but two of the contemplations went like
this:
a)
What is behind you? If you turn to
look, it is no longer behind you because you are now looking forward. What is
behind you?
b)
What comes before one? Numbers
indicate a physical thing that can be counted. The first reaction people will
have is to say zero. That would be wrong, because zero is a concept, not a
number. Zero cannot be counted because it has no physical being to count. So
what comes before zero?
Robert Heinlein, in his book, “Stranger in a Strange Land”, a book I
highly recommend for EVERY library, made excellent use of the first one with
his 'Witness' characters: If the barn is white on this side, what color is the
other side? You could say ‘white,' because who paints their barn a different
color on each side? But unless you go and view the other side to see if it is
white, you really cannot say with 100% certainty that the other side of the
barn is also white. Once you have viewed the other side, noted its white color,
is the first side you viewed still white? Really? Can you be absolutely sure
that someone didn’t go behind your back and paint it another color while you
were investigating the original query?
This is contemplation. I find it very
relaxing while giving my head something to work on.
You don’t need to be still to get
into this frame of mind, either. Another favorite thing for me to do is bang on
a drum or tambourine at a bonfire. There was one drumming circle that went so
well that I had my eyes closed and I could still see people.
The point of these exercises is to
not only relax your mind and body, but also to get you in touch with energy. To
learn how to feel it and work with it. Have you ever been in a large crowd and
felt that ‘thickness’ in the air? That is energy. It’s raw, undefined energy.
When you get close to someone, get into their ‘space,' there is that feeling of
sexuality. That feeling is the same, raw energy. It is easily mistaken for
sexual energy because of its rawness, but someone who knows how to manipulate
energy knows how to take that energy and turn it into whatever they want.
An excellent example of a master of
energy manipulation is, or was, Freddie Mercury. Watch a video of a live
concert. The minute Freddie comes onto the stage, the audience are his slaves.
Watch the audience when he’s on stage.
For people who want to learn how to
do divination or learn to sense basic elementals, or even someone’s future or
past, it is necessary to know how to sense energy. The hot, raw energy is the
easiest because it IS so hot. Getting to the faint, gentle energies takes some
practice.
Movement creates energy. This is a
scientific fact. Energy can be measured. When we move, how can that energy not
be detected? We know it is detectable, it gets measured all the time by
scientists and the such. Even the residual energy of a cut leaf can be
detected. Ask someone who has had a limb removed if they can still feel that
limb. While physicists have issues with us using their toys, quantum physics
tells us that the past, present and future are all now. On the quantum level,
time ceases to exist. Time is a product of decay which is part of the physical
world. Quantum mechanics is outside the physical world, therefore all is now.
All of this shows up in the measurement of energy.
When we learn to feel energy, we eventually
become sensitive enough to feel auric energy, and the energy we create as we
live life. The path we are currently on is the main energy, the strongest that
we can feel. Each time we contemplate a change, some other direction, a path is
created to that direction. An alternate world, so to speak. Feel those
alternate paths and test them on a future line. Does it work better for you? A
great example of this is Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’.
Read the book, the movie doesn't do it justice.
This is another term newcomers are going to run into, and
fairly quickly. A sacred marriage is a ritual sex act between god and goddess.
The only reference I have found for this is in the main Babylonian Akitu
Festival. An ‘akitu’ is the Babylonian New Year festival from the ancient Near
Middle East, which was at each of the equinoxes. In later Babylonian times, the
Akitu had a ‘marriage’ between the king and a goddess, who was probably
represented by a priestess of the temple, added to the end of the temple rites
of the ritual. The king would come into the temple at the end of the festival,
where the high priest of the temple would take away the royal insignia and
smack the king around, making him confess any sins or swear that he did right
by the gods and the people he governed. If the king teared up, it was an omen
that he was telling the truth. His insignia would then be returned to him, he
would be re-consecrated to the throne, and given to the goddess as her consort.
There is a small hint of this in the Gilgamesh Cycle when
Ishtar goes to Gilgamesh and offers herself to him. In a surprising turn of
events, though, he refuses her and then insults her further by calling her a
whore and all kinds of nasty things.
The goddess consecrating the king to the land and the people
comes up in the King Arthur stories, too.
