Samhain – Yule ce 2010 Vol.9, No. 1 (part 2)

Ogham Reading Series – Winter

Generously
contributed by Rev. Druid Patricia Vialpando,
Arch Druid, Circle of Stones, OMS/RDG Druid Grove

Calan Gaeaf Ogham Reading

The Ogham is an essential part of Druidry, it is our divination
system and alphabet we were gifted with. Learning to work
with Ogham is a test of our ability to speak to and receive
guidance from trees.

Koad-Grove

The meeting of the minds where intellect and wisdom connect
brings forth a solemn yet liberal pace. Footsteps are
many, time to gather in friendship
and love.

Gort-Ivy

Ivy growing in swirl, continually moving in an upwards curl.
Berries long gone and leaves in peril, vine clings
to trellis as day goes feral.

Duir-Oak

As leaves fall from the hardened branch, life too does fall.
Times brings sadness and joy in which the spark of life crackles
like a blazing fire only to reseed and shelter itself from
times of pain.

As we head into winter there is much challenge from the transformation
that was quested for during the previous season that needs to be sorted out.

Koad shares on the mental level uniting knowledge with truth.
Where is your wisdom guiding you? What is your intelligence
telling you? Gathering together as a tribe during the holidays
fulfills the basic human need of companionship on the heart
level. Are you loving with your tribe/clan? Koad also grounds
in the physical level. Where are your footsteps going? Are
you leaving any?

Transitioning from Summer to Winter is never easy. Holding
on to outdated beliefs, ideas and visions cause us to fear
the weather ahead. Gort keeps a grip on its support system
so it will breath new life into itself come spring. What are
you holding on to that needs to be released? What is your support
system for the winter months? Will it sustain you?

The Yuletide holidays brings much frustration and anger amongst
family members causing pain. Duir reminds us to shield ourselves
from these outside influences like the hardened shell on the
acorn to keep the meaty part inside tender and true.

Exercise

Take time to mediate with Koad, Gort and Duir, individually
and jot down their impressions. Harness their power by visualizing
Duir as the body, Gort entwining around the body and Koad surrounding
the outside of the body. Feel their different energies filling
up the reservoir of the heart and central column of light by
expanding the energy outwards to the universe while supporting,
guiding and shielding you on a daily basis.

Working with Ogham connects us to nature and the rhythm of
life. Shall we dance?

Waking

Get up from your bed,
go out from your house,
follow the path you know so well,
so well that you now see nothing
and hear nothing
unless something can cry loudly to you,
and for you it seems
even then
no cry is louder than yours
and in your own darkness
cries have gone unheard
as long as you can remember.

These are hard paths we tread
but they are green
and lined with leaf mould
and we must love their contours
as we love the body branching
with its veins and tunnels of dark earth.

I know that sometimes
your body is hard like a stone
on a path that storms break over,
embedded deeply
into that something that you think is you,
and you will not move
while the voice all around
tears the air
and fills the sky with jagged light.

But sometimes unawares
those sounds seem to descend
as if kneeling down into you
and you listen strangely caught
as the terrible voice moving closer
halts,
and in the silence
now arriving
whispers

Get up, I depend
on you utterly.
Everything you need
you had
the moment before
you were born.

~~ David Whyte ~~
(Where Many Rivers Meet)

Do Dead People Watch You Masterbate?

by Erin Pavlina

Ever wonder if your deceased grandmother is hovering around you watching your every move? Do the deceased respect the privacy of the living? Are they with you in the bathroom and in the bedroom? What exactly do they see, and what do they think of what you’re doing?

Yes, deceased people can see what you’re doing. The question is are they looking and do they really care?

Here’s how it works. When you die you make your way merrily to the afterlife. After a period of acclimation you’re faced with some choices. Move on completely, severing your emotional connection to the people you left behind on Earth, or hover around your loved ones in an attempt to guide them, help them, or just see your grandkids (or mess with the family dog).

When you cross over completely you can still tune in to what’s going on here on Earth but it’s not your main priority. When you hover, though, you’re tuned in quite a bit and you see just about everything. Is this fair to the living to have an invisible shadow watching their every move? Aren’t there any privacy laws in the ether?

The thing is that the deceased don’t really care what you do in the privacy of your own bedroom. They were human once too. They know about sex, they know you have it, alone or with someone else. It’s really not a big deal to them. Any guilt or shame you’re feeling is something you should be dealing with regardless of whether someone is watching you. Don’t spare too much time wondering if someone is watching you, it can ruin the mood. Likewise there’s no need to show off to your audience, “Hey Grandma, look what I
can do with this!”

Just go on about your life, doing good, and treating your body with respect. This is important outside of the bedroom as well. Would you act differently if you knew your deceased parents were watching how you treated other people?

Don’t forget the flip side of all of this. You’re not ever really alone. Even if your loved ones have fully crossed over you still have guides and angels watching over you. Yep, they can see what you’re doing too. It’s their job to know! They don’t judge us though, so don’t fret. When you’re feeling sad, lonely, and depressed, realize they are right there with you, arms around your shoulders while you’re crying. Try to feel them next time you feel down.

When I read for people who are very depressed or even suicidal, that’s when I see the angels around them. Whenever I see angels with their energy around someone I know that person is going through an emotional crisis. It freaked me out a little until I figured out the pattern. The angels really are there when you need them. You never have to navigate the ups and downs of life alone. You can lean on them when you’re in crisis.

In summary, yes, the dead could watch you masturbate if they really wanted to. I doubt most do so you’re probably safe. Probably…

Source: Erin Pavlina – Intuitive Reader – Spiritual Wisdom for Conscious People

Now I Become Myself

Now I become myself. It’s taken
Time, many years and places,
I have been dissolved and shaken,
Worn other people’s faces,
Run madly, as if Time were there,
Terribly old, crying a warning,
” Hurry, you will be dead before —–”
(What? Before you reach the morning?
Or the end of the poem, is clear?
Or love safe in the walled city?)
Now to stand still, to be here,
Feel my own weight and density!…..
Now there is time and Time is young.
O, in this single hour I live
All of myself and do not move
I, the pursued, who madly ran,
Stand still, stand still, and stop the Sun!

~~ May Sarton ~~
(Collected Poems 1930-1993)

Deities of the Winter Solstice

While it may be mostly Pagans and Wiccans who celebrate the Yule holiday, nearly all cultures and faiths have some sort  of winter solstice celebration or festival. Because of the theme of endless birth, life, death, and rebirth, the time of the solstice is often associated with deity and other legendary figures. No matter which path you follow, chances are good
that one of your gods or goddesses has a winter solstice connection.

· Alcyone (Greek): Alcyone is the Kingfisher goddess. She nests every
winter for two weeks, and while she does, the wild seas become calm and peaceful. Here is her story:

Once upon a time there was a princess of the winds, named Alcyone. And she was married to the prince of light, Ceyx. They were a passionate couple and their famed love was known throughout the lands. One day, after war broke out in the land, Ceyx felt the need to seek the Oracle’s help in restoring peace. So he set sail on a long voyage to the island of the Oracle. Alcyone waited everyday on the shores for his return. What she did not know was there was a terrible storm and the boat and crew were lost at sea. The Oracle saw this with her third eye and sent Alcyone a vision to let her
know of the shipwreck.

Alcyone refused to believe Ceyx was dead and was determined to swim the sea to find him. Just as she was about to dive into the water, she turned into a beautiful bird, the mythical kingfisher Halcyon. She flew over the sea, calming the winds and waves in search of Ceyx. She found him adrift on some wreckage and when she landed, he too became a kingfisher. And together they flew over the sea for the rest of eternity.

The kingfisher became known as the symbol of the winter solstice. She brings the Halcyon Days, fourteen days of calm seas which allow for easy sailing. The bird was only seen during the summer and winter solstices and became associated with goddess of life and death. She appeared at the setting of the Pleiades and is known as the bird called by kings for a peaceful death.

· Ameratasu (Japan): In feudal Japan, worshippers celebrated the return
of Ameratasu, the sun goddess, who slept in a cold, remote cave. When the other gods woke her with a loud celebration, she looked out of the cave and saw an image of herself in a mirror. The other gods convinced her to emerge from her seclusion and return sunlight to the universe.

