Growing Closer

by OMS Patriarch
Ellis “Sybok” Arseneau

At the spring
we hear the great seas traveling
underground,
giving themselves up
with tongue of water
that sing the earth open.

They have journeyed through the graveyards
of our loved ones,
turning in their grave
to carry the stories of life to air.

Even the trees with their rings
have kept track
of the crimes that live within
and against us.

We remember it all.
We remember, though we are just skeletons
whose organs and flesh
hold us in.
We have stories
as old as the great seas
breaking through the chest,
flying out the mouth,
noisy tongues that once were silenced,
all the oceans we contain
coming to light.

~~ Linda Hogan ~~
(Seeing Through the Sun)

Almost all of the customs associated with Imbolc are no longer performed,
even in rural areas. This essay describes some of the customs found in archives and collections.

The Evidence for Imbolc

Most of the evidence of how Imbolc was celebrated in Ireland derives from folklore collected during the last two hundred years and cross-cultural studies of similar customs in Scandinavia. Folklorists have collected a great deal of data about Imbolc. Much Irish data now lies in the archives of the National University, Dublin.

In Festival of Brigit, Séamas Ó Catháin did an important study of this material and compared it to similar traditions in Scandinavia, but this is only a first step. Kim McCone and others have done important analyses of the medieval hagiography of St. Brigid and what it tells us about her cult and pagan roots. Similar studies need to be done of Imbolc and Brigid in other Celtic cultures. Alexander Carmichael collected some material on Imbolc in the Highlands for his Carmina Gadelica, but his study was far from exhaustive. Until such wide-ranging analysis and collation takes place, suggestions about the original rituals can only be preliminary hypotheses, suggestions for further study.

This essay presents the customs as we know them from the folklore archives and some suggestions of the original meaning, context, and actions that lay behind the more recent activities.

Customs of Imbolc

There seem to have been two basic types of rituals associated with Imbolc: those performed by the community and those that centeredon the family and household. Even some of the community activities involved going from home to home.

Most of the customs focus on the figure of Brigid and depend on the belief that on the evening before 1 February, the holy woman was thought to visit each home, acknowledging the offerings left for her.

Fire and Light

An Irish saying noted the lengthening day that marked the time of Imbolc: “On St. Brigid’s day you can put away the candlestick and half the candle.” (Danaher, 1972, p. 14) Many of the folk customs focus on the increasing warmth and light, the rebirth of the cold earth into pliability, and the birth process itself. It is likely that myths and stories underlie these customs, but at this point it is difficult to say exactly what those stories were. However, the rituals probably were, in some cases, re-enactment of the myths.

Weather Omens

Imbolc was a time when farmers and fishermen depended on steady improvement in the weather. They also believed that the kind of weather that occurred on Imbolc gave them some idea of how the coming Months would go, too. To start with, the weather on Imbolc should be better than average, but a truly fine day was a bad sign. The prevailing wind on Imbolc would continue for the rest of the year.

The appearance of a hedgehog up and about was a sign that weather would continue to improve. If the hedgehog came out but then  returned to its burrow, it was thought that wintry conditions would persist for several more weeks.

A rainy February generally was thought to predict a good summer.

In Scotland, a charm was chanted that referred to a snake coming
from a hole. Doubtless, this referred to some divinatory or
fertility ritual whose origins and details have been lost. (Jones, p. 107)

Ploughing the Land

Depending on the geographic location, Imbolc was a time to make at least
a show of beginning the planting season. In some areas, the farmer would turn over token soil and wait for warmer weather to plough and plant. In more temperate areas, sowing might begin at Imbolc. (Ó Catháin, pp. 4-5)

Checking the Stores

Heads of household checked quantity and quality of flour, salted meat, and other food, and the supplies of hay and other food for animals. From these, they estimated the economies they would have to take to make the supplies last until harvest. (Danaher, 1972, p. 14)

Spring Cleaning

The house was tidied and prepared for the visit of Brigid. (Danaher, 1972, p. 15)

Lambing, Milk, and Butter

Around Imbolc, sheep began to lactate in preparation for birthing lambs. The Imbolc rituals would be performed at least in part to ensure a new crop of healthy lambs.The new sheep milk was a welcome supplement to the dwindling stores, especially since cows would generally not be milking at that time. Numerous writers note that the Irish diet depended heavily on milk products, known as “white meats” during the spring and summer months. Milk was often soured and processed into different forms of curds and soft cheeses. Hard cheeses were uncommon. Imbolc rituals were also focused at ensuring the steady supply of milk.

Butter was a very important food for the Irish prior to the twentieth century. Recipes even called for hares to be boiled in butter. After being churned, butter was put in wooden containers and buried in bogs to “cure.” The result was a rather sour flavor considered characteristic of “country butter.” Freshly made butter was an important element in the Imbolc feast, although various foods were associated with celebrating Imbolc, depending on the region. The making of the butter – the action of the dash working in the churn – would itself represent the fertility being sought at the feast. The churn dash was often used as the basis of the bríde óg, the figure of Brigid carried in procession.

Food Offerings and Feasting

A bit of soda bread, cake, butter, and/or porridge might be left on the windowsill for Brigid to enjoy as she passed by, perhaps with some feed for her favorite white cow. Sometimes the food was given to the poor later. (Danaher, 1972, p. 15) Food was also offered as part of other rituals. In some houses, a place was set at the table for Brigid.

Feasting among the family was a central part of the rituals
held in the home. The rushes to be used in creating Brigid’s
cross were put under the table while the feast took place.

Nineteenth-century folk practices at Imbolc in Ireland and Scotland included processions that visited homes throughout the community and resemble the
processions described by Berger. In some places, the central figure was a woman chosen to represent St. Brigid as An Bhrídeog. Beforehand, talismans of woven straw or grass – called the Cros (cross), Sgiath (shield), and Crothán (veil) of Brigid – were distributed at each home and farm, to be nailed up as protection for all within. Surrounded by an accompanying group, An Bhrídeóg processed to each home and farm where she engaged in a ritual dialog with the residents and distributed a set of the talismans.

In other places in Ireland, the brideóg was a figurine made by dressing a doll or encasing a churn dash or other pole with straw and adding a carved turnip for a head. The figurine was carried by a group of young men called brídeóga or Biddy boys, dressed in white shirts, masks, women’s skirts, and straw hats. These ambiguously dressed people carried the brídeóg from one farm to another, singing, dancing, or playing music, and receiving gifts of food, especially cakes, butter, and eggs. (Danaher, 1972, pp. 25-27). More recently, such groups wear masks and brightly colored clothing to which ribbons, patches, and fringes have been added, and the offerings they receive may be sweets or coins.

Visits to holy wells and streams, especially at Faughart, co. Louth,and Liscannor, co. Clare, have replaced the ritual bathing of the goddess statue. However, the devotions performed by pilgrims at those sites include ritual use of water from the well. (Berger,p. 74) Frequently the home, family, and talismans are blessed with water from such sites at Imbolc.

A Highland variation on the parade of the brídeóg holds specific reference to human fertility. The young women of the community created a figurine from a churn dash and carried it about to the various households, collecting offerings of bread, butter, and other food. Later the young women feasted on these in company with the young men of the community, followed  by singing and dancing throughout the night. (Jones, p. 82).

Bears and Honey

In his carefully documented study, Ó Catháin suggests that the rituals originally associated with Imbolc were part of a cult of bears, honey, and mead. Figures of bears were made in Ireland long after the animals ceased to live there. All of these elements have associations with inspiration and knowledge. Also, because of their hibernation habits, bears were closely
associated with the rebirth of the earth. It is difficult to say now what those early rituals might have been, but Ó Catháin’s suggestions deserve more study.

Birth and Rebirth

Séamas Ó Catháin has also noted the parallels between Imbolc rituals and those that traditionally accompanied childbirth in rural Scandinavia. The ritual of stepping through the críos or girdle of Bríg may be a symbolic re-enactment of birth. At this point, it is unclear exactly what well rituals of rebirth were once associated with Imbolc to ensure the fertility of the awakening land. However, at a time when the natural world was coming out of its wintry sleep, one would expect rituals to dramatically re-enact this fact.

It is probably not accidental that the holy well at Liscannor is situated underground; perhaps devotees once descended into the well chamber and re-emerged ritually. (Brenneman & Brenneman, 104). MacNeill notes that Liscannor was primarily a site of pilgrimage at Lughnasadh, but two of her sources attest that it was also a site used at Imbolc. (Mac Neill, p. 276-277).

This highlights the basic theme of Imbolc: the rebirth of the land from its wintry, death-like sleep into new life. It’s unclear whether the associated goddess was thought to be reborn herself or whether she was the agent for regenerating the land. Because the land is being reborn, new crops can be planted.

Also, most of the animals were also giving birth or preparing to do so. This accounts for the emphasis on food production that is so much a part of Imbolc: the farmers needed to perform rituals they believed would ensure that crops grew and herds flourished. Finally, Imbolc emphasized human fertility necessary for families and households to grow and maintain their position on the land and in the tribe.

References:

Pamela Berger, The Goddess Obscured, Beacon Press, 1985; ISBN 0-8070-6723-7

Walter Brenneman and Mary Brenneman, Crossing the Circle at the Holy Wells of Ireland, Univ Press of Virginia (1995); ISBN: 0-8139-1548-1

Kevin Danaher, The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs, (1972) Irish Books & Media (1972); ISBN: 0-9377-0213-7

Kevin Danaher, In Ireland Long Ago, Irish Amer Book Co (1997); ISBN: 0-8534-2781-X

Noragh Jones, Power of Raven, Wisdom of Serpent, Floris Books, 1995; ISBN 0-9402-6266-5

M/aire Mac Neill, Festival at Lughnasa, Oxford Univ. Press, 1962

Kim McCone, Pagan Past and Christian Present in Early Irish Literature, An Sagart, 1990

Séamas Ó Catháin, The Festival of Brigit, DBA Publications, 1995; ISBN 0-9519-6922-6

This article from the Celtic Well E-Journal is © 1999 by Francine Nicholson.

Whoever you are: step out of doors tonight,
Out of the room that lets you feel secure.
Infinity is open to your sight.
Whoever you are.