In a lot of Circles, this Sacred Marriage is symbolically
enacted by plunging a knife into a cup. This is a Masonic thing. A cup is
needed in ritual, because it holds a liquid offering to the gods, but there
really isn’t a need for a knife. At some point in the ritual, usually toward
the beginning, you will see the HP and HPS enact this by plunging the athame
into goblet.
There are myths which involve the marriage of Inanna and
Dumuzi, and whose language is rather steamy, but there are no rituals for a
‘sacred marriage.' There is no myth in which a god of the fields has sex with a
goddess in order to fertilize the fields.
If the Babylonians want to add a marriage between goddess and king at
the end of their Akitu, that’s fine, but I’m not Babylonian. I have no problem
with sex in general, but temple rites are about celebrating the gods. A sex
rite, whether for fertility or whatever, is about a person or the needs of
society, it isn’t about the gods. The gods don't need us to have sex for them.
A sex rite is part of magic rites, and it should be kept separate from temple
rites. See Part 3 about rituals and magic.
If you want to have a good, lusty round of sex, do you really
need an excuse? Pagans don’t need an excuse to have sex. Take a looks at the
Kama Sutra, if you don’t believe me. <snort>.. or read the Song of
Solomon.
This is another term you will hear. Not all groups use it. It
refers to calling the goddess of the moon down to inhabit the body of the HPS
during the ritual. Sometimes the HPS will do the calling herself, sometimes the
HP will call the moon down into her. They will raise their arms to the sky,
speak their ritual words, and invite the goddess down.
Not everyone sees the moon as feminine, so don't stress it if
you are one who does not. If it comes down to you trying to convince yourself
that the moon is feminine, stop immediately. Go with your instincts. If you
find more of a masculine energy in the moon, don't fight it. This part of the
ritual tends to be Wiccan, anyway, so you probably won't see it in a ritual of
any other path.
While I don't believe the human body, particularly the mind,
is strong enough to house the presence of a god, there can be some interesting
applications of this technique.
One of the main things behind this neo-Pagan movement is the
reclaiming of women's power. Our right of godhood, just as men have claimed
theirs for millennia while placing the price of women lower than that of cattle.
From the West to the Near and Far East to Asia, for reasons I cannot
comprehend, women have been trampled on, abused, and killed for no other reason
than being female. Babies are aborted for being female, baby girls left in the
wilderness to die for being female. Entire generations of women are gone. (I
haven't figured out who these remaining men think they're going to reproduce
with).
The advent of neo-Paganism has given women a voice once more.
We can now celebrate the Feminine Divine within us. That means men, too, since
they also have been without a Mother for eons. The monotheists talk about that
'wholesome' two-parent home, having a father and a mother for a child, and yet
they refuse to allow the ultimate Mother to be part of that life. The rest of
us dance joyously with Her, we laugh, cry, howl to the moon, have sex (and YES,
on top!), or not, and we are completed with Her presence. All life is born of
the female, so how can we discard Her once we are here?
Can you imagine how a woman feels the first time she feels
the goddess within her? All her life she is told she is 'less than' by a
society that pays men more money for the same job, promotes men over women,
where men have the power, and then she raises her arms to the sky, raises her
face, her palms up to touch the sun, the moon, the stars, and releases all
those unnatural blocks within to feel the power of the Feminine Divine flow
through her? It can cause her very soul to cry out and shake the universe with
her Awakening.
If finding your Mother, regaining that lost, vital aspect
within, means raising your arms to the sky and inviting the goddess in, letting
Her flow through your very being, you go right ahead and do it.
So now that we have a few odds and ends taken care of, let’s
looks a little closer at this thing called paganism.
In a lot of cities, you can usually find an open ritual
during the holiday weekends. Since we no longer have the type of lifestyle that
allows us to take off work during the week, groups put open rituals together
around the days of the week that the least amount of people are working:
Saturday and Sunday. It’s a lot easier to schedule a day out on the weekend,
than during the work week, so the weekend closest to the holiday is usually
scheduled. So far, the gods haven’t complained.