· Balder (Norse): Balder is associated with the legend of the mistletoe. His mother, Frigga, honored Balder and asked all of nature to promise not to harm him. Unfortunately, in her haste, Frigga overlooked the mistletoe plant, so Loki – the resident trickster – took advantage of the opportunity and fooled Balder’s blind twin, Hod, into killing him with a spear made of mistletoe. (In alternate versions, Loki shapechanged into a young girl and threw the mistletoe spear). Balder was later restored to life.

· Bona Dea (Roman): Translated, Bona Dea means “Good Goddess”. She is most often referred to as a Roman goddess of fertility, virginity and women, though she also has ties to agriculture and healing. She was also called by Fauna by some and still others believed that her true name could not be spoken.

Her sacred rites were celebrated in December (an ‘invitation only’ event hosted by the wife of the senior magistrate of Rome at a location other than her temple) and her public festival was observed on May 1. These celebrations were attended by women only and even pictures of men and male animals were considered a sacrileges. At these events it was also forbidden to say the words “wine” and “myrtle” because she had been beaten by her father with a myrtle stick after getting drunk. As wine was an important part of any celebration or rite, the word “milk” was used instead.

Bona Dea is often depicted with snakes. Some sources say that this is because of her association with healing and medicine and others argue that this has to do with the snake being a phallic symbol and she being a fertility goddess. She is also pictured with herbs as her priestesses grew medicinal herbs and tended to the sick in the gardens of her temple. Many images of her show her sitting on a thrown, holding a cornucopia. Her image can be found on many Roman coins. The image on this page is called “Peace” and has Bona Dea crowned with corn to symbolize plenty, sitting with a lion to represent majesty, underneath the star of divinity.

· Cailleach Bheur (Celtic): In Scotland, she is also called Beira, the Queen of Winter. She is the hag or crone aspect of the Triple Goddess, and rules the dark days between Samhain and Beltaine.

· Demeter (Greek): Through her daughter, Persephone, Demeter is linked
strongly to the changing of the seasons and is often connected to the image of the Dark Mother in winter. When Persephone was abducted by Hades, Demeter’s grief caused the earth to die for six months, until her daughter’s return.

· Dionysus (Greek): A festival called Brumalia was held every December
in honor of Dionysus and his fermented grape wine. The event proved so popular that the Romans adopted it as well in their celebrations of Bacchus in their Saturnalia celebrations.

· Frau Holle (Norse): Frau Holle appears in many different forms in Scandinavian mythology and legend. She is associated with both the evergreen plants of the Yule season, and with snowfall, which is said to be Frau Holle shaking out her feathery mattresses.

Frau Holle is a fateful crone goddess who initiates young woman and rewards them according to their merits. She is especially pleased with compassion and generosity.

The folktale of Frau Holle’s Well takes up this theme. A mistreated stepdaughter is made to spin til blood runs from her fingers.  She goes to wash the spindle in the well, and it falls in. The cruel stepmother tells her she has to go in and get it out. The girl jumps into the well and loses consciousness. She awakes in a beautiful sunny meadow full of flowers. She begins to walk and soon comes to an oven full of baking bread. The oven calls out to her, asking her to take out the loaves before they burn. She willingly complies. Then she comes to a tree loaded with ripe apples. It asks her to shake them down, and she does that too. At last the girl came comes to a cottage where an old woman with big teeth sits looking out at her. The girl is afraid at first, but the crone reassures her. She asks her to stay with her and help around the house, especially to shake her down comforter so that the feathers fly, causing snow on earth. “I’m Frau Holle.”

The girl stays with the old woman and leads a comfortable life with plenty of good food. But after a while she becomes homesick. Frau Holle offers to take her back to her world. She leads the stepdaughter under a big gate, which showers down gold that sticks to her. Walking through the gate, the
girl sees she is not far from her house. She returns to her family and tells them the whole story.

When her stepsister sees how Frau Holle has treated her, she decides to also pay a visit to the world under the well. She passes through the same cycle of events, but refuses to take the bread out of the magical oven or to shake the apple tree, and avoids work at Holle’s cottage. When she passes through the gate, she is drenched with tar.

· Frigga (Norse): Frigga (also known as Frigg, The Beloved) was the goddess of love, marriage, and destiny. She was the wife of the powerful Norse god Odin, The All-Father, and the mother of the Norse god Balder.

A sky goddess, responsible for weaving the clouds (and therefore for sunshine and rain and the fertility of the crops), she was also responsible for weaving the fates.

She was known as a ‘seer’, one who knew the future though she could never change it.

In ancient times the end of the Winter Solstice, when the hours of sunlight began to lengthen, marked the beginning of the new year and was a time to think of new possibilities that would unfold.

The Goddess Frigga, who sat at her spindle weaving the destiny of man and gods alike, was the goddess associated with the beginning of each new year.

New Year’s eve, the longest night of the year, is called “Mother Night” in Northern Europe for it was in the darkness of that night that the goddess Frigga labored to give birth to Baldur, the young Sun God who controlled the sun and rain and brought fruitfulness to the fields was born.

The blessing of Frigga is still invoked for birthing women with a white candle that last burned during the winter solstice being used as a charm to ensure a safe delivery.

· Holly King (British/Celtic): The Holly King is a figure found in British tales and folklore. He is similar to the Green Man, the archetype of the forest. In modern Pagan religion, the Holly King battles the Oak King for supremacy
throughout the year. At the winter solstice, the Holly King is defeated.

· Horus (Egyptian): Horus was one of the solar deities of the ancient
Egyptians. He rose and set every day, and is often associated with Nut, the sky god. Horus later became connected with another sun god, Ra.

· La Befana (Italian): This character from Italian folklore is similar to St. Nicholas, in that she flies around delivering candy to well-behaved children in early January. She is depicted as an old woman on a broomstick, wearing a black shawl.

· Lord of Misrule (British): The custom of appointing a Lord of Misrule to preside over winter holiday festivities actually has its roots in antiquity, during the Roman week of Saturnalia.

Marie-Lan Nguyen/Wikimedia Commons

· Mithras (Roman): Mithras was celebrated as part of a mystery religion
in ancient Rome. He was a god of the sun, who was born around the time of the winter solstice and then experienced a resurrection around the spring equinox.

· Odin (Norse): In some legends, Odin bestowed gifts at Yuletide upon his people, riding a magical flying horse across the sky. This legend may have combined with that of St. Nicholas to create the modern Santa Claus.

· Saturn(Roman): Every December, the Romans threw a weeklong celebration of debauchery and fun, called Saturnalia in honor of their agricultural god, Saturn. Roles were reversed, and slaves became the masters, at least temporarily. This is where the tradition of the Lord of Misrule originated.

· Spider Woman (Hopi): Soyal is the Hopi festival of the winter solstice.
It honors the Spider Woman and the Hawk Maiden, and celebrates the sun’s victory over winter’s darkness.

~~ Source Unknown ~~

On Prayer

You ask me how to pray to someone who is not.
All I know is that prayer constructs a velvet bridge
And walking it we are aloft, as on a springboard,
Above landscapes the color of ripe gold
Transformed by a magic stopping of the sun.
That bridge leads to the shore of Reversal
Where everything is just the opposite and the word ‘is’
Unveils a meaning we hardly envisioned.
Notice: I say we; there, every one, separately,
Feels compassion for others entangled in the flesh
And knows that if there is no other shore
We will walk that aerial bridge all the same.

~~ Czeslaw Milosz ~~
(New and Collected Poems, 1931-2001, trans. Robert Hass)

Seasonal Guided Meditation
– Winter Solstice

Close your eyes, relax, and breathe deeply. Let your breathing
become slow, deep, easy.

Relax and continue breathing deeply
and gently as…We enter the time of the greatest dark.
It is the dark of the longest night.
…the dark of the cold universe between the stars and planets.
…the dark of the sea,
…the dark of the womb.

Wrap this darkness gently about you like a comfortable blanket.
Float gently now in its depths.