With eyes that have forgotten how to see
From viewing things already too well-known,
Lift up into the dark a huge, black tree
And put it in the heavens: tall, alone.

And you have made the world and all you see.
It ripens like the words still in your mouth.
And when at last you comprehend its truth,
Then close your eyes and gently set it free.

~~ Dana Gioia ~~
(Interrogations at Noon)

This guide is intended as a “quickie” reference for use in such things as decorating capes, jewelry, etc. It should not be used in ritual except with caution. There are no one-to-one equations, no “system” such as in Hermetic Magic! (e.g. compass points do not form a “cross”). Many attributes or associations “turn on” only in specific  contexts Those marked with “!!!” have the strongest “slants” toward the associations; in all neutral contexts will associate with those listed.

All associations are for Irish Druidism as attested in Irish language texts. Due to the Norse and Christian invasions, many of these have, in medieval folk-tales, or in modern times, drastically different associations (tuathal – counterclockwise, was associated with “tuath”, “tribe” – with the idea of the tribe as the basis of society, and “countryside” – nature, not town, as the source of wealth; however, in medieval and modern times “tuatha” means “wrong-headed”). Many “NA” have associations in medieval or modern Ireland.

A final note: in both modern and ancient Ireland a black cat is good, not bad, luck. A white cat is bad luck.

CODE: entry – % –
Extremely limited, or requires additional elements to define, or important only in specific context. (many cannot be easily given here, due to their many combinations). Unless so marked with an additional “!” these are not highly important by themselves. (as these can be ambiguous, one would not want to use them in most decoration!) In those cases where a “%” is followed by a definition, this represents only a general idea of the most frequently encountered association.

entry – !!! –
Very majorly important.

entry – N/A
not applicable, symbol is not used (the large number of these are supplied because it is as important to know what is not a symbol as it is to know what is one!).

acorn – abundance
adza – St. Patrick
alder – %
apple – love, happiness
arrow – direction, focus
ash – !!! – battle, austerity, asceticism
aspen – %
axe – separation
bag – treasure, burden, lottery
bat – N/A
bear – protection
bee – prosperity
beech – % – potency, thanksgiving
bell – Christianity
belt – % (“in my belt” means challenge)
berry (general) – health
birch – % – cleansing
black – %
blackthorn – %
blindness – % – musical/poetic ability, prophecy
blue – !!! – protection (dark blue, light blue – N/A)
boar – !!! – warrior
bodhran – %
bonfire – see fire
book – knowledge
brown – % – strength, groundedness
bull – !!! – war
butterfly – transforming
calf – sexually attractive/active young man
cape (white or natural tones, hoodless) – Druidism
cape (with hood) – Pagan, Druid
cat – %
cauldron – %-! – abundance, healing, poetic insight
cave – the Otherworld
center – see east
chalice – honor, tribute
chariot – warrior
chicken – stupidity
circle – protection
cliff – magical borders
clockwise – !!! – opening
cloud – %
cord – binding
counter-clockwise – !!! – bind, return to source
cow – !!! – female beauty, abundance
crane – danger
cross – N/A (a cross for Christianity was introduced, see cape, staff, bell)
crossroads – threshold
crow (“hoodie”) – death
cup – share
deer – wilds (see also stag)
dog – see hound
dolmen – %
door – %
dragon – shadow self, guardian of inner treasures
eagle – N/A
earth – %-! – (only combined with sea/sky) binding/breaking the worlds
east (at) – stability, center
east (from) – N/A
eel – %
egg – N/A
eight – N/A
elder – shape-shifting, hosting (of Sidhe)
equinoxes – N/A
eye – see one-eyed-ness
fire – !!! – membership in tribe
five – social/mundane fullness
flower (in general) – beauty
fog – !!! – magic, the Otherworld
four – elements
foxglove – beauty
furze – see gorse
garlic – N/A (used only as food)
goat – N/A
gold – % (magically far less important than silver)
gorse – difficulty
green – % (the colour spectrum is divided differently in Irish)
grey – %
grove – “wildwood”; generally isolated trees had more power
hare – sexual potency
harp – !!! – Ireland, music as magic, bard, authority
hawk – freedom
hawthorn – quest, trial
hazel (nut) – !!! – poetry, magic,  wildwood
hill – % – (isolated – authority, as part of group – NA)
holly – % – trickery
honey – see bee
horse – strength
hound – !!! – valour
hurley (stick) – youthful warrior
island – %
ivy – N/A
knife – N/A
knot (as opposed to “knotwork) – bind
knotwork – % (must be asymmetrical, ideally composed of 1 or 3 bands)
lame-ness – % musical ability
left-hand – see counter-clockwise
lightning – %
magpie – Druidic magic
mirror – reflect
mistletoe – N/A (this plant is
not native to Ireland)
moon – % – night, transformation
mouse – N/A (except as “little thing”)
mugwort – protection, dream messages
mushroom – N/A
nine – !!! – magic fullness
north (at) – N/A
north (from) – magic origin (not arrival)
nut (general) – wisdom
oak (common only) – hospitality, tradition
oak (sessile only) – law
one – N/A (although three, five, and nine relate to wholes)
one-eyed-ness (esp. left) – !!! – magic prowess
one-handedness (esp. left) – magic prowess
otter – % – (loosely Otherworld)
owl – %
ox – % – labour
passage grave – the Otherworld
pentacle – N/A
pentagram – N/A
phallus – %
pig – see boar, sow
pine – %
pipes (music) – %
plain – % – civilisation
plough (star constellation only) – Fianna, magical origin (see North)
plough (tool) – N/A
poplar – %
quartz – %
rainbow – N/A (rainbows are a common daily occurrence in Ireland)
raven – !!! – battle, death (% favourable)
red – !!! – war, political authority
right-hand – see clockwise
ring (finger only) – % – (on thumb  for King, middle-finger for Druid)
ringfort – authority
rose – N/A
round tower – N/A
rowan – !!! – protection, magic, rejuvenation
salmon – !!! – poetic wisdom, life-force
salt – N/A
scythe – N/A
sea – %-! – (only combined with earth/sky) binding/breaking the worlds
seven – !!! – hierarchy
sheep – N/A
shield – protection
ship – %
sickle – N/A
silver – authority
six – N/A
skull – N/A
sky %-! – (only combined with sea/sky)  binding/breaking the worlds
snake – N/A
solstice(s) – %
south (at) – N/A
south (from) – mortals (origin, not arrival)
sow – greed
spear – %
speckledness – !!! – Druidism, the Otherworld
spider – % (called “little wild ox”)
spindle (tree) – %
spiral – see clockwise, counter-clockwise
St. John’s Wort – protection
staff (only with “cane”-like handle) – power
stag (7-tines) – !!! – mastery, kingship
stag (other than 7-tines) – % – wildwood
star (in sky) – % – night (see also plough)
stone (small, etc.) – %
stone circle – %
stone, standing – % – memorial of glorious death
sun – % – (the sun is female in Irish)
sun-burst – Fianna
swan – !!! – Tuatha de‚ Danaan
swastika – N/A
sword – % – warrior
symmetry – stagnation, impotence
ten – N/A
thirteen – N/A
thistle – N/A
three – !!! – binding
thumb – %
thunder – %
tides – %
toad – N/A
tooth – %
torc – authority, freedom
tree – no meaning by itself, see by species
triangle – N/A
trident – N/A
triskele – see clockwise, counterclockwise
twilight (esp. evening) – !!! – the Otherworld
two – N/A (all even numbers are viewed as “weak” – see symmetry)
unicorn – N/A
valerian – health
wand (hazel only) – magic
water – crossing borders
waterfall – %
wave – %-! (“Ninth
Wave” only – eternal return)
weasel – the Otherworld
well (spring) – health, inspiration
west (at) – entrance (but doors were on the east – see east)
west (from) – N/A
wheel – N/A
white – barren-ness, empty-ness
willow – %
wind – %-!
woad – %
wolf – %
wren – hidden-ness
yarrow – health
yellow – !!! – thanksgiving
yew – !!! – primordiality, life/death

Copyright © 1985, 1986, 1988, 1994 Cainteanna na Luise (May be reposted as long as the above attribution and copyright notice are retained)

If you like the jewelry, all of them are live links and will take you to Avalon Risen, where they may be purchased… 🙂

Cormac mac Airt (son of Art), also known as Cormac ua Cuinn (grandson of Conn) or Cormac Ulfada (long beard), was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He is probably the most famous of the ancient High Kings, and may have been an authentic historical figure, although many legends have attached themselves to him, and his reign is variously dated as early as the 2nd century and as late as the 4th. He is said to have ruled from Tara, the seat of the High Kings of Ireland, for forty years, and under his rule Tara flourished. He was famous for his wise, true, and generous judgments. In the Annals of Clonmacnoise, translated in 1627, he is described as:

“…absolutely the best king that ever reigned
in Ireland before himself…wise learned, valiant and mild,
not given causelessly to be bloody as many of his ancestors
were, he reigned majestically and magnificently”.

The hero Fionn mac Cumhaill is supposed to have lived in Cormac’s
time, and most of the stories of
the Fenian Cycle are set during his reign.

Cormac’s father was the former High King Art mac Cuinn. His mother was
Achtan, daughter of Olc Acha, a smith (or Druid) from Connacht. According to the saga “The Battle of Mag Mucrama”, Olc gave Art hospitality the night before the Battle of Maigh Mucruimhe. It had been prophesied that a great dignity would come from Olc’s line, so he offered the High King his daughter
to sleep with that night, and Cormac was conceived. (Geoffrey Keating says that Achtan was Art’s official mistress, to whom he had given a dowry of cattle).

The story is told that Achtan had a vision as she slept next
to Art. She saw herself with her head cut off and a great tree
growing out of her neck. Its branches spread all over Ireland,
until the sea rose and overwhelmed it. Another tree grew from
the roots of the first, but the wind blew it down. At that she
woke up and told Art what she had seen. Art explained that the
head of every woman is her husband, and that she would lose
her husband in battle the next day. The first tree was their
son, who would be king over all Ireland, and the sea that overwhelmed
it was a fish-bone that he would die choking on. The second
tree was his son, Cairbre Lifechair, who would be king after
him, and the wind that blew him down was a battle against the
Fianna, in which he would fall. The following day Art was defeated
and killed by his nephew Lugaid mac Con,
who became the new High King.