Most open rituals are held in a public park. They’re free,
anyone can attend. Sometimes curious mundanes will watch, and that’s OK. We
want them to get used to us and our ways. We don’t do the door to door thing,
we don’t hand out pamphlets on street corners, we don’t accost people at bus
stops. That would be exceedingly rude. So we hold open, public rituals, and we
are open to questions before and after. Don’t stop the facilitators in the
middle of a ritual; it’s a ritual, not a class. Any questions can wait. And
turn off the cell phones. If there's an emergency at home, the police can come
fetch you.
Festivals are usually from the Celtic calendar, since the
majority of Pagans are some form of Wiccan or Celtic mix. It’s the calendar
that Gerald Gardner told people to use, so they use it. For groups that are of
another pantheon, such as Greek or Roman, the appropriate calendars are used.
Since many of the holidays are on or around the same days as the Celtic
holidays, the same weekend dates can get over-booked. These would be the two
equinoxes and solstices, and then four more between the others.
Samhain, 31 Oct
Midwinter Solstice, Yule, 21 Dec
Imbolc 1 Feb
Vernal Equinox, Ostara, 21 Mar
Beltane, May 1
Midsummer Solstice 21
June
Lammas, Lughnasadh 1 Aug
Autumnal Equinox, Mabon,
21 Sept
If you look at them on a lunar calendar, you’ll see that the
solstices and equinoxes are at New Moon, the beginning of the lunar month, and
the other four holidays are at Full Moon, in the middle of the lunar month.
These would be your high holidays unless you are following a non-European path.
Many cultures had holidays at the solstices and equinoxes, and they have pretty
much the same meanings, so learning these won’t hurt if you aren’t following a
Celtic/Wiccan path.
Attending open rituals on these holidays is a good way to get
to know the community and the basic ritual formats. Questions are fine before
and after ritual. Let people know you are new to it all, and they’ll be happy
to answer your questions. Don’t be shy, speak up.
Since I am Sumerian, which is far removed from Europe, my
calendar is a little different. Sumer is older than the Celtic tribes of
Europe, so the months are closer to the agricultural cycles.
The month starts with the New Moon; when the first crescent
appears briefly on the horizon just after sunset. These dates are approximately
toward the middle of our Gregorian calendar, but don't count absolutely on
that; get a moon calendar. Since most of us are no longer living in an agrarian
society, we need to get a little creative with the monthly rites and
observances. If you try to research what one does with each moon phase or other
times during the month, you’ll discover bald spots the next time you looks in
the mirror. Unless you want to follow the observances of a specific ancient
city-state, don’t bother trying; things changed too often, except at Nippur,
where the calendar was pretty regular. Most of the calendar below comes from
the entries on Nippur. Go online and buy Mark Cohen’s “The Cultic Calendars of the Ancient Near East.” I’ll even make it
easy to find: the ISBN is 1-883053-00-5.
SUMERIAN MONTHS
|
GREGORIAN MONTHS
|
Monthly Observances
(New
Moon is always the main lunar observance)
|
|
1 Bara za Gar
(Zag-mu Festival at New Moon,
Shekunku-festival at Full Moon)
|
MAR-APRIL
|
Harvest may start for any winter crops, barley
harvest, month of first offerings. Time of making pledges, taking inventory,
and distributing of foodstuffs. Giving gifts and having a party at Zag-mu
would be appropriate.
|
|
2 Ezem Gusiu
(Gusisu-festival at Full Moon)
|
APRIL-MAY
|
Onset of the agricultural cycle at Full Moon.
Cleaning tools and preparing for the opening of the land and sowing of seeds.
The festival is named for Ninurta (Ningirsu) in his Farmer aspect (he’s also
a storm god), so it would be appropriate to give him a place of honor for the
festival, even if he isn’t one of the gods of your temple.
|
|
3 Sig Ga
|
MAY-JUNE
|
Nothing special happening, just hard work, getting
the old swept out and making way for the new. It would not be inappropriate
to make a warm welcome for Nanna-Suen’s return at New Moon at the beginning
of the month.
|
|
4 Su-numun
(akiti-Su-numun festival at Full Moon)
|
JUNE-JULY
|
Plowing begins and continues for the next four
months. A time of industry. New Moon celebrations at the beginning of the
month, and the akiti-Su-numun festival at Full Moon to celebrate the
beginning of plowing season.