(Pause)

Grow here, nourished by an invisible cord that connects you
to the Source of all life.
Floating gently in the dark…
Softly rocking in the dark…

(Longer Pause)

And though it is dark, we realize that what surrounds us is
not empty, but — like the womb — full of life. Take a moment
now to sense the swirling, nurturing energy of the dark.

(Pause)

And now, as the energy increases, it gives birth to the
smallest spark imaginable, the spark of new life.

See that spark now as it glows, watch that spark now, watch
it as it grows.
Glowing brighter and brighter, it grows into
a flame.

And as you look at this flame, its light fills you with warmth, with love. And as you feel increased love and warmth within you, the visible intensity of the flame slowly diminishes and as it does, in its place, slowly becoming visible, is the outline of a present. This gift becomes more solid, until you can see its form clearly and see that it is wrapped in a glistening filament of light.

This gift has your name on it, inscribed in the glistening
material. Still from some distance, you see your name
now, on this gift. Even if you are near-sighted you have
no trouble
making out the letters, for you now have perfect vision.

Is your name written in a special color? Is the inscription
special in any other way?

Approach your wrapped present now more closely. What
shape is it? How big is it? What color is its wrapping?
Pick it up: is it light? heavy?
And now you unwrap your gift. How easy or difficult is
it to unwrap?
You finish opening it now and you receive your gift.
What is it?

(Pause)

Look at it carefully. Experience it fully.
Accept it. Accept your gift with joy. Feel your heart warm
with the love with which this gift is given to you.

And now, from your heart, send out gratitude for this gift,
send out thanks for this gift to the Goddess, to Our Great
Mother, to the Universe: to the Goddess who is the Universe
— both the dark and the light. Send out your thanks for
this gift.

(Pause)

Now, if you wish, find a place to keep this gift, a place
to put this gift, so you can keep it with you during our
ritual
now and, if you wish, take it with you when you leave the
circle.

And now, bringing your special gift with you, be fully present
in our circle.
Move your body. Open your eyes. Come back to this place and
time.

From She Lives!
The Return of Our Great Mother
, 10th Anniversary Edition.
Copyright 1999 by Judith Laura.
Used with permission.

Norse Mythology – Sif, Wife of Thor

Not much in known about Thor’s wife Sif. Thor was her 2nd husband and the identity of the first husband is unknown, though she did have a son by him who was named Ull.

Her most striking feature was her golden hair. In all likelihood, Sif was a fertility Goddess, with her hair representing ripening corn. However Sif’s importance had diminished in Norse folklore by the time the myth was recorded.

Her marriage to Thor, though, is significant pointer to the way in which Thor was regarded by the Norsemen. The mischievous shape-shifting god Loki
boasted that he had made love to her and was extremely jealous of Thor.

Due to anger at Sif’s marriage to Thor, Loki managed to get into Sif’s locked bedroom, and as she slept. Loki raised his blade and with quick dexterous strokes, removed Sif’s shining hair. Sif murmured, but did not awaken; the hair left on her cropped head stuck upward like stubble. Loki dropped the skeins of shining hair on to the floor, he stared at the mound of glowing hair, smiled, and then departed Sif’s bedroom.

When Thor returned to Sif, and discovered what had happened, both he and Sif knew that only Loki would have done such a treacherous act. Enraged, Thor pursued and located Loki and with his immense stature and strength, gripped Loki by the throat lifted him from the ground.

Claiming it was only a joke, Loki swears that the hair will be replaced with the aid of the dwarves and elves. Under the threat that Thor will smash every bone in his body, Loki assures Thor and Sif that the hair will be replaced.

Loki made his way to a cave that is the home of the dark elves,the sons of Ivaldi. Loki knows that the sons of Ivaldi are skilled enough to spin golden hair as fine as Sif’s and imbue it with such magic that it will grow upon her head. The dubious elves asked Loki what they would gain out of all this. Loki assured that they would receive the thanks of Sif, Thor and the other Gods and Goddesses. Still not convinced, Loki further added a guarantee that he would repay the elves in full measure, should they ever have need of his services.

As the elves spun the gold into glimmering strands of fine hair, they murmured spells over the strands and to further please the Norse Gods, the two sons of Ivaldi fashioned a marvelous ship for Freyr, called Skidbladnir, and forged a mighty spear for Odin, called Gungnir – as strong as it was slender.

The two elves gave Loki the Ship, the Spear and the Golden Strandsof Hair, as they explained their magical powers. As usual, Loki was at no loss for words and with boisterous thanks, he departed back to Midgard see Thor and Sif.

Loki decided not to head directly back to Midgard, but instead opted for a side trip to see two dwarves: Brokk and Eitri. Once there, Loki showed the dwarves the treasures meant for the Gods and Goddesses. Knowing that these twin dwarves were extremely skilled, he tempted Brokk and Eitri to make gifts comparable to the ones the sons of Ivaldi had made. Brokk and
Eitri boasted they could create gifts much finer; in disbelief Loki staked his head that they could not do more intricate and extraordinary work.

Brokk and Eitri, eager to take up Loki on this challenge, as it would not only rid them of the ‘schemer’ Loki, but the treasures made by the Sons of Ivaldi would be theirs for the taking, as Loki would be beheaded by the Gods, due to his arrogance and foolishness to dare gamble with the gifts to the Gods.

Brokk and Eitri went to work. Brokk was warned not to allow the bellows to stop, or the treasures would be ruined. Eitri began forming the fine metals, as Brokk worked the bellows a fly landed upon Brokk’s hand, instantly stinging him. Brokk looked down, but did not pause in his efforts. The first of
the treasures, the Gullinbursti (a boar with Bristles of Gold), was pulled from the forge.

The dwarves began the second of the treasures for the Gods. Eitri picked up a great block of flawless gold, heated it until glowing and malleable then hammered and shaped the item, placed it into the forge once more, warning Brokk to pump the bellows until he pulled it from the forge.

Eitri departed, just as the fly returned, settled onto the back of Brokk’s neck, stinging him twice as sharply as before Brokk winced, but did not pause when Eitri returned, he removed the Draupnir (an arm-ring of solid gold) from the forge.

Once more Eitri placed a great hunk of fine iron into the forge once heated, Eitri hammered it into shape, returned it to the forge and once more warned Brokk to remain pumping the bellows until he returned or the treasure would be ruined. Just as a weary Eitri departed the forge, the fly buzzed through
the arch into the smithery alcove, this time settling between Brokk’s
eyes and at once stung Brokk on both his eyelids.

The dwarf was blinded with blood, he could not see what he was doing for a moment, he removed his hand from the bellows to brush the fly from his brow and wipe the blood from his eyes.

The shape-shifter Loki (had turned himself into the fly) then returned to his waiting place at this very moment, Eitri hurried back to the forge, enquiring what had happened. Eitri pulled from the forge a massive and finely forged Iron Hammer and although it was short in the handle. Eitri called the hammer Mjollnir.

Convinced that the treasures would be satisfactory to the Gods,
Eitri instructed Brokk to take the Hammer, the Ring and the
Boar to the Gods and tell them of the mysteries of the treasures.
Brokk accompanied Loki to Asgard, in hopes of claiming Loki’s
scheming head as well as the treasures which the sons of Vivaldi
had forged.

Loki and Brokk made their way to Asgard. Word preceded them and they were met in Gladsheim by all the Gods, sitting waiting for them to arrive. Loki at once boasted how he had been able to exploit the dwarves’ envy and greed to secure the six treasures for the Gods.

Brokk immediately spoke up and told the Gods of his own knowledge of events. It was agreed that Odin, Thor and Freyr should decide whether Eitri of the Sons of Ivaldi were the finer smiths, with this, Loki displayed the treasures.

Boastfully, Loki presented the spear, telling Odin how he has enlisted the elves to forge the Gungnir and how it is unlike any other spear, as it would never miss its mark.

Odin took the spear and while looking it over, Loki added how Odin could use the spear to stir up warfare in the world of men. Loki then turned to Freyr, offering the ship, Skidbladnir, to her, boasting that it is large enough to hold all of the Gods, even if they were fully armed. Loki swiftly dismasted
and dismantled the boat, until it was no larger than a piece of cloth, once more boasting that it could be carried in Freyr’s purse.