In a story reminiscent of the Roman myth of Romulus and Remus,
Cormac was carried off in infancy by a she-wolf and reared with
her cubs, but a hunter found him and brought him back to his
mother. Achtan then took him to Fiachrae Cassán, who
had been Art’s foster-father. On the way they were attacked
by wolves, but wild horses protected them.

Cormac owned a wonderful gold cup given to him by the sea-god Manannan mac Lir in the Land of the Living. If three lies were spoken over it, it would break in three; three truths made it whole again. Cormac used this cup during his kingship to distinguish falsehood from truth. When Cormac died, the cup vanished, just as Manannan had predicted it would.

Cormac mac Airt is asked by his grandson Carbre “what were your habits
when you were a lad?” Cormac replies as follows:

I was a listener in woods,
I was a gazer at stars,
I was blind where secrets were concerned,
I was silent in a wilderness,
I was talkative among many,
I was mild in the mead-hall,
I was stern in battle,
I was ready to watch,
I was gentle in friendship,
I was a physician of the sick,
I was weak towards the strengthless,
I was strong toward the powerful,
I never was hard lest I be satirised,
I never was feeble lest I should have my hair stripped off,
I was not close lest I should be burdensome,
I was not arrogant though I was wise,
I was not given to promising though I was strong,
I was not venturesome, though I was swift,
I did not deride old people, though I was young,
I was not boastful though I was a good fighter,
I would not speak about anyone in his absence,
I would not reproach, but I would praise,
I would not ask, but I would give,
For it is through these habits that the young
become old and kingly warriors.

 

Sources:
Instructions of Cormac, § 7
The Battle of Mag Mucrama (translator unknown)
Geoffrey Keating, Foras Feasa ar Éirinn
Francis J. Byrne, Irish Kings and High Kings, Four Courts press, 2001, p. 65-69
Mairin O Daly (ed.), The Heroic Biography of Cormac mac Airt, Cath Maige Mucrama : the battle of Mag Mucrama, Irish Texts Society, 1975.
Standish Hayes O’Grady (ed. & trans.), The Panegyric of Cormac mac Airt, Silva Gadelica, 1892

(Editor’s Note: Archdruid Mareth has been a much-beloved member of OMS/RDG since Sept. 19, 2007. She passed on from this world on December 29, 2009, not long from her upcoming birthday of January 11. Although her time with us was short, she rose quickly through the ranks by her dedicate work and had just reached 7th Order – one of only a handful of Druids who have reached that rank in the Order of the Mithril Star! She served as Archdruid of her Middleburg, Florida Grove of the Ravenswood and performed her final ritual this past Winter Solstice. OMS/RDG has lost
a bright shining light and she will greatly missed by us all…)

The night
you left us
I saw an owl
It cruised the air right before us
A dark silhouette with a rounded face sliding on silent wind
As we drove
Headed home on a normal, everyday evening.
When the news came it scrambled my mind and all thoughts
Turned circles wondering why, how, HOW something
This unfair could happen.
We never think of those around us as temporary;
The assumption is that things will stay the same and time
Will seal things as they are
All the while the sands in the hourglass steal away, unknown
To blissfully ignorant us.
The night after, everything seemed
Far from usual and safe; I peered into a frigid cold sky
Shot full of icy stars glaring down and a near full moon,
There was a fairy ring, laid clear in a wide berth around
Framing almost the reach of the frigid three quarter sphere
And the universe breathed.

THE CRYSTALLINE GRID

There are three main Grids that operate through and around Earth; the first we will look at is the Crystalline Grid, which links the Crystals in the Earth. Where this Grid crosses are major portals, vortexes and dimensional doorways that connect the Inner Earth and Earth to other dimensional worlds, Stars and Planets in the Galaxy, Solar System and Beyond. The Crystalline Grid keeps harmony within the Earth plane and at the portals
links the Earth to the Stars and Universe to have harmony with our neighbours in space. Just us when the meridians are free and flowing and so we are in good health within our body and with other beings, so to with the Grids in the Earth. The Ancients were aware of this and so constructed Pyramids, Temples, Standing Stones, Stone Circles to align this energy with the Stars and Inner Earth and hold the beam as it were, as well as creating
dimensional gateways for beings to travel from other worlds. These beings are from different Star Systems, Universes and Worlds, and all have an agenda with Earth. Many of them having been here for aeons, or actually starting the story of life on Earth.

The Dragon people, who are part of the Reptilian story on Earth, along with the Snake and Lizard people, worked with the Crystals within the Earth to create the Crystalline Grid, this created life on the planet as we know it. They came to Earth from Altair when the Earth was still sonic winds, and so went and lived within the Earth, like many others in other Dimensions, generally 6th and 7th.

The Dragon people connected the Crystals around the Earth and
constructed endless tunnels with the Snake people. Crystals are electro-magnetic and the Grid that was created through their joining put out an electro-magnetic energy field around the Earth the drew moisture and then life started to gradually form as we know it. Because of the energy that this Crystal Grid gave off as Light, which is Life, life was able to be created with a more harmonious weather pattern, as the Earth stabilised and harmonised with the Sun and Planets. This created an environment that was then conjucent for many other Star people to travel to Earth to colonise  here, as they were now able to handle living on the surface and cope with the gravitational pull. Some ET’s have more of a story here than others but now everyone is back to sort it out as we merge with the Sun, Central Sun and Greater Central Sun, we are all completing this cycle and ready to move on,
beyond duality and the old dramas.

The energy vortexes, which power their civilisations, are in these tunnels, along with enormous stores of precious stones and metals. At major junctions in the Grid we have what you may call Dragon Liars or Serpent vortexes. This is the portal that holds the energy and has a great Guardian Crystal beneath it. These portals are spiraling vortexes that spin clockwise and anti-clockwise, this is how all energy moves in the universe and with anti-gravity from the Earth to the Heavens and with gravity from the Heavens to the Earth. This spiralling energy is Serpent Energy that is the life force; just as it flows up your spin as the Kundalini or in your cells as the DNA that hold the codings of the creation story. As the Serpent rises within us so to does our DNA activate the memory of who we are and we become our Body of Light. We raise our frequencies to the higher dimensional worlds as the Earth is also raising hers to become a fifth dimensional planet.
For some this is evolving way beyond the fifth dimension, at the portals are doorways into ancient civilizations that have moved into Light which are now becoming clear again as we make the dimensional shift.

The Crystalline Grid known also as Dragon or Ley lines is working on all dimensions. In first density you have the physical Crystals and mineral kingdom, these same minerals are within our bodies and the Universe. So the Grid links all the major portals of the Earth, through the Crystalline Grid which resonates in Divine Light and as a window of Light and a doorway between the worlds, linking with the Light Grid on the higher planes. So creatinga Gridwork on many dimensions, at major portals on this Grid Pyramids, Temples, Standing Stones and Stone Circles have been built. The Pyramids, which are all over the world, not just Mexico and Egypt hold a resonance of Crystal Light, even structurally Pyramids are built of Granite which has Quartz in it.

The Pyramids once kept the harmonious resonance with the Earth and
Universe, their energy working at higher octaves of Light and all of us who have parallel world connections with them are now like Pyramids of Light bringing back the harmony. As we become as clear as a Crystal we have a harmonised resonance with the Earth, each other and the Universe and Cosmos. So we become the Crystal or Pyramid holding the Beam, and creating a new Light Grid as we open our resonance to that of the Crystalline Grid that also runs through us. At this time on the planet a whole new resonance is being anchored through us as clear crystals and through into the Earth. As we become the transducer of the energy from Heaven to Earth, as we unify we marry heaven and earth within us.

THE LIGHT GRID

The Light Grid is in the Causal and Higher mental planes around the Earth as it links us all in our Higher/Inner Self, so this is fifth and sixth Dimensional. This Grid is used often when you meditate to connect with others who are ‘Lightworkers’ or whatever name you want to give to those beings who are here in service to assist in the change in cycle and are either placed around the Grid at different locations synchronistically to anchor in higher energies at particular cosmic events. Or who through meditation link and in their higher state of consciousness see and know all beings as whole, healed and divine. Thereby creating a higher level of consciousness to assist all humanity to make the shift. The shift is happening regardless of whether anyone wants it or not, just as day follows night, it is a cyclic event, a rather a grand one. This Grid connects everyone in their Higher/Inner Self level of being and often they are not conscious of what is happening as they work together often while asleep or through trusting in their hearts to go where guided on the Crystalline Grid to hold the energy.

The Light Grid is also where you travel in your Body of Light on a Soul Level and can move through higher dimensional doorways and through Stargates and different doorways to accelerate your own growth. As well as for service to others and the bringing in of higher octave codings of Light to be anchored on the Earth plane. This is where even on a personal level you can communicate to others Higher Selves for the resolution of conflict or difficulties or to give them assistance to heal themselves, as once their
Higher Self receives the energy it can be downloaded to them on the lower planes. This is where you work on what you may call the Inner Planes.

THE SOLAR GRID

The Solar Grid links the Golden Solar Discs around the planet, they hold the energy of the Central Sun and codings of Light that create life as we know it. They are also working at the frequency of us when we are unified and being the Creator Goddess/God of our true self, creating Heaven on Earth and working with the higher dimensional aspects of self as a member of the Council of Light, as the Golden Solar Disc is within our Heart, our Solar Self, one with the Central Sun. These Golden Solar Discs are still in higher dimensions hidden to the third dimension while humans still see Gold for power and greed, but are now activating around the planet, some have always been active and are linked in the Solar Grid that brings in the Golden Rays of divine love essence to the Earth plane.