|
|
5 Ne Izi Gar
(Ne-izi-gar festival at Full Moon –the
Ghost Festival)
|
JULY-AUG
|
The month when lamps and braziers are lit. Fires are
kindled to guide the spirits of the dead back to their families for a
ceremonial meal. After the meal, the gods are thanked and the spirits
released to return to the underworld which they would do throughout the rest
of the month. Offerings of appeasement would be set out to lure away the
angry/bad spirits.
|
|
6 Kin Inanna
(Ezem-Inanna-ka, middle of the month)
|
AUG-SEPT
|
Washing and consecration of the goddesses (via their
statues), preparation for the coming change of season. Autumn rains at the
end of the month start the cooler season, moistening the ground and helping
the vines to grow strong
|
|
7 Duku
(Du-ku Festival just before Invisible
Moon)
|
SEPT-OCT
|
Brazier festivals, festivals of the storm gods. Inanna’s
Descent to the Underworld, The Sacred Mound festival, though somber, is to
celebrate the ancient, primordial ancestors, En-duku-ga and Nin-duku-ga, Lord
and Lady of the Sacred Mound. A remembrance of those who are lost to us, and
a remembrance of their achievements. A common offering to the Duku is milk.
|
|
8 Apin Du-a
|
OCT-NOV
|
No special observances. Plowing is complete, it is
time to put tools away and relax from working. New Moon rites for
Nanna-Suen’s return at the beginning of the month.
|
|
9 Gan Gan-e
(Ezem-gan-gan-e just before Invisible
Moon at end of month)
|
NOV-DEC
|
A time of storms. Ninurta the storm god, Ishkur,
Adad. It would not be without reason to have a drumming and brazier festival.
|
|
10 Ab-ba-e
|
DEC-JAN
|
The barley has been planted, Ashnan the grain
goddess would be appropriate to honor, also, as well as Ninkasi, the goddess
of barley beer. (Yes, there’s a goddess of beer)
|
|
11 Ud Duru
|
JAN-FEB
|
Standard celebration for New Moon.
|
|
12 Se Kin Ku
(akiti-Sekinku festival at Full Moon)
|
FEB-MARCH
|
The barley harvest. A time of reaping. The first
cutting of the grains is celebrated at Full Moon akiti-Sekinku with offerings
to the gods, to Ashnan the grain goddess, and to the Sacred Mound.
|
Since rituals are NOT required to be a member of the Pagan
family, think of the above table as a guide to monthly planning. Unless you
live on a farm, the planting and harvesting seasons may not mean much to you.
Here in the city, they don’t mean much to me, either. Believe me, you don’t
want me on a farm; I’m one of those people who can kill a plant by looking at
it. I even managed to kill a cactus.
If you look at your daily life, you can change things around
a little. Looking for a job? Do you go out and blindly knock on doors? No, you
have to plan, first, don’t you? Get your resume together, make sure you have
decent interview clothes and shoes. Do a little research and find out if the
company you want to apply to prefers an online application; most do, nowadays,
so if your computer skills aren’t all that great, get over to the library and
start practicing. Unless you’re flipping burgers, most jobs need at least basic
computer skills.
And I’m not putting down burgers; if you’re good at it,
become a good manager, get to be district manager, and eventually make your way
up the burger ladder to CEO, and your bank account and mansion will thank you
for it.
This is planning, the time before sowing those seeds. You can
maintain your fields by maintaining your job or your home life. Nurture them,
and they’ll grow. When it’s time, you can reap your fields, and celebrate your
diligence.
If you want to use the table for ritual, well, see Part 3 on
Rituals and Magic. Until then, be creative and use the table as your guide.
You’ll be surprised at how quickly things ‘click’ into place.
Being Pagan isn’t about fancy rituals, it’s about being in
tune with the earth. There isn’t a need to learn rituals or memorize stanzas or
fancy language for rites, not if you don’t want to. Not wanting to doesn’t make
you any less pagan. Be a good person, a good neighbor, be honest, have good
integrity, and relax. Enjoy this living, breathing world.
I had an aunt who would stand on the grass, spread her arms
out to the sky, and breathe deeply of life. If an old Catholic lady can do it,
anyone can.