For the third gift Loki turned to Sif with an additional apology, he showed the Skein of golden flowing hair saying that he owed her this gift. He assured her that once it touched her head, it would take root and begin to grow and would be no less beautiful than before. Sif took the hair from Loki, and did as he instructed, and with a shout of joy, it did just as he had said that it
would do, much to Loki’s relief!

Brokk stepped forward to present his own gifts to the Gods. Brokk held the arm ring before Odin stating that it was for Odin. It is Draupnir, and little less than it appears. Eight rings of its own weight will drop from it on every ninth night.

Brokk turned to Freyr, presenting the Boar to her. Stating that it was called Gullinbursti and can charge over the earth air and sea alike, and that no horse can keep up with him. No matter where he goes, running through the night or plunging into the gloom under all the worlds, he will always be
surrounded by brilliant light.

Turning to Thor, Brokk stated that his third gift was for him, stating that the hammer, Mjollnir, can be used against anything and with all Thor’s mighty strength. Nothing can ever break it even if Thor was to hurl it, that he would never lose it, no matter how far he flung it, it would always return to his hand. Thor eagerly grasped it, as Brokk bowed his head and humbly admitted that there was but one flaw the handle was rather short.

Odin, Thor and Freyr wasted no time in giving their answer, they were of one mind that of all the wondrous gifts presented, the massive iron hammer, Mjollnir, was the most valuable, as it would guard the Gods against the Giants.

Brokk having won the wager, Loki fled in fear, boasting that no one could catch him. Thor, with the aid of the Massive Iron Hammer, quickly captured and returned Loki to the Hall of the Gods. Loki told Brokk that he could have his head, as agreed, but could have no part of his neck. The Gods grinned and nodded, seeing that Loki had the better of Brokk.

This being the case, Brokk began sewing Loki’s lips closed, using Eitri’s awl to pierce his lips. No sooner had he begun to stitch, than Loki once more ran out of Gladsheim, ripped out the awl and thong of stitching, as he yelped in pain; all the while listening to the hum of laughter inside the temple, lusting for revenge…

~~ Source Unknown ~~

How to Recognize Your Intuitive Modality

By Erin Pavlina

Intuition is a flash of insight that comes to inform and protect you when you are about to take a step down an undesirable path. Intuition is also there to encourage and support you when you’re headed down a path that leads to your desires. Everyone has intuition, but not everyone is aware of when
they are having an intuitive flash. Consciously becoming aware of when you are having an intuitive flash and acting on it could save you some serious grief and get you to your desired destination much faster.

Think of intuition as a guide, someone who is familiar with the path ahead and can warn you of upcoming pitfalls. Like a scout, your intuition goes on ahead and reports back to you with information you can use to make informed decisions. Tuning in to your intuition can even save your life. Wouldn’t you like to be on a first name basis with such a creature?

So how do you recognize intuition? Intuition is an energetic wave that contains information that you must receive. The way you tune in and receive intuition depends on your personal dominant psychic modality: clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, or claircognizance (or any combination if you are skilled in multiple modalities). Here are some phrases and their associated modalities that will help you determine which is YOUR dominant
modality. Have you ever heard yourself say any of the following phrases?

I Saw This Coming a Mile Away

People with clairvoyance (clear seeing) will often receive intuition as a visual download. Let’s say your friend says, “Dude, I’m gonna jump my motorcycle over those 5 trash cans. Watch.” You get an instant flash in your mind’s eye showing your friend crashing into the 4th can and going down in a heap of grinding metal. You say, “Don’t do it, man. You’re not gonna make it.” He jumps, he crashes, and you say, “Dude, I saw that coming a mile away.” With clairvoyance, your intuition will often play out like a scene in your mind, sometimes over and over again as it tries to get your attention. If clairvoyance is your dominant psychic modality, tune in visually when you’re
about to do something major and see if you’re getting a scene that shows the outcome.

That Little Voice Said…

People who are predominantly clairaudient (clear hearing) will receive
intuition as a voice in their head. An example of clairaudient intuition in action would be, “Anna, that guy you met at the party the other night is in the news. Turns out he’s a serial rapist! You almost went home with him. What stopped you?” And your friend says, “I don’t know. There was just this little voice in the back of my mind that said ‘Danger’ so I just walked away from him. I’m so glad I listened!” With clairaudience, intuition will sound like a voice in your mind, the same voice you use when you talk to yourself in your head, only the voice will give you information you probably couldn’t glean from logic alone. If clairaudience is your dominant psychic modality, tune in to that voice when you’re about to make a major decision and see if it has anything to say.

I Just Got This Sinking Feeling

People who are predominantly clairsentient (clear feeling) will receive intuition as a gut feeling, literally in your stomach area. Has your significant other ever said these words to you, “Honey, we need to talk” and you get a
sinking feeling in your gut? You can literally feel something falling inside you and landing with a thud in your root chakra. Your security is threatened. Your emotions are about to be stepped on. Your stomach is in knots. Fear wells up inside you. You are receiving an intuitive flash clairsentiently. You don’t even know what the other person is going to say, but you know it’s going to hurt or be quite challenging to deal with. If clairsentience is your dominant psychic modality then let your gut guide you. If you’re about to do something and you get that sinking feeling in your gut, your intuition is trying to warn you. You might say, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” and that’s clairsentience too. Your body chemistry will feel altered. Pay attention when
you feel that and think carefully before making your next move.

I Knew It

People who are predominantly claircognizant (clear knowing) will receive intuition as an instant download of information that needs no processing or interpretation. You’ll hear them say, “Oh man I knew when you told me you were buying that stock that it was a bad idea.” “How did you know?” “I don’t know, I just knew it.” It comes with great certainty but not a lot of logic. In fact, claircognizant intuition often flies in the face of logic, and can be one of the hardest types of intuition to act on.Can you remember a time when you did something and you instantly knew it was a mistake even before the actual results were in? Maybe you heard yourself say, “Shoot, I think I just
made a terrible mistake. Why didn’t I listen to my intuition?” and then later you find out you definitely made a big mistake.

Once you become aware of your dominant modality, use it consciously to access your intuition. If you’re about to take a step on your path that you’re uncertain about, tune in and see if you’re getting an intuitive hit on it. If you’re clairvoyant, allow a scene to unfold in your mind’s eye showing you the outcome of your decision. If you’re clairaudient, listen to that little voice in the back of your mind. What is it saying? If you’re clairsentient, check in with your gut. Do you have a sinking feeling or do you feel strong and stable? If you’re claircognizant ask yourself what’s going to happen and without thinking about it too much just let the answer come, yes or no, good or bad, etc.

Learning to be aware of when you’re receiving an intuitive flash is something that needs to be worked on consciously in order for you to get better at it. To make your intuition stronger, just keep acting on it and taking note of the outcome. Was your intuition right or wrong? Did you misinterpret it or get it right? The more you work with it, the stronger it becomes, and the more you can rely on it to help you in life.

Source: Erin Pavlina – Intuitive Reader – Spiritual Wisdom for Conscious People

On Eclecticism, Syncretism, Multiple Paths
and other Combinatorics

by Darkhawk

[Editor’s note: The following might seem way too formal (and possibly a bit “anal”) to those of us who follow the OMS and/or RDG path, but it has some good information and worthy considerations…]

The subject of eclecticism is one of those powder kegs in the pagan community, with tremendous potential for degenerating into a messy flamewar as various people express their dearly held positions on it.

Eclecticism in various forms (especially syncretism) has an
extensive history. While religions were often specific to nations,
localities, tribes, families, or other groups, those groups
would rub up against other people and, over time, adopt some
of the parts of those other groups’ religions that they found
appealing or useful. Conquest would often lead to forms of
assimilative syncretisation in which the local gods were either
equated with the conquerors’ gods in some way or declared related
to them (often as wives or children). Suppressed religions
often reappeared in modified forms that adopted some aspects
of the acceptable religions in the area. Places in which multiple
religions lived together sometimes developed creolized religious
practices.