Since September 1997 the Solar Grid has been activated from Tiwanaku,
ancient Lemurian site in northern Bolivia near Lake Titicaca that anchors the Sun God/Goddess. This has been able to happen since the Golden Solar Discs, one at the Island of the Sun in Lake Titicaca have been activated over years. They were fully operating in the last Golden Age and assisted the Earth to be aligned through its centre to the Sun, Central Sun and Greater Central Sun. At that time everyone was their Divinity, but still in more Etheric bodies, we are now doing this again, but this time in full physical bodies, and so able to complete our sacred mission, the marriage of Heaven and Earth through our body, our Body of Light.

In 1995 at the October Solar Eclipse the Councils of Light agreed to up the vibrations through the Discs, to the point where the Grid linking them world wide could be activated two years later. This is now the case, so the Solar Grid, which is a very high frequency Divine energy, is now operating again around the Earth.

We also have the Crystalline Grid, Ley lines as mentioned that are linked with crystals, rocks, standing circles or pyramids. As well as the Light Grids that link our Higher Selves to the Etheric Diamonds around the Earth that has been well in place long before we were ready to open to the frequencies of the Solar Grid.

This of course is running in conjunction with the fact that
we are almost completely at zero point, no magnetics and the
higher frequencies. Into No Time as we move fully into the 5th
Dimension and beyond. Once we had to go to a major vortex portal
for example the Pyramids, or Himalayas to move dimensionally
and become activated and awakened. Now days because the Grids
are flowing again, the energy is charging around the whole Earth
and even sitting in your living room you are experiencing the
higher energies.

In the late 70,s early 80’s I was in India up in the Himalayas at an active Golden Disc. I did not know it at the time, but loved living there in a small village with a hot mineral pool in a temple bath. I was not into ashrams or gurus so just walked and sat all day in the mountains. When I came back to the west I became a vegetarian, taught myself to meditate and do yoga, as well as deciding to train as a Naturopath and fully getting onto my spiritual path, instead of wandering. I was activated without even realising it, simply by being at this place. When I first started doing Grid work consciously years ago, my intention was that everyone would be able to experience that energy no matter where they lived. This is now very much a reality; by being in the higher energy field we naturally shift into that frequency.

PORTALS – DIMENSIONAL DOORWAYS

Portals are vortexes of spiraling energy points, like chakra or acupressure points in a human, this energy moves clockwise with gravity and anti-clockwise with anti-gravity. There are Crystals within the Earth there that receive and transmit energy, assimilate it and send it through the Grids, as well as storing, amplifying and focusing energy. They are aligned to our Solar System, Galaxy and the Cosmos, often aligning to a particular Star System and are Electric, Magnetic or have both qualities. The Electric vortexes are male energy, giving emotional and physical charge and stimulating the consciousness. The Magnetic are female energy, which enhances psychic perception and the sub-conscious, or Electromagnetic vortexes that combine both energies providing balance.

There are major portals such as Uluru in Australia, Mt Kailash in Tibet, Macchu Picchu in Peru, the Giza Pyramids in Egypt, Sedona in Arizona USA, Stonehenge in England as well as many other major as well as minor portals. Many of these are classed as chakra points for the Earth or for the particular countries that they are in, there are sometimes differences of opinion on this, but regardless it is better to stay in your Heart and trust what feels right for you. It is not necessary to visit any of these places, but often you may be drawn there in a Soul Travel or in dream state. These places do hold incredible energy, activate, and awaken those who travel either physically or in Soul Travel to them. This can often be the case when people are not spiritually awakened but go there, then years later when they wake up consciously they realise that by going to these places it had an affect on their energy field and consciousness and would have been part of their awakening process.

Some portals are aligned to different Star Systems and it is easy to access these when you are at one of these; for example the Mayans Pyramids at Palenque are a doorway to the Central Sun Alycone, at Coba to the Pleadian Star System on many different dimensional levels and also a starmap of this Galaxy. At the pyramid in Lake Coothraba in Queensland a doorway to Andromeda, the Giza Pyramids to Orion and Sirius. The Nasca Lines to many different Star Systems, at Kuringal Chase National Park, Sydney to Ophiuchus and Serpentine National Park, Western Australia to the Southern Cross. So accessing these doorways is very easy at the locations they are mapped onto the landscape on Earth, but when you are clear enough you can travel through these Stargates regardless of where you are.

Most portals will call you when the time is right, and if you honour this you will receive an amazing shift in consciousness, one place I wanted to go to; Armananth Cave in Kashmir, where Shiva and Pravati come down and anchor immortality on the earth plane never happened. I was in Kashmir in 1994, 95, 96 and each time I asked my inner self if it was appropriate to go, each time I got NO. The militants shot dead pilgrims the first two times and the last time they allowed the pilgrims to go, but a great storm came and landslides killed 600, the place definitely wanted to be left alone. Or like Uluru the first time I went in 1989 I was totally transmuted in the way I did my healing work with others.

Then on the Blue Full Moon and March Equinox 2000 I was invited by the Guardians again, made the star essence of the Southern Cross with some of the rock on the rock, then went walking over to the next location on it and all the tourist had gone, I was there all day on my own, these beautiful flowers growing on the rock called me over to go in the essence as well. Then the Aboriginal Woman on the inner planes called me over to this pool of water (it had been raining out there, which was very rare) and I was naked in the sacred water on Uluru for the Blue Full Moon and Equinox all on my own, I felt so incredibly blessed to be given this gift by the Guardians. So if you listen and go when guided it can have a profound affect not only on your life but also with your planetary service.

Some portals are doorways to Light Cities and on the Wesak Full Moon
May 2000 I was called to Muktinath 5,000 meters high in the Himalayas in Nepal bordering Tibet, as the Shambala energy came into the planet, this was a doorway for this to anchor on the earth plane. At other portals it may be time to return things for example one experience I had in 1996 was returning Moses Staff to the Sirian Light Ship in Kashmir at Moses Tomb. This was a very tricky situation as tourist were not allowed to go there due to the war going on, but I knew I had to, all my Kashmiri friends were convinced I would be killed or taken, but of course I got there against the odds with ease as I was supported fully with this mission in the higher dimensional worlds. Sometimes the energy may need to be closed, like the Pyramid in the Bermuda Triangle that was sucking in all the airplanes and ships into it. When on any of these missions it can only succeed when done
in alignment with Divine Will, allowing and in total connection to Source and the Guardians of these places, Councils of Light and all others involved on all levels.

There are also portals that are reopening like the Light City in Antarctica and being reactivated for the earth changes, or ones that are anchoring in vast energies for the changes like Tikal in Guatemala. Often there are Councils of Light that work at these portals, as they are dimensional doorways that the ground crew can access the energy and it can be downloaded. Often there are codings that need to be activated like the top of the Himalayas in Kashmir with the border of Pakistan and the Source of the Ganges with the Living Library of Light, these activations happen at Solstices and Eclipses and times when the energy from the Greater Central Sun can illuminate easily through the doorways to the Earth plane. Often codings from one place will be required to be linked to another by a ground crew person travelling the Grids doing this.

There are also new portals being made very active as we are now aligned
to the Second Sun and the Galactic Centre such as at Rainbow Beach Queensland and Lake Waikaremoana in New Zealand. Portals will also often have Light Ships or Mother Ships over them or they are doorways for ships to come out from the Inner Earth. Then there are the Serpent tunnels and these can only be traveled through when we are vibrating at a higher Light octaves, there are doorways into these tunnels at special locations such as the Potala at Lhasa, or through the Andes, or through India to Australia which are in a higher dimension and one can travel the tunnels through the Earth and into the Inner Earth.

There are also cities and civilizations under the Earth at certain locations such as Mt Shasta; these portals are often at sacred rocks or mountains. So these portals are doorways for many dimensional worlds that interface with the third dimension. Some of the very old portals are also now transferring their energy to other new energy places; this is particularly true of the Northern Hemisphere ones as the Southern Hemisphere is bringing in the
new energies. A lot of these old portals are still being fought over by beings still hooked into the duality dramas of Light and Dark, like the Sinai Desert or Iran – Babylon. Whereas the new energy portals operating in oneness and are hidden to most, as some people are still seeking to get something rather than being of service, trusting and holding oneness, so there is a major reshuffle going on at present and many astral dramas as this game of duality has its final throes. A lot of these new energy portals are not even sensed by people unless they resonate in unity with their being and all creation.

STONE CODE KEEPERS AND GATEWAYS

The codings of the Living Library which illuminates from the Central Sun of our divine selves at that level of frequency is stored in our DNA, the full codings are 40,000 strands, rather than 2 strands as an enslaved human body, they are also found in our bones and the stones and crystals of Earth. The Crystalline Matrix of Light that we are as we awaken to our Divinity, and
come from Love rather than Fear, we get Clear like a Crystal. The more we are clear the more we are able to access the full spectrum of the colour coding of DNA to our Christ Light Body.

We remember our multi-dimensional selves and higher purpose for being here on Earth. We open up our consciousness and expand our awareness, having inner vision, telepathic connection, awareness of other dimensions and worlds, and clear perception of the energies we are working with or are moving towards.

The rocks and stones also hold the codings of the Divine Blueprint, as do we. Earth was seeded from countless galaxies and civilisations and all the information was stored in Earth, in rock and bone, and we as humans hold the key to the gateway of our own Divinity. We are very incredible beings and our genetics when activated are amazing, when we come from the love that we are we realise we are a Hologram and we have created myriad Holograms of ourself as we experience the furthest extremes of our love in a human body on Earth. We realise we are the Earth, there is no separation
and what is the earth is us, even the Earth Changes are our changes so as we become at peace and unify in love the Earth also shifts in peace, its all up to us.

Many of the rocks, and this includes mountains, rock outcrops or hills, standing stones and steleas are often very active already, or are becoming activated again, as we merge into the higher dimensions and the veils begin to disappear. They are gateways through into the higher octaves of Light, Light Cities, Councils of Light, Light Grid and dimensions.

SOME EXAMPLES OF ROCK GATEWAYS

ULURU in the centre of Australia is one such rock. It is the Heart of Australia, and the Solar Plexus Chakra of Earth. There is a Mothership there on the Inner Plane Planes, and many soul travel there to clear their emotional bodies, open up to the higher frequencies, and receive new codings of Light. It is a major point on the Light Grid, focus and doorway for many beings in the dimensional worlds. Uluru is also a major focus for planetary healing and a portal that links all the Grids, it is the sort of place that calls you. If visiting in a conscious way of honouring and surrendering, with a willingness to change and open up to higher Light codings, then you will experience a transformation.

To experience the healing and transformational energies of Uluru, as well as assisting in the earth/gridwork and merging into the next dimension, you may not be able to get there physically but can visit anytime you like on the Inner Planes.

This is called Soul Travel and you can go there in your sleep, or while meditating or being still within. You simply go there, your intention takes you straight there, open up your awareness by simply trusting what you intuit is happening. You can do this as you go there awake, or the next morning after you have gone in the night. By meditating, simply align to Source through your Heart and Earth and see yourself there, trust what comes.
Or if you choose to go in your sleep then see all your Chakras spinning and Light, and have the intention of where you are going before you go to sleep. You may want to ask your Inner Self to assist or other Divine Beings. In the morning or when you get a chance, tune in and see what comes up for you about your journey. You can travel wherever you choose in this way, be it to the pyramids, a planet or star, Council of Light or Light City.

OLLANTAYTAMBO is an Inca sacred site in the Sacred Valley of the Incas in the Andes, Peru. There are many incredible examples of the power of these rocks, at one place on the site is a natural rock that is a doorway through into the Light City of AN. Which was a civilisation from another cycle, that is operating at higher frequencies of Light and Love. AN uses the symbol of the Sun and Moon, and all civilisations using these symbols are connected to AN. As the energies got denser AN went beyond the veil, into
the higher dimensions that appeared separate from third density Earth. Now as the veils are disappearing, as we once again merge with the higher realms, it is becoming easier to step through into these higher dimensions, or worlds within the Earth. The dimensions are no longer so separate, and we can walk through.

Alsoat this site is a Cosmic Computer Rock, it has been laser cut like all the others that make up the site, but is now away from the site and so not disturbed. When two friends and myself connected with it, having all remembered coming in from the Stars at one point when the site was created. My friends remembered building the site, and the knowledge of how all the water was channeled. There was a stone channel of water next to the rock that came down the hill. As the rock was activated the water started to flow uphill with antigravity! It stayed like that and felt incredible
to stand in. Next I laid down on the rock, my friends were standing on the hill above watching, and they said my body was moving, my head aligning to all the mountains around it. I felt completely stationary the whole time, but after making an attunement was shown the last cataclysm with the words very clear of how important it was that humanity get clear. Then I saw all the power places on Earth, one at a time, as they were realigned with the Cosmic Computer Rock. So called because on the higher levels it is a Golden connector of sacred geometry, and just like a Cosmic Computer, and major link in the Grid.

Some other examples are rocks that have been specially carved into code keepers, aligners and unifiers of Solar, Lunar and Stellar energies and their cycles, and of Divine Energy. Like the Sun God/Goddess at Tiwanaku in the Andes, Bolivia. Stonehenge in England, the Stelaes and Pyramids at the Mayan sites in Mexico and Guatemala. The statues of the Gods at Easter Island. Every country has pyramids and standing stones, a lot of these have
been hidden by time and deteriorated, more recently still hidden by politics and power dramas. Crystals both physical and on the higher levels in mountains like Macchu Picchu in the Andes, Mt Kailash in Tibet, the Crown Chakra of Earth, and home of Shiva and Pravati. The Himalayas, Abode of the Gods, and the Andes, which are also doorways to the Councils of Light. You will find in your own locality a hill, mountain or rocks that hold higher frequencies of Light, and are doorways and links in the Grid. These places you feel drawn too, and just being in their energy is a transforming experience.

We all have a strong connection to these inter-dimensional doorways; there will be a place on the planet where you actually came in the first time, and a portal you will leave from. Your Higher Self uses these energies for your purpose on Earth. Even when you were birthed into this body your Higher Self was able to utilise the energy of the local vortex near where you were birthed to anchor in your Higher Self and multi-dimensional energies. This portal is linked up to your own soul story and has the energies that are in harmony with your vibrations.

CONNECT TO A PORTAL AND TRAVEL THE GRID

This is a meditation to do at a place that feels energising or special to you. If you dowse you can check it out to see if it is a doorway, and if so which way the energies run, and where it is connected to on the grid. Most importantly just trust if you feel a certain place is right, it could be on top of a hill, at a river mouth, a certain place on the coast or in a valley or forest.

You may wish to take Crystals with you and make a circle, medicine wheel or any other sacred shape you feel guided. You may also feel to take, candles, incense, water, flowers, any other crystals or feathers, herbs, essences etc. Always trust what you feel to bring, if any thing at all.

Connect to Spirit, Earth, your Divine Self, the Source within
your Heart, and the Guardian of the place, Guides, Golden Beings,
and all Divine Beings in the One Heart, the Devas, Elementals…

Sitting with the spine straight, on the earth is preferable.
Relax and deepen…

Now imagine spiralling Rainbows of Light, with all the colours of the Rainbow. The Spirals are moving both clockwise and anti-clockwise, but do not be concerned if you cannot see this, just know that it is happening. The spirals of Rainbow colours move down and around your body. When they reach to the Base Chakra and connect to the earth, the spiralling energy then moves in through the Base Chakra. Feel, sense or know all the colours as they move up through the chakras, from the Base up to the Sacral, Solar
Plexus, Heart, Thymus, Throat, Third Eye, Crown. The spiralling Rainbow moves up through your centre and other chakras…feel and sense this…be with it awhile…As it reaches to the top of the head it flows out the Crown as sparkling White and Golden, Effervescent Light…Keep your awareness on the spiralling rainbows of Light still coming down from spirit all around you to the Earth and Base Chakra, then up through your centre and out the top…Be with this vortexing energy as it moves down through you and around you, then up through your chakras and Central Channel as you merge into the vortex…

Now become aware of the vortex within the earth you are sitting on as well…You open up to all the vortexing energy through you, and through the Earth where you are…This vortex takes you into the Crystal deep in the Earth where you sit…You merge into the Crystal and become radiant with Light through all your bodies….as you open to the crystal clear Light within the Crystal…the Crystal is singing and vibrating in harmony with you and the Earth…Connected to other Crystals through the beautiful Crystal Grid…You become aware of the crystalline energy as it moves out through the Grid around the Earth…the Earth is surrounded in this beautiful Crystalline Grid…This Grid links into all the Grids within the Earth and beyond the Earth, circling it in the ethers…all the dimensions and grids  are linked…sparkling Light throughout all…You allow Peace to be through the Grids and see all beings on all levels and dimensions open to their Divinity, Love and Peace…Then your Higher Self takes you to a special portal vortex somewhere on Earth…Trust what ever comes to you as you travel the Grid…Be aware of com ng up through the Grid and into the portal your Inner Self has brought you to…Notice the geography and  that type of portal it is. Is it a pyramid, stone circle, temple, standing stones, rocks, mountain, in the ocean, in a forest, at the coast, in a forest or by a lake or river?…It is
familiar to you, how does it feel?…

This place has a special connection for you, it maybe at your
home, nearby, a place you have visited before, or somewhere
that you may not have been in this experience…Become aware
of the place you have been taken too…feel the energy, sense
your connection…allow yourself to merge and let it take you
or show you what you need to experience now…How is this
place connected to you? Does it have a gift for you, or is it
helping you to remember something?…Do you need to be open
to its healing energy and allow it to flow through you?…Is
it important for your service on Earth, your mission in some
way?…Do you need to take on the codings and share them
elsewhere?…How is it connected with where you are now?…

When you have completed be aware of giving thanks to the place and Guardians and be aware of yourself back where you are seated…Feel the connection to where you are now, be open to whatever you are receiving, giving, remembering, completing…Be aware of yourself fully present in your body, or body of Light…

For more on the topics covered here please see Soluntra’s books, LIGHTBODY AWAKENING, GATEWAYS OF UNITY, INNER AND NATURAL HEALING, HANDBOOK OF RA, INNER PATHWAYS TO FUTURE NOW and JOURNEYS THROUGH THE PRISMS

SEE THE MANDALAS; SERPENT WISDOM,
http://www.evenstarcreations.com/IPview.htm

BEING CONNECTED TO THE DEVICE AND NATURE KINGDOMS – FLOWING WITH THE EARTH’S CHANGES. http://www.evenstarcreations.com/EMview.htm

Copyright © 2001 Soluntra King PO Box 11 Whakatane, Bay
of Plenty, New Zealand
Ph + 64 (0)212 967 517
Email: soluntra@evenstarcreations.com

Web site: http://evenstarcreations.com

Permission is given to copy and redistribute this article on the trust that the contents remain complete, all credit is given to the author and it is freely distributed.

You see,
I want a lot.
Perhaps I want everything:
the darkness that comes with every infinite fall
and the shivering blaze of every step up.

So many live on and want nothing
and are raised to the rank of prince
by the slippery ease of their light judgments.

But what you love to see are faces
that so work and feel thirst….

You have not grown old, and it is not too late
to dive into your increasing depths
where life calmly gives out its own secret.

~~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~~
(Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, trans. by Robert Bly)

Thousands of years ago, in an arctic land It was eeriely silent; perhaps an eagle would have heard the slight swish of the sled runners upon the snow, or the heavy breathing of the dogs. But there were no eagles flying today.

Standing in the back of the sled was a figure, clad in Fur Parka with the hood drawn about his face. His features were hard to discern for he wore a pair of slitted goggles.

The dogs pulled hard, and far in the distance, towards the land of warmth, the midday sun failed to rise above the horizon. A chill hung over the land, and the mist from the panting of the dogs and driver froze and settled after their passing. Ikituq had seen fourteen summers. His father and mother had patiently taught him all they knew, and soon … very soon, he would meet
the daughter of a neighbor. But Ikituq was not thinking about this. He knew his father was hurt. He had broken a leg on a hunt a moon ago, and now his mother, baby sister and father were huddled in the winter shelter without food. Ikituq had to hunt, and hunt for his life … and their lives. Responsibility
weighed heavy on his shoulders as he drove the dogteam on and on in search for something to eat.