There have also always been opponents of eclecticism. Some
have been trying to preserve their culture in the face of assimilation
(which can lead, eventually, to dissolution). Others have had
what they felt was a handle on truth and were unwilling to
tolerate it being contaminated from other sources. Some have
resented their conquerors’ attempts at taking the things that
are precious to them and turning them into public commodities.

Historically speaking, eclecticism is generally a fairly organic process, caused by the growths and flows of cultures, including their dominance over each other. The exceptions tend to be theophanic in origin: someone (or a group of someone’s) encounters a new vision of the divine and attempts to
build (or inspires the building of) something in response to it; if the vision is compelling and/or the structure effectual, these develop into new religions. (Examples of this are Siddhartha Gautama, Jesus, and Gerald Gardner.)

Given that various forms of eclecticism are, historically,
quite common, and are in fact critical to the development
of some of the most popular forms of neopaganism, why in
particular
are so many people so irritated at the concept?

Eclecticism is very, very easy to do badly or in a manner
that comes across as disrespectful or offensive; it is
extremely
difficult to do well.

These are common difficulties that I have seen come up
with eclectic practices; these are not laws of nature,
but rather
common mistakes that eclectics make or issues that are
specific to eclecticism. It is not going to be a completely
exhaustive
list; however, I think that someone who can, with self-judgment
in good faith, respond to all of these is entirely likely
to be fully capable of responsible, intelligent eclecticism:

· Magpie Syndrome — a tendency to acquire the shiniest, most appealing objects in the vicinity and pile them up into a heap rather than assembling them into a coherent whole or exploring the full depths and potentialities of the pieces already acquired. Often comes with a tendency to respond to difficulties by acquiring new shiny objects rather than seeing if any of the ones already acquired will help with the problem.

· Avoidance
— a complete religious system will include portions that are work. Those will not always be the same parts for all the practitioners of the religion in question, but there will always be something that demands growth and development, something that is uncomfortable to deal with, or something that is, simply, just hard to do. Eclecticism poorly implemented can enable someone to very neatly avoid any sort of boundary pushing by only choosing to use parts of other systems that are comfortable to them.

· Shallowness
— just because one has chosen to use a piece of a system does not mean that one will actually get all that’s there out of it. Some aspects of some religions are weighted with particular meanings or resonances for the practitioners thereof. These will require some effort to learn  about and apply to their fullest depth; simply utilizing them does not guarantee that level of knowledge.

· Appropriation
— taking what’s not yours to keep. This is an especially common issue with indigenous religions of whatever region; people claiming parts of their traditions for their own can easily come across as offending interlopers. This is especially the case when the outsider doesn’t know the full details of what they’re taking; they can, very easily, make themselves look incredibly foolish to someone who is more aware of their cultural context. These things often have very specific importance and very specific meaning; rather than being generally available, they are much like family heirlooms.

· Dilution
— related to appropriation. There are religions that have very specific things that are part of their definition — certain beliefs or certain practices that are considered essential to be a member of that religion. Traditional Wicca is one of these; many of the reconstructions have similar precepts. The fewer of these things a person does, the less secure they are in claiming to be a member of that religion; eventually the drift is far enough that it would be a matter of politeness to come up with a different name. The reconstructionists in particular are extremely touchy about influence from the modern-origin neopaganisms, as there are so many more people whose practice derives from Gardner than in any of the reconstructions; getting
Wiccan ritual practices confounded with recon practices will get, at best, a cranky mumble.

· Rewriting
history — while poor scholarship is one of the plagues in the pagan community, actual historical revisionism is strongly associated with eclectic tendencies, for two reasons. First of all, it is much easier to get infected with the pagan equivalent of kid-dying-of-cancer-wants-postcards e-mail forwards when one is working on one’s own and specifically looking for
what to believe. Counterfactualities like ‘the universal ancient mother goddess cult’ or ‘nine million women and cats burned at the stake’ drift around largely unchallenged and, indeed, unchallengeable; for every website that has good information there are hundreds with the bad, generally in blinky text.

The second popular form of revisionism is the Unsubstantiated
Personal Gnosis, in which gods who were envisioned in particular
forms and were known for particular acts and preferences emerge
transformed in a blazing glare of, “Oh, She told me She
was never like that, that’s just human error.” (See also
that warm and snuggly goddess figure, Kali. Just airbrush out
the skulls.) Having personal experiences of the divine that
run counter to all of the lore and knowledge of how those gods
have interacted with humanity in the past is more likely to
be a case of “Sorry, wrong number” than complete
personality transformation.

·
Unreconciled issues — ideas come with baggage. Various systems
have particular axioms, presumptions, and outcomes in their
native format; pieces of those systems will also have a greater
or lesser share of those basic worldview issues. Very few of
those systems fit together naturally; while some may indeed
show signs of being compatible with comparatively little effort,
the “comparatively” is a critical portion of the
phrase. There will always be choices to make, of what parts
to assimilate and which to discard, of which axioms to use,
which to reinterpret in a way they were not used in the original,
which to throw away. Putting together things that appear to
work on a superficial level and not doing any of the work at
the deeper levels will produce a result that does not go any
further than the surface; those choices have to be made consciously
for a good synthesis.

· Self-Centeredness
— it’s worth being aware of the criteria one’s using to make the choices in a system. While the questions of “What is the best system” and “What do I like best” or “What do I find most aesthetically pleasing” are not entirely disjointed – aesthetics are important to the value of a system – getting the
emphasis right can be tricky. This is especially important if the system constructed is going to involve other entities, who will almost certainly have a different set of pleasures and aesthetic preferences.

· Personal
limitation — nobody’s infinite. It is exceedingly difficult for one person to imagine all the possible stresses and failings that might reveal flaws in a religious system, even those that they need to have addressed for their own personal spiritual needs. A community of co-religionists can provide the support and assistance one might need to address those problems — further, an established religion has a decent chance of already having these bugs worked out from people who had the same problem before, or at least a similar enough one that some of the work can be copied over.

(I tend to think that this problem is liable to be worse for
pure eclectics who are working from the ground up; for syncretic
eclectics such as myself, there is at least some level of community
for each of the structures I’m working in. There may be nobody
doing what I’m doing right now, but there are other people
working within the systems that I’m studying, not to mention
that there are other people who’re seeing some of the same
problems and working on solving them in their own way. This
does come with the price of extra need to work at reconciling
and resolving worldview differences, though, and the worry
that those communities with concerns about appropriation and
dilution will close themselves.)

· Clarity
of thought — purely individual religion may not have all of its tenets and thought patterns clearly articulated. I know that I not only think more clearly when I can lay out where I’m coming from, but often find bugs in what I’m doing by doing so. If there is no religious community, there is no intrinsic need to go through this process, so muddy thinking may be perpetrated and thus mean that spiritual development gets stalled. Now, this can be done with communities of sympathetic people who don’t share the specifics in the discussion, but that makes it less likely that the sounding board will know
all the basics that are underlying the process and be able to make intuitive leaps and/or actively contribute to the development process with new insights.

· Transmissibility and generalization
— my definition of “religion” includes the possibility that it might be shared with others. It is possible for an eclectic vision to be so tuned to the personal that it has nothing to offer the universal, or is encoded in such individual language that it can’t be understood beyond the particular individual. Pure
subjectivity can also be intellectually dishonest; somewhere things interact with the observable world, and have to meet that challenge.

· Ritual meaning is hard
— well, it is. It’s possible to take actions invested with meaning (or actual religious actions and ritual pieces) and synthesize them into something new that can then start accruing its own meaning; this is the easy way. Developing a new structure that can hold its weight requires some pretty keen insight into the way the human mind works. It is, to say the least, heavy lifting. Further, many people have noticed that ritual actions are more powerful when they are shared — by other people in the ritual space, by other people around the world, by other people over the course of history; trying to build a new ritual that partakes of that energy is effectively impossible. Adapting extant rituals is easier, but if they differ too far from their original place they will lose that resonance and not be notably different
from completely original creations.

Now, as I said, all of these things can be overcome – with
skill, with vision, with the assistance of a community (whether
of other people who are trying to do the same thing, or the
partially aligned and sympathetic, or even just a crew of helpful
debuggers), with sheer bloodymindedness. This is where new
religions and new insights are born, in the people who are
doing this sort of work.