In a land and time when years were not yet counted, numbered and recorded, Ikituq knew this time of the year as the Time of the Starving Moon. And indeed there was very little game afoot. If the spirits willed it, he would find something to eat and bring back. Otherwise, another day or moon would pass without food. But that was the way it was.

Ikituq spied something in the distance. He brought the team to a halt, and laid down in the snow. He took off his snow goggles and looked hard. That dark speck, was it a rock? Perhaps just a snowdrift around a willowbush? Or maybe a Tutu or Tutuvok? He peered hard, and discerned movement. Indeed, it moved. Now, Ikituq called upon the spirits to favor him. He drove the dogteam into a parallel valley, out of sight of the animal, whatever it was. He traveled upstream and cautiously neared the prey.

Stopping his team, he went uphill until the prey came into view. It was Tutuvok, the moose! The animal would weigh as much as his family and dogs together. If he could only get it! Ikituq could see that the animal was lying down, his day’s forage coming to a close in the fading light.

The animal laid in a depression that in summertime would be a creek. His eye followed the depression downhill, and there he could discern a small gorge or rocky narrowing. How could he use this knowledge? He thought hard, and the lessons of his father, grandfather and uncles came to him. He could hear their voices, and the voices of the land spirits urging him.

Ikituq went back to his dogteam and maneuvered them ever closer to the Moose, yet out of sight. He stopped his team and set out the ice anchors so they would not move and perhaps spook the moose. Very carefully Ikituq went uphill and looked again. There, perhaps thirty or forty spearthrows away was Tutuvok, lying down in the snow, his frozen breath like a slight fog around his nostrils. Ikituq watched for a while, and went back to his dogteam to plan and think.

An oil camp, present day Alaska

Richard stepped out of his private jet. He immediately noticed the cold,
foggy, clammy weather. The runway was wet, and the noise of oil rigs and machinery were all around. He stepped into a sheltercabin to wait for his ride to the village.

“What are you going to do?” Asked a roughneck.

“I have to fly to that Eskimo village and straighten things out,”
he replied. “I have to offer them jobs.”

“Jobs are good,” replied the worker, “its what the people want.”

Richard grinned, and his eyes sparkled with excitement. “Yes, its what they want, and what we want them to want.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we are here drilling for oil. We have to spend a lot of money to come up here, spread out our machinery, and drill for the oil. We need workers. We need technicians, cooks, maids, roustabouts,  errand boys, you name it. What we do is list all of these jobs and see which ones can be filled in by the local Eskimo villagers. You’d be surprised what some of them can do!”

And he continued, “Now, the thing is … the thing is that we need those workers. If we couldn’t get them here, we would have to bring them in from Tulsa or Dallas. But if we get them locally, it costs us absolutely nothing extra. And in return for not spending an extra dime, we can suck their oil right out from under their feet!” “But,” said the oil worker, “that is exploitation!”

“Not so. Once it is sanctioned by the government, or even the Native Corporations themselves, it is all perfectly all right!” concluded Richard. Just then, there was a commotion outside … a helicopter was landing. When it came to a stop, the pilot stepped outside and shook hands with Richard.

“The weather is bad over at the village,” said the pilot. “Anything we can do for you in the meantime?” Richard thought about this. The pilot and helicopter were his to command, and his name was law in this place.

“Sure, if we have time to kill, how about a hunt?”

As Richard rummaged through his luggage for the rifle he had brought, the pilot said, “We can’t hunt by helicopter. It is illegal. I can’t do that.”

“Listen you little good-for-nothing,” shouted Richard. “If I want to go hunting, I go hunting and you do as I say!”

The pilot, thinking about how flying jobs were to hard to get nowadays, and the mortgage on his house, and his pregnant wife, finally gave in. “Ok, we go.” And with that, Richard and the pilot got into the helicopter and traveled inland.

Long Ago

Ikituq finally decided on a plan. He put a few items in his backpack, and unlashed the spear he carried. This was a straight piece of wood, very rare in this treeless country. The tip was made of sharpened ivory. It was a bit longer than he was tall, and was very hefty. He had several spears, but this is the one he chose.

Approaching his favorite dog, he spoke to him. “Saaliuq, I am untying you. I want you to sit here until I call you. You are my best dog. You are not the leader, because the leader is my father’s dog, but you are my dog.” Ikituq petted Saaliuq, and drew a circle in the snow about the dog. “Stay!” Ikituq
said, “Stay!”

Now Ikituq walked and ran down the parallel valley. Sunlight was fading, but the moon had come out. The moon had a very powerful spirit, but Ikituq hoped that it would favor him tonight. Downhill and away from the team he went, and soon he was out of sight of the dogs. Saaliuq stayed as commanded, and none of the dogs barked. It was all right.

After some distance, he went uphill and looked. The valley that had Tutuvok was before him. The rocky ravine very close, and the moose a speck in the uplands lying down. Very carefully Ikituq went into the ravine. Ikituq now inspected his surroundings. The rocky cleft was quite narrow, perhaps three times his height across. On one of the rocky faces a starburst pattern of white stone shone in the moonlight. It was very beautiful, and Ikituq knew there were powerful spirits here. He bided his time. And after many breaths and heartbeats, the moon moved behind the rocks and all was thrown into darkness. Yet, the valley upstream was bathed in moonbeams and he could still see the resting moose.

Ikituq stood up, and at the top of his voice called: “Saaaaliuuuq! Cooome!” And up the valley the dog perked his ears, barked and charged down the hill. The dog, seeing the moose at that moment, chased him downhill wagging his tail and barking in joy. The moose would have nothing to do with the dog. Was this a wolf? Or what? So the moose also took off at a trot down the hill. The dog did not have a chance to catch the moose, so Saaliuq barked the louder, and the moose ran the faster.

Down in the cleft, Ikituq got ready. He could see the charging moose. The cold weather created the slightest of breezes coming downstream, and he knew the moose could neither smell nor hear him. He prepared a spot, pushing snow aside until the bare ground showed.

As the moose charged in between the rocks, Ikituq, whose eyes were accustomed to the dim light, leaped forward and put the heel of the spear into the ground. The charging moose was blinded by the sudden dark and could not see what awaited him. And he impaled himself into the strong, wooden shaft of Ikituq’s spear. The spear shaft snapped in half, but the work had been done. The moose fell, kicked, shuddered laid still.

Ikituq looked at his kill. When Saaliuq arrived he said “Saaliuq, my faithful dog, you have done your part. Let us eat of the heart, and thank the spirit of Tutuvok for giving us of his flesh, that you and I, and the other dogs and my family can eat and pass the time of the Starving Moon.”

And after the dog and master had feasted and rested, they went back to the dog team and brought them to the kill site where all ate in turn. The remainder of the animal was lovingly wrapped in his own hide and strapped to the sled. Ikituq drove home, and his eyes could see, in the distance, the faint twilight of the sun, the stars shining overhead, and was that a Raven
there in the distance keeping pace with him? Everything was right. The spirits had favored him, and the cycle of life would make another turn.

Alaska North Slope, present day

Richard poked the pilot. “There!” he said into the intercom.
“That looks like a moose foraging in the willows.”

“Yes, I see it, “replied the pilot. “But there is no place to land.”

“I can shoot it from in here,” replied Richard.

“Not really. The chopper vibrates too much. You won’t hit anything.”

“Well, look over there,” said Richard. “Look downstream and you can see that the valley narrows down to that rocky cleft. You can drop me and my gun off in there, and herd the moose to me with the helicopter.”

“A moose is very large,” said the pilot. We will not be able to fit it all in here with us.”

“I don’t care. I don’t want the whole thing. I just want the head and antlers! Look at the rack on that thing! They boys in Dallas will freak out when they see that hanging in my office!”

Not bothering to argue, the pilot dropped Richard off at the cleft. Richard could see that it was in shadow, and that he could hide from the moose there. So he waited, while the pilot flew a wide circle upstream and began swooping on the moose. The moose, alarmed by this flying contraption, went barrelling down the stream, towards the unseen but awaiting Richard and his .375 H&H Magnum rifle.

The moose got nearer and nearer. Richard was not an experienced hunter nor a good shot. But the moose was going to be so close that it would not matter. Once again, the superior intellect of a white man would get the best of moose, game or dumb villagers.

Just as the moose charged into the cleft, the sun peeked over the rocks, throwing all into brilliant light. Richard flinched and his shot went wild. He did not have time to work the bolt action again. The moose saw him and vented his wrath on Richard. The antlers gored him, and the hooves caved in his chest. The animal disappeared downstream away from the nagging helicopter sound.

Richard laid on the ground, and looking up at the rocky wall he could see a pretty quartz pattern that looked just like a starburst. “Well,” he said to himself, “I missed the moose but I can have some frikking eskimo workers come here and carve this out for me so I can hang it on the boardroom.”

And then, as the life ran out of him, darkness took his spirit and his dreams came to naught under the arctic sun.

Copyright © 2009, Ramon Gandia.

Author’s note: I wanted to write a story where perseverance, faith, spirituality and generosity meet –through the magic of synchronicity– greed, avarice, prejudice, materialism and narcissism. As I love and live in the arctic, I thought the judge should be the land and its timeless nature. I love this story, and I hope you like it too.

The Anatomy of the
Pagan 101 Book Phenomena

Editorial Opinion
by AthenaPrime

It’s pretty easy to smack out a Pagan 101 book because the formats of your basic 101 books are pretty formulaic. A good 101 book reads like a training manual, almost. You are given some concept material, and then a series of “job aids” to help you perform the tasks required. (Funny, but this is exactly
what I do for a living, except not for witchcraft–how weird is that?). Beyond that, you can load up on appendices with charts, tables, color correspondences, etc. and you have a pretty thick book.

Example: HappyBunnyWicca for Beginners by Pansy Moonfart and published by Lleweleweleweleweevil Press has the following chapters:

· Chapter 1-What is Wicca?
· Chapter 2-What are the Tools?
· Chapter 3-Who Do We Worship?
· Chapter 4-How to Cast a Circle
· Chapter 5-How to Perform a Full-Moon Ritual
· Chapter 6-How to Perform a Sabbat Rite
· Chapter 7-How to Cast Spells
· Appendix A-Colors
· Appendix B-Astrology
· Appendix C-Pre-Made Spells for Love, Money, and Protection

There’s a tried-and-true model out there that is guaranteed
to sell books. Much of the information in there is standard–it
is livened up by the writer’s style, voice, and personal slant
on things. But it’s still the same basic type of information.
Not to say all 101 books are the same, but they do cover the
same topics.