And it’s possible to be responsibly eclectic without going to the full lengths I’ve listed here – even ranging to a secularly eclectic spirituality. Not everyone is interested in developing an actual religion, something that can be shared with others, for example. Responsible development does, in my opinion, require acknowledgement of these issues; further, it requires an awareness that the result will probably be purely personal in many ways, as an eclectic spirituality is not necessarily built to the same standards of robustness as a religion that has at least the potential of being adopted by a number of people.

Now that I’ve thoroughly called into question the practice of eclecticism by highlighting the many ways it can go wrong, I’d like to spend some time on the sorts of reasons that people take eclectic courses through religion. These are ones that I have seen:

· Religious Multiplicity
— some people have a calling to practice more than one religion. Any religion will have a range of beliefs and practices; a person practicing more than one will have to find the space in the range of each religion that has
an overlap. Some of these systems will lead to a new religion developing from the space intersecting between the originals. (I do not find the belief that a person can only have one religion any more sensical than the belief that a person can have only one god; this informs my eclecticism significantly. While it is not common in the West, this is a well-known attitude in parts of Asia.)

· Layers and Overlays
— there are religions that can be viewed as a particular outlook on the world, and thus can be practiced as a modification to another system or as independent structures of their own. The most well-known and mainstream
of these is Buddhism; while there are many Buddhists, there are also a number of people who have adopted some portion of Buddhist philosophy and attitudes towards the world. Among pagans, both Discordianism and Satanism can be treated as interpretational overlays.

· Fostering
— sometimes a god to which a person is dedicated will make it clear that their follower should enter, temporarily, into the service of other gods, for reasons of personal development, skill acquisition, or the sort of arcane
reasons that gods have that they don’t actually tell mere mortals about. (All of the people I know who have had this happen have been primarily in service to Celtic deities. The Celts practiced fostering, and often sent their children to grow up in other households, thereby creating inter-familial bonds.)

· Cross-Training
— similar to fostering. Sometimes a practice common in one religion has value or connection to a practice in another one; practitioners of each might spend some time training with the followers of the other in order to broaden or deepen their skills with people who have different areas of expertise.

· Designated for Assignment
— similar to fostering and cross-training. A god – usually an established patron, someone who the person in question considers to have some authority – tells their worshipper to go somewhere else to study or work, while maintaining their extant practice. (In my case, I was told that in order to honor Set properly, I needed tools that Egyptian Reconstructionism could not provide me that would enable me to overcome certain difficulties. He told me where I could  acquire those tools, and left me to decide whether or not I would do it.)

· Patching a Gap
— this is especially common among the reconstructions. There are places that the available knowledge does not address; even things that were known to exist are not always well-recorded. Someone who is interested in having those lost practices in their reconstruction will not be able to do so from a historical basis; they have to extrapolate, interpret, and possibly acquire from elsewhere the required pieces. For example, people who wish to incorporate trancing-type interactions into their reconstructions have turned to boththe work of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies and the possessionary African Diaspora religions for the training they needed.

· Flaw Correction
— any religious system will have places where it falls down for someone. A person may find a system almost entirely satisfactory, but have issues with certain points of theology or feel a need to supplement the material with other things that are out there. This quest may eventually lead them to conversion to a new religion that does not have that flaw; it may also, however, lead to the adoption of some portion of another system that is both consistent with the original religion and resolves whatever was the source of the difficulty.

· Ancestry
— many, many people have in their heritage people from a number of different regions, and thus, potentially, a number of different ethnic religions. While it is not required to follow the gods of one’s ancestors, or even a subset thereof, some people feel a need to acknowledge some portion of their heritage in their religious practice. This may be an outgrowth of those religions that practice some form of ancestor worship, a result of encounters with the gods or spirits who associated with those ancestors, or simply a matter of personal preference.

· Ecumenicalism
— as many recons will complain, it can be very difficult to maintain a clear sense of what a religion is all about in a community containing a huge variety of other ideas. This can be a problem, if one is trying to work with a specific system; on the other hand, it can be viewed as the natural result of what happens if one takes a huge number of worldviews that were normally separated by thousands of miles and put them in the same small area. Eventually, bits and pieces of each will rub off and redistribute and new forms will appear.

· Task-focused worship
— some people have a strong affiliation to a particular role or task in the world. These folks may wind up dealing with the gods who are associated
with that particular role, regardless of their cultural background, and wind up incorporating acknowledgements of all of Them into the system that they practice.

· Pure Synthesis
— some people are unsatisfied with the existing religious systems or feel a calling to construct something all their own. They may not have found anything out there that works for them, or feel a need to build something of their own. More power to ’em, that’s a wicked lot of hard work they’re setting themselves up for.

· I  don’t know, man, I didn’t do it — sometimes a motley assortment of gods shows up in someone’s life and makes it clear that They don’t intend to go away. At this point, the poor pagan is left to figure out how the heck they’re supposed to deal with this confounding pile of miscellanea.

Being responsibly eclectic — whether for one of these reasons,
a combination of them, or for some entirely different reason
— is a lot of work. If someone has established commitments
and obligations to gods, other people, or religious organizations
those may have to be renegotiated. (When I decided to take
Set’s advice, I checked with the other gods to whom I have
specifically pledged to see if any of Them had problems with
it; one assigned me a minor practice restriction to be sure
that I was certain to maintain my allegiance to Her.) The work
required to do a good job of it can be immense — ranging from
the spiritual equivalent of doing a skin graft through to organ
transplants (and getting all those tubes hooked up right) to
the work of the notorious Dr. Frankenstein.

If that is the way you’re feeling a need to go, I can only hope that the rewards you find are commensurate with the work it will require to get there.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/ycl2srm

What to Remember When Waking

In that first
hardly noticed
moment
to which you wake,
coming back
to this life
from the other
more secret,
moveable
and frighteningly
honest
world
where everything
began,
there is a small
opening
into the new day
which closes
the moment
you begin
your plans.

What you can plan
is too small
for you to live.

What you can live
wholeheartedly
will make plans
enough
for the vitality
hidden in your sleep.

To be human
is to become visible
while carrying
what is hidden
as a gift to others.

To remember
the other world
in this world
is to live in your
true inheritance.

You are not
a troubled guest
on this earth,
you are not
an accident
amidst other accidents
you were invited
from another and greater
night
than the one
from which
you have just emerged.

Now, looking through
the slanting light
of the morning
window toward
the mountain
presence
of everything
that can be,
what urgency
calls you to your
one love?

What shape
waits in the seed
of you to grow
and spread
its branches
against a future sky?

Is it waiting
in the fertile sea?
In the trees
beyond the house?
In the life
you can imagine
for yourself?
In the open
and lovely
white page
on the waiting desk?

~~ David Whyte ~~
(The House of Belonging)

Dispatches from RDG’s
Autonomous Collectives

Medford, OR:
Clan of the Triple Horse Grove, Medford, Oregon, recently welcomed several guests to a meet and greet coffee in Medford. Guests enjoyed a
chance to relax and meet several Grove members to ask questions about
our group and modern druidry.

Several guests also joined us in celebrating the Autumn Equinox, a time of bounty and thanksgiving, at the beautiful Labyrinth at Rogue Valley Medical Center, Medford. As we journeyed to the Center we offered thanks for what we have manifested and harvested during our season of growth. We also offered thanks for the life of ADF Founder Isaac Bonewits, who crossed the Veil August 12, 2010. We will have a more formal commemoration of his life during our Samhain Rite but we briefly offered thanks for his life and the spiritual Path he provided for modern Pagans worldwide.

For Samhain, we will honor their Ancestors and welcome the new Celtic Year Sunday, October 31, 2010 with a Samhain Rite at the home of Grove Founders Aigeann and Seven Tines in Medford. We’ll gather beginning at 5 p.m. and begin our Rite by 6 p.m. followed by a simple potluck. We’ll finish early out of respect for those who have to reenter the Muggle world early Monday morning!

We will have an Ancestor Altar and burn a Wickerman in sacrifice of what no
longer serves us. We will honor our Ancestors and the life of Isaac Bonewits, founder of Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship, our Grove’s Parent path.

Each participant is asked to bring:

A picture or token of his or her Ancestor or Ancestors and
an offering for the
Ancestors.
Tokens of what no longer serves him or her. We will be sacrificing
these to our
Wickerman.
A simple dish to share.

For directions please contact us at the email address below.
Please join us on this most sacred of nights!

Our website: http://triplehorses.weebly.com

Our contact info:
medford.grove@reformed-druids.org

Seasonal blessings,
Clan of the Triplehorses Grove

Mother Grove of the Reformed Druids of Gaia
Eureka, CA:
Annual elections were held, as they are every year at this time, and the results are: Ceridwen Seren-Ddaear will remain Senior Archdruid
Sybok Pendderwydd will remain Senior Clerk
Shauna Mayfield will remain Server

At our meeting, we discussed plans for the 2011 Redwood Coast Druid Gathering, as well as other Grove business. We are also beginning some intensive inner work with our Guides, since all of us have felt a calling to do so lately…

Our holiday celebrations this season will be on the subdued side, as the we are still dealing with health  problems…and we would like to thank all those who have been sending healing energies – they are much appreciated!

The Mother Grove is the home of the Senior Archdruid of RDG and
of the Patriarch of the Order of the Mithril Star.

And next year in Dryad’s Realm!

In Gaia,
Ceridwen Seren-Ddaear, Senior Archdruid RDG &
Sybok Pendderwydd, Senior Clerk, RDG / Patriarch, OMS
Contact:

eureka.grove@reformed-druids.org

Colorado Springs, CO:
We are truly blessed with the abundance of the summer vitality that the Flower Maiden has bestowed upon us and a fantastic harvest blessed by the Autumn Queen!

Gwyl Awyst has brought many changes to our internal/external selves which provided course corrections upon our journey through life. To reflect this we changed our name from Circle of Stones Grove to Circle of Stones Druid Grove. We stand proud as Druids in our right-winged conservative state and we desire to reflect this to our community.

Amidst the cyclic changes of nature, self and time, we look forward to a season of rest while enjoying holiday festivities with our families and friends.

May the blessings of the Sovereignty be upon you and yours this Calan Gaeaf Season.

Calender:
This years Calan Gaeaf/Samhain will be held at James’s house on Oct 31, 2010 As usual dress for the weather and fire pit. Please email AD Dyddgu for directions and to RSVP. Bring food to share, the ale is covered! (This is a closed grove event-members only) (Please no children at this event)

Alban Arthuran is the standard Drumming up the Sun at Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morris, CO, on December 22, 2010. Plan to arrive at 6 am, and as usual bring drums and warm winter clothing. Breakfast as usual afterwards; destination to be decided after the drumming. Everyone welcome!

Celtic Study classes are now finished for the year and will resume in February 2011. Date TBA

CoS Board meeting will be held January 10, 2011 6pm, in AD Dyddgu’s home. Dinner will be served.

Official website – http://www.circleofstones.us
Official Contact email – info@circleofstones.us
Contact email – coloradosprings.grove@reformed-druids.org

Twitter – http://twitter.com/CircleofStones9

COS Blog – http://thecircleofstones.blogspot.com

Facebook Fan Page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Colorado-Springs-CO/Circle-of-Stones/117600581588209

RDG ProtoGrove, Agoura Hills, CA:
Rabbit in the Moon Grove has been working toward a clear vision of our ourselves. We have defined our own basic order of ritual and are filling out a set of patron deities. Our standard ritual includes invocation of a protector, honoring our Earth Mother, seeking inspiration, forming a sacred center
including opening gates to the otherworlds, and honoring our kindred spirits. We view our ancient gods to be 21st century entities with ancient roots, not that they are just ancient memories. Recognizing that the Earth is no longer
a collection of cultures unknown by each other, we have chosen ancient gods from many cultures with which our Grove founders have relationships. So, we include Diana from Rome, Gaia from Greece, Vainamoinen from Finland, and Isis from Egypt as our ancient patrons. The modern deities which we invoke as our focus are Dalon ap Landu as patron of groves, Sequoia as patron spirit of our Grove’s sacred Sequoiadendron Gigantea,
and the spirit of Rabbit as our Grove personal patron. Rabbit does not have a name yet, but will after our next ritual. Our rituals are meditative, where we seek that the powers give us guidance and strength. We do not send energy out to change the universe, rather we suggest an area in which we seek guidance, then listen to our patron powers for an extended time.

The Grove meets monthly for private ritual, and we are core organizers for Pagan activities at our local Unitarian Universalist church. We are presenting the movie “Butterfly” at the church on October 16, and we are organizing a Full Moon public ritual in our Grove form at the church on November 21. Our founding Grove members are also members of Raven’s
Cry Grove, ADF and rather than holding our own Neopagan high day rituals, we are part of the Raven’s Cry public rituals such as Samhain coming up. The Rite of the Waters is exclusive to our private Grove rituals; we substitute sharing of drink and food when in public.

At our last ritual, we meditated about whether we should honor a rabbit god, and we all received strong sense of “yes” and also that the god spirit is male. The “desert cottontail” is our local rabbit, and we all also received the sense of that form being our manifestation of the one who welcomed our
Grove into His local area. Our next ritual will focus on our seeing what name “Rabbit” wishes us to use when we relate with him.

We expect that our three founding members will all be 2nd degree or greater very shortly, and that one will be 3rd degree shortly after Samhain. We also expect that two other people will join our Grove very soon, bringing our membership to five by midwinter.

Our Grove has plans for a road trip to the redwoods of Big Sur in early December.

We have a web presence – only a name and one page right now, but watch us grow! http://ritmg.info

Our activities are listed on Witchvox and the L.A. Pagan Examiner.

Contact: agourahills.grove@reformed-druids.org

RDG ProtoGrove, Crossville, TN:
The Temple of the Seekers located in Crossville, Tennessee we have weekly meet-ups. Recently, one of our older members Ben, who is a teacher of Astrology of 30 plus years, came up from Atlanta for the weekend. We also were able to meet several new members who also showed up. During Ben’s visit he donated a new 4 in 1 printer to the Temple. Now, things can be done which were unable to be completed in the past.

The Seeker’s Outreach Program (S.O.P.) which is a nearby prison in which Rev. Starr attends each week for a Wicca service. The government at this point in time only recognizes this path, but we have many members who are of various pagan paths. Many are Druid, and the OMS Druid class is being taught to the one’s who are interested, along with many other classes such as; Tarot, Runes, Deities, Sabbats, Gems, Herbs, Wicca, Witchcraft, Druidism, etc.

Our Seeker’s Assistance Program (S.A.P.) has donated lots of food, clothes, toys, baby blankets (which are made by us), and various other items. Starr also took in a member who had no home for about 3 months, so she could get back on her feet. Shadielite has since moved out, and is now living in Va. with her son.

The Temple celebrates 2 Rituals (Each New, &Full Moon, and all Sabbats) one with the S.O.P. and the other is usually at Starr’s home. Several guests were able to joined us in celebrating the Autumn Equinox. We also offered thanks for what we have manifested and harvested during our season of growth.

If you are in Crossville, Tennessee area you are invited to join our Samhain Celebration. This event will be held at our Grove Founder’s Rev. Starr’s home. We will be honoring our Ancestor’s and welcoming in  the Celtic New Year. The time may change, at present it’s set for 4pm CST, so if anyone plans to attend please call first.

What you need to bring:

* Something that belonged to one of your Ancestors, or a picture of them.
* Reminder’s of things you wish to remove in your life’s to be sacrificed.
* Something to share for the potluck, which always follows our Sabbats.

For directions call Rev Starr RA at 931-210-3203
or email at: rev_starr@yahoo.com
or fax at: 931-707-0728 but email or call first, so I can make sure it is turned on.

We have 41 online members in which 17 are active. Out of the 41 members 13 are in the offline Temple, but only 7 are active. In the S.O.P there are 10 boys and all are active.

Our online Family can be found at: http://bseriousseekersonly.runboard.com/
after making a free account with runboard, and applying at the above link.