But as anyone who’s pursued an education knows, the higher-level  the course, the more expensive the book. For something as spiritual as this, a higher level book requires more subjective research, because you’re dealing with a lot more conceptual material, which is also subjective.

At the top of my wish list, I would like to see the following: A 202 book, written by a Regular Joe, that focuses on Pagan Living for Real People. Unfortunately, since we’re such a small culture, the minute someone comes out with a 101 book, they become an “expert” on the subject. For a spiritual subject, that indicates clergy, at least in some form.

So by the time her second book comes out, Pansy Moonfart is no longer a person who wrote a book about her faith and its practices, she is now a Pagan Celebrity. Her life revolves around going to New Age shows, astrally-projected book tours, and Pagan festivals, and managing her psychic services help line. She wears her ritual robe 24/7, doesn’t pour her organically grown cornflakes without consulting the tarot, and bakes crystals in her meat loaf. In between, she visits with a steady but relaxing stream of seekers who come into her living room and have tea and tarot.

I can no longer identify with this person. This person can no longer identify with most Pagans, who are still getting up at ungodly hours (or coming home at them), wash their faces with soap and water instead of hand-gathered pixie dust and lily dew, and spend too long of a grueling work day at computers, counters, on phones, etc. and guzzle coffee to stay alert. And who definitely do not have time to arrange a spell involving 90 candles, seven days’ worth of chanting, and several hours of quiet, healing bath time.

So Pansy’s second book, Navel Contemplation by Full Moon’s Light, comes out, and I hate it because it is of no use to me. Another useless celebrity graces the shelves….

Maybe one day, I will write that 202 book…As soon as I’ve finished collecting my lily-dew.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/ykdq2xj

Moving Beyond Pagan 101

by Faerie K.

In my experience beginner books do go through a number of subjects, but (necessarily, one could say, given the format) only deal with each subject briefly. There’s one bit of information on one subject, another bit of info on another subject, little bits on this and that. Nothing is dealt with deeply or explained thoroughly.

So, one of the steps for moving beyond 101 books is, and in my humble opinion should be, to take on reading books specializing in given subjects. That is, instead of reading about herbs from a 101 book, take to reading herbology books. Instead of reading about meditation techniques from a chapter in a 101 book, pick up books on meditation. Instead of reading just the few rows of info usually given about different deities, read books concentrating on a given mythology or deity, including non-Pagan (not written by Pagans, for Pagans) literature. You get the picture!

Don’t be afraid to pick up books that may challenge your own views. Give your mind some brain-fodder and let it work. You may very well end up with exactly the same thoughts as you began with, but at least you’ve put them through a thinking process. Oh yes, and read critically, even views agreeing with you fully.

Widen your horizons. The books you read don’t have to be about your religion, nor on religion at all. For example, critical source evaluation is a good skill to learn, especially because on religious matters you don’t have stone-set truths or facts… Get to learn about other religions as well. They may not do anything for you, but at least you won’t be ignorant about their teachings. 🙂

Then, besides reading, actually doing something is important. Develop your own ways of working magick, of doing rituals, of connecting to the deities and practicing your religion as part of your life.

I mention this, as lately I’ve been running into more and more new Pagans, usually Wiccans, who take time to specifically state that they don’t do magick or formal rituals at all. A few have stated it right out, but with many others I have read it in between the lines – they are a little afraid of starting to do things on their own, afraid of not being able to do things right and getting bad results in their ritual.

It’s called religious “practice”, not “perfect”, isn’t it? :o) If ritual is what you are intending and eventually wanting to do, put down the books and start practicing. The know-how doesn’t drop down one day from the skies, ready to
be used and used perfectly. You will need practice. Learning basic forms and basic spells is a good way to start,
but one shouldn’t be stuck with just copying. Even in formal ritual structures, there’s room for one’s own style. Experimenting with different styles and methods, developing your own style, gets your own practice further and gives it more personal (how should I say it…) power.

Don’t be too afraid to, for example, switch directions and elements, if those given in books don’t speak to you. You won’t be the first one daring to do that. Others have done it before and done it well. The authors can’t see where you are, or give usable examples for every location, situation and what have you possible. Again, use your mind.

Don’t be too greedy or try to get “there” too quickly. (Is there a “there” in Pagan paths?) Let yourself and your mind rest. Don’t do anything for a while, if you don’t feel like it. That’s not something to feel guilty about. There’s no use in burning yourself out — what good would that do to your deities?

Allow the knowledge you have gathered to mature in your head. It will mature, with your accumulating experience and knowledge. Things click into their places. Something you were absolutely,positively certain about at one point, may later be seen in whole new light and differently. Maybe a part of a larger whole you previously weren’t even aware of. I know I have been made to take a step back from my previous ways of thinking many times over, giving them a good shake and rethinking. Learn to appreciate the experience, not be crushed by it.

Things tend to seem much easier in the beginning. More simple, more clear-cut. Unfortunately, or fortunately, it depends on your way of thinking, life doesn’t tend to be that simple. Simple rules aren’t bad as such, but in real life situations, they often need adapting. So, adapt. Use your mind; it’s there for a reason. Don’t let basic or simple rules become your crutch, or something that disables you from functioning in a complex world. Watch, learn and listen, to others and yourself.

Make your religion an important part of your life, but don’t forget to have a life. You have probably met people of other faiths; people who have filled their life with their religion so much that you couldn’t be around them. Don’t become one of those people. It can happen and you will be as annoying to other people as those you had met were annoying to you 🙂 The same goes with fundie type thinking. It can creep up on you, if you don’t keep it in check. One-True-Wayism is often so much easier than all the other options!

Basically – live and learn! The Pagan path isn’t an easy one, and anyone who says it is, is incorrect.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/ye3gva6

One of the reasons for following a spiritual path, for taking that strange journey into the Self and into the world, is to discover the truth – the truth about ourselves and about Life. This is, in essence, the quest for enlightenment – for coming to an experience and a knowledge of ‘What Is’ as opposed to being ensnared by ‘What Is Not’ – illusion, samsara, untruth.

After the initial elation of setting off on the journey and discovering the wonders that are there for our exploration,
we come to a point where we encounter demons and dragons. The sun is hidden behind clouds, it rains and the wind blows. The journey isn’t that pleasant any more and we wonder why we began it.

From behind the clouds comes the dragon and we are faced with  a choice. Do we fight it, or flee from it? If we fight it, we may well preserve the status quo, but at the cost of burying the power that the dragon represents. At an individual level, this may mean that we repress and foolishly believe we have conquered our sexuality, or our greed, or our lust for power. At a collective level we may repress an awareness of the dragon force of the earth currents that run through the land. If instead of supposedly fighting and mastering the dragon, we flee from it, it will continue to haunt the woods and the hilltops or the sea – ready to harm us if we ever return there.

A third approach – the approach of both the ancient wisdom traditions and of psychoanalysis – involves befriending the dragon.

One of the purposes of vision questing is to do just this. In the Native American tradition you stay alone in a secluded place outdoors for at least three days. In the Tibetan tradition these quests occur for three day, three week, three month or three-year periods. In the Christian tradition isolated retreats have also been part of spiritual practice. In Lewes we can still see the cell inhabited by an anchorite hermit.

In the Druid Tradition, some groups call this practice ‘Hero-Questing’ for we are seeking the Hero Within. Sometimes these quests would have occurred in circumstances designed to create the effect of sensory deprivation – to which end trainee Bards would seal themselves in pitch black rooms and lie with a stone on their chest. The stone seems a strange prescription until we
realise that the Bards were making use of a technique well known to modern psychology – that of creating one over-riding sensory input in order to block out all others.

Nowadays we use ‘white noise’ fed in through headphones to the seeker in an isolation tank. Shamans use drumming partly for a similar purpose. After a while the brain becomes habituated to this one monotonous repetitive input and blocks even that out. A familiar example of habituation is that of a ticking clock – even though it may be loud, after a while we don’t perceive the ticks any more – our brain ‘hears them’ but stops bothering to pass the message up to our consciousness until it changes.

And once the over-riding input is blocked out we are floating free – free of experience coming to us through our senses. What happens then is that experience comes to us in different ways – rising out of our subconscious as strange waking dreams, flooding in from our superconscious as powerful experiences of elation and inspiration. We find we can slip free of our physical bodies to explore a realm in which dragons can either   great sea-worms rising from the mud to haunt us, or jewel-encrusted mountain dragons guarding caves which hold for us those secrets which will change our lives forever.

But hero-questing or vision-questing can also be undertaken not in isolated places of retreat – in caves or dark bothies – but whilst walking the old dragon-paths – whilst journeying from place to place. The outer journey then becomes a metaphor for the inner journey. The dragons that we find will then be either inner ones or outer ones – tied either to our souls or to the soul of the landscape we are exploring.

Lest we think, however, that we can befriend all dragons, we must beware – because there are dragons that are truly dangerous and are best left alone. We should not fall into thet rap, so well laid by modern psychotherapy, that seduces us with the idea that every repression can be lifted, every pain healed. It is an over-simplification to see evil as pain turned outwards as hatred. All we apparently need to do is fix the hurt and the evil will go away…but ‘fools rush in where angels fear to tread’ and the wise know that the stories of dragons are there to teach us that the guardians of the treasures of the soul if approached naively or at the wrong time will wound and damage us.

The individual and collective energies, complexes, call them what you will, that can be symbolised as dragons, are extremely powerful and can only be faced at the right time – and not before. And there are some dragons – demons perhaps rather than dragons – which are the result of evil thoughts and deeds and which only the gods can face without harm. But what are and were dragons?

Up on this ridgeway I look north towards the Weald – a
great expanse of lowland that lies beneath the Dun and which
continues until the North Downs again rise up to provide another
ridge of high ground. In the old days this was completely forested
and much is still woodland. Thirty miles deep from north to
south, from east to west it stretches across 120 miles of countryside:
from Romney Marsh in Kent to West Meon in Hampshire. At one
time this massive forest was called the Waste of Ondred, and
at another time the Forest of Anderida. The Venerable Bede described
it in 731 as “thick and inaccessible…a retreat for large
herds of deer, wolves and wild boars.”

And here, a little to the northwest just two miles from Horsham lived a dragon in the forest. In 1614 he was still alive – terrorising the neighbourhood. Described as being nine foot long with black scales on his back and red scales on his belly, the dragon “rides away as fast as a man can run. He is of countenance very proud, and at the sight or hearing of men or cattle, will raise his neck upright and seem to listen and look about with great arrogance. There are likewise upon eitherside of him discovered, two great bunches so big as a large football, and (as some think) will in time grow to wings; but God, I hope, will (to defend the poor people in the neighbourhood) that he shall be destroyed before he grow so fledge.”

Some believe such creatures were exotic reptiles that had escaped from private menageries or were fictions put about by smugglers who needed to keep ordinary folk away from their hideouts in the forest. The suggestion that dragon stories relate to a race memory of early man encountering dinosaurs cannot be correct, since 60 million years separate the final days of the dinosaurs from the appearance of humans on earth. Velikovsky believed that dragons were comets passing close to earth bringing disasterin their wake. Their bright heads and dark forked tails became the fire-breathing monsters of folk tales.

But to truly understand dragons and their relevance to the ancient traditions of this land, we need the help of Merlin.

Up here on the ridge overlooking the Waste of Ondred are two old dewponds – Red Lion Pond and White Lion Pond. Dewponds were probably being made up on the Downs as far back as Neolithic times, although some historians suggest they are of far more recent invention. A hollow would be dug out and lined with puddled clay and straw and then more clay – gradually building a waterproof lining to the hollow that would gather rainwater and the dew each morning. These dewponds have been maintained by local farmers to this day – although now, sadly, they tend to be lined with concrete. Why should one be called Red and the other White?
We are reminded of the story of Merlin’s boyhood when he and  his mother were brought before King Vortigern, the king having been advised to sacrifice Merlin so that his blood could be smeared on the stones of a tower he was trying to build. Geoffrey of Monnmouth in his Prophecies of Merlin, continues the story in this way:

“Merlin…approached the king and said to him ‘For
what reason am I and my mother introduced into your presence?’
– ‘My magicians,’ answered Vortigern, ‘advised me to seek out
a man that had no father, with whose blood my building is to
be sprinkled, in order to make it stand.’ – ‘Order your
magicians,’ said Merlin, ‘to come before me, and I will convict
them of a lie.’ The king was surprised at his words, and presently
ordered the magicians to come, and sit down before Merlin, who
spoke to them after this manner: ‘Because you are ignorant of
what it is that hinders the foundation of the tower, you have
recommended the shedding of my blood to cement it, as if that
would presently make it stand. But tell me now, what is there
under the foundation? For something there is that will not suffer
it to stand.’

“The magicians at this began to be afraid, and made him
no answer. Then said Merlin, who was also called Ambrose, ‘I
entreat your majesty would command your workmen to dig into
the ground, and you will find a pond which causes the foundation
to sink.’ This accordingly was done, and presently they found
a pond deep under ground, which had made it give way. Merlin
after this went again to the magicians, and said, ‘Tell me ye
false sycophants, what is there under the pond.’ But they were
silent. Then said he again to the king, ‘Command the pond to
be drained, and at the bottom you will see two hollow stones,
and in them two dragons asleep.’ The king made no scruple of
believing him, since he had found true what he said of the pond,
and therefore ordered it to be drained: which done, he found
as Merlin had said; and now was possessed with the greatest
admiration of him. Nor were the rest that were present less
amazed at his wisdom, thinking it to be no less than divine
inspiration.

“Accordingly, while Vortigern, King of the Britons was yet seated upon the bank of the pool that had been drained, forth issued the two dragons, whereof the one was white and the other red. And when the one had drawn anigh unto the other,they grappled together in baleful combat and breathed forth fire as they panted. But presently the white dragon did prevail, and drave the red dragon unto the verge of the lake. But he, grieving to be thus driven forth, fell fiercely again upon the white one, and forced him to draw back. And whilst that they were fighting on this wise, the King bade Ambrosius Merlin declare what this battle of the dragons did portend.”

Merlin then proceeds to utter a series of prophecies that begin with the overcoming of the red dragon (the British) by the white dragon (the Saxons) and continues by prophesying how the Boar of Cornwall (Arthur) will trample the Saxons. In an extraordinary sequence of powerful and often obscure images, Merlin predicts the history of Britain till the end of days, when the constellations of the Zodiac will cease to turn and the Goddess ‘shall lie
hidden within the closed gateways of her sea-beaten headland’. We shall return again to consider this prediction, but in the meanwhile why are the dragons white and red, and why are the dewponds here named after white and red lions?

The sacred animals of the inner world, like language, meet and
merge with each other – producing fabulous beasts that
portray features of the landscape both human and terrestrial.
The lions of heraldry and alchemy, that once in the flesh roamed
this land, are images of the zodiacal sign of Leo, of the sun
and of the element fire. Transformed into the winged lion, symbol
of solar light and the morning, we can see its closeness to
that other winged beast symbolising the element of fire –
the dragon – as if the noble lion has united with the
proto-dragon, the Worm – a creature famous in Britain
in such places as Lambton and Linton, and recognised in the
landscape at such places as Worm’s Head in the Gower.

Another term for the dragon, common here in Sussex, is Wyvern. This term comes from the old French, wivere meaning both the adder and life. And suddenly one of the key themes of Druidry is illuminated for us. The Druid term for life force is Nwyvre – an old Welsh word meaning energy and vigour. In common with Eastern symbology, the snake is seen in Druidry as the prime symbol of the life force that snakes both through the land and through us.

If we want to understand this life-force it is not enough simply
to discover it within ourselves – we need to discover
it in the world around us too – for we are not separate
from the earth, but a part of it. Here we find a contrast between
the inward-turning methods of the east, and the outward-turning
approach of the west – although both ways lead to the
same point.

Wivere derives from the old Gaulish Wouivre, meaning spirit, and this
became Vouivre in certain parts of France, where the dragon became depicted as half-woman, half winged snake – a fitting symbol of the goddess’ energy that snakes the land.

How beautiful it is that like Celtic knotwork both language
and symbolic animals interweave to show us the relationship
between ourselves and the land – between the dragon in
our own body and the dragons of the earth. Inner and Outer,
Self and Other, dance together as do the words Nwyvre and Wyvern
– the Druid Kundalini and the fire-breathing dragon –
the Kundalini of the earth goddess.

The purpose of both dragons, inner and outer, is the same. They
convey the creative fire, the fertilising breath that brings
life and abundance – both to the individual and to the
land. For all sorts of reasons beyond our understanding, these
dragons have been allowed to sleep.

But in the old days they were awake – and it was the old sage, the Druid or Druidess, who knew how to direct and utilise this inner and outer fire to creative ends. The quest for personal fertility – of ideas, of children, of song and music – and of earthly fertility in abundant crops – were united in the ancients, and need to be united by us again as we try to extricate ourselves from the wasteland we have created within and around us.

And it is in the two colours of white and red that we find the
clue to this fertility we need to rediscover: for white and
red symbolise male and female, sperm and blood, moon and sun.
Still to this day in somewhere as far away as Bulgaria, an old
territory of the Celts, everyone will be seen wearing small
pom-poms of white and red in March, in conscious recognition
of the coming Spring, and in unconscious recognition of the
Spring Equinox on March 22nd and of the need to unite the two
principles to create an abundant life.

~~ From The Druid Way by Phillip Carr-Gomm ~~

I have not really, not yet, talked with otter
about his life.

He has so many teeth, he has trouble
with vowels.

Wherefore our understanding
is all body expression —

He swims like the sleekest fish,
he dives and exhales and lifts a trail of bubbles.
Little by little he trusts my eyes
and my curious body sitting on the shore.

Sometimes he comes close.
I admire his whiskers
and his dark fur which I would rather die than wear.

He has no words, still what he tells about his life is clear.

He does not own a computer.
He imagines the river will last forever.
He does not envy the dry house I live in.
He does not wonder who or what it is that I worship.

He wonders,
morning after morning, that the river
is so cold and fresh and alive, and still
I don’t jump in.

~~ Mary Oliver ~~
(Evidence)

Many Holidays, Many Names

The word Ostara is just one of the names applied to the celebration
of the spring equinox on March 21. The Venerable Bede said the
origin of the word is actually from Eostre, a Germanic goddess
of spring. Of course, it’s also the same time as the Christian
Easter celebration, and in the Jewish faith, Passover takes
place as well. For early Pagans in the Germanic countries, this
was a time to celebrate planting and the new crop season. Typically,
the Celtic peoples did not celebrate Ostara as a holiday, although
they were in tune with the changing of the seasons.

A New Day Begins

A dynasty of Persian kings known as the Achaemenians celebrated
the spring equinox with the festival of No Ruz — which means
“new day.” It is a celebration of hope and renewal
still observed today in many Persian countries, and has its
roots in Zoroastrianism. In Iran, a festival called Chahar-Shanbeh
Suri takes place right before No Ruz begins, and people purify
their homes and leap over fires to welcome the 13-day celebration
of No Ruz.

Mad as a March Hare

Spring equinox is a time for fertility and sowing seeds, and so nature’s fertility goes a little crazy. In medieval societies in Europe, the March hare was viewed as a major fertility symbol — this is a species of rabbit that is nocturnal most of the year, but in March when mating season begins, there are bunnies everywhere all day long. The female of the species is super
fecund and can conceive a second litter while still pregnant with a first. As if that wasn’t enough, the males tend to get frustrated when rebuffed by their mates, and bounce around erratically when discouraged.

The Legends of Mithras

The story of the Roman god, Mithras, is similar to the tale of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. Born at the winter solstice and resurrected in the spring, Mithras helped his followers ascend to the realm of light after death. In one legend, Mithras, who was popular amongst members of the Roman military, was ordered