Contact: crossville.grove@reformed-druids.org

 

Middleburg, FL:
No news for this season…happy holidays!

Till next time,
Penda, Archdruid
Contact:
middleburg.grove@reformed-druids.org

Redding, CA:

Our fledging web presence is at: http://www.myspace.com/manzanita_druids

Blessings of Summer,
Tiffiny /|\
ArchDruid, Grove of the Manzanita, RDG
Contact:
anderson.grove@reformed-druids.org

Although it’s not a “Grove”, the NoDaL still qualifies as an “autonomous collective” of the Reformed Druids of Gaia, and consists of all the 3rd Degree Druids therein. The purpose of the NoDaL is to provide a space for Archdruids of the RDG Groves and Proto-Groves to discuss the many aspects of running a group of Druids, and provide advice and support for each other. They also act as the “legislative” branch of the RDG – creating policy as needed.

The Nemeton has finished it’s process of reviewing and revising “The Druid Path” cd rom self-study course and has made it’s recommendations to the MG, which has begun implementing them,

Nemeton members request that anyone interested in having input in RDG
policy, please share their concerns or suggestions. You may write the NoDaL at senior.clerk@reformed-druids.org

Philadelphia, PA:
Currently meeting in the lush emerald woods of Fairmount Park in the city of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection (commonly know as Philadelphia), Aelvenstar Grove honors Mother Earth. The grove was formally founded Beltaine, 2004 and is a proto grove of the Reformed Druids of Gaia/Order
of the Mithril Star and the Reformed Druids Of North America. In addition, we are associated with other pagan organizations such as Per NTR Sesen and Temple Harakhte.

Looking to our ancestors and the ancients, Aelvenstar Druids respect all life and receive inspiration from Nature and the heavens. We believe it is the natural state of Mankind to live in harmony with Nature. and that it is our responsibility to respect and protect the Earth. As activists, it is our responsibility to do our part collectively and individually to heal the environment.

Emphasizing development through the practice of Druidcraft, focus is placed upon personal growth through the development of body, mind, and spirit. Through study, discussions, rituals, retreats, fellowship, and meditation, a spiritual framework is provided through which Druids may further develop themselves.

Aelvenstar Grove holds eight celebrations a year, on the solstices, equinoxes, and cross quarter festivals. We sometimes meet on other occasions for outings and initiations. Online meetings and initiations are held too, as some members live a distance away.

We welcome new members of all backgrounds who love nature and seek
spirituality permeated in the divine beauty and wonder that surrounds us. Nature is groovy!

Courses available: Reformed Druidism 101

Website: http://www.aelvenstargrove.org

Email: philadelphia.grove@reformed-druids.org

For more information about Reformed Druidism, visit
http://reformed-druids.org

Live Oak , FL:
Greetings!
White Horse ProtoGrove is sorta in idle mode at the moment………….I
am back at college working on my LPN & doing pre-requisites
for my RN at the moment & have been very busy……..

Blessings,
Ann Feather

Contact:
sebring.grove@reformed-druids.org

Roots Rocks and Stars
RDG “Proto-Grove”

Albany, OR:
Roots Rocks and Stars currently consists of three humans and two canine companions. We people are all college students, one in natural resources, one in Literature, and one in history. We live together in a small apartment in Corvallis Oregon’s north end. We are all ethnically descended from British Isle and French folks (some Native Canadian/American ancestry as well) and this colors our rituals. We are primarily dedicated to Cernunnos, Epona, Brigid, and Cerridwen but actually tend toward an abiding devotion to nature and spirit without too much investment in names and images. Our rituals tend to involve home-cooking and plenty of beer.

Contact:
albany.grove@reformed-druids.org

No news this season from:

Thorn & Rose
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

RDG “Proto-Grove”


calgary.grove@reformed-druids.org

Seasonal Almanac

Today is Samhain, Calen Gaef, or November 1, 2010 CE. It is the 1st Day of the 5th Year of the 2nd Age of the Druid Reform.

The Feast of Samhain began at Sunset on October 31st. (Some Druids may celebrate on November 8th, when the Sun reaches 15 degrees Scorpio, the midpoint between the Autumnal  quinox and the Winter Solistice)

It is the 1st day of the Season of Geimredh, and the 1st day of the Month of MÌ na Samhna.

It is also Monday, in the common tongue, or Dydd Llun in Welsh.

It is the Druidic day of the Willow.

5 Geimredh – New Moon

15 Geimrdh – Birthday of OMS Patriarch and Co-Founder, Sybok
Pendderwydd

21 Geimredh – Full “Beaver” Moon

22 Geimredh – The Sun enters Sagittarius.

24 Geimredh- Birthday of Celtic Bard and Honorary Druid, Robin
Williamson
.


25 Geimredh- Druish Feast of Bori Gormod Dwrci Dddiwrnod

27 Geimredh – NEW MOON

30 Geimredh – Birthday of Honorary Druid Oberon Zell-Ravenheart.

31 Geimredh – Me·n Geimhridh (December) begins (a Wednesday – Dydd Mercher – Day of the Hazel)

35 Geimredh – NEW MOON

51 Geimredh – Yule / Alban Arthuan, or the Winter Solstice. The Sun enters Capricorn. FULL “Cold” MOON.

61  Geimredh – Eve of CE 2011

62 Geimredh – Deireadh Geimhridh (January) begins (a Saturday – Dydd Sadwrn – Day of the Sequoia)

65 Geimredh – NEW MOON

80 Geimredh – Full “Wolf” Moon

81 Geimredh – The Sun enters Aquarius.

92 Geimredh – The Season of Earrach begins at Sunset

1 Earrach – 1 MÌ na hOimelc, (February 1, 2011) Dydd Mawrth, Druish Day of the Hazel. The Festival of Imbolc begins at Sunset.

The State of the Reform
1 Geimredh YGR 05

Being the 5th Year of the 2nd Age of the Druid Reform

As of today 630 Druids have registered with the RDG:

36 members are initiated Second Order Druids
6
members are eligible for ordination into the Third Order
25
members are ordained Third Order Druids (Clergy)
13% of our members belong to a Grove
67% of our members belong to an Order

30% of Grove members also belong to an Order
4000+ non-registered, “defacto” members (not factored into any percentages)

During YGR 04, we experienced a net registration gain of 46

Total Groves chartered: 11
Total Orders Established: 1
Total North American Druids: 600
Total Druids in CELTIC Lands: 7
Total International Druids: 48
Total Countries represented: 17

Our oldest Druid is 78 years old.
Our youngest Druid is 20 years old.
4%
were born prior to 1945.
44%
were born between 1946-1964.
41%
were born between 1965-1981.
11%
were born since 1982.

The Druids Egg — 1 Geimredh YGR 05 — Vol. 9 No.1

NEXT ISSUE WILL BE PUBLISHED ON
Imbolc – 1 Earrach YGR 05

WANT TO JOIN THE REFORMED DRUIDS?
http://www.reformed-druids.org/joinrdg.php

WANT TO DONATE TO THE REFORMED DRUIDS?
http://reformed-druids.org/donate.htm

Published four times each year by The Mother Grove of the
Reformed Druids of Gaia
Cylch Cerddwyr Rhwng y Bydoedd Grove
Ceridwen Seren-Ddaear,
Editor-in-Chief / Webmaster
OMS Patriarch Sybok Pendderwydd
Eureka, California USA
“An autonomous collective of Reformed Druids”

Copyright © 2010

No portion of this newsletter may be reproduced by anyone for any purposewithout the express written permission of the
Editor-in-Chief, Ceridwen Seren-Ddaear, Senior Archdruid, RDG

All images are believed to be public domain, gathered from around the internet over the years. and/or sent to us by friends. However, if there is an image(s) that has copyright
information associated with it and the copyright holder wishes for it to be removed,
then please email us and we will remove it. Or, if any of the artwork is yours and you just want us to give you credit (and the piece can remain on site), please send us your link/banner and we will be happy to do so.

The Druid’s Egg e-zine is supported by our online store:

 

The Mother Grove wishes all of you
a most inspiring Lughnasadh, a fruitful Mabon,
and abundant blessings throughout the season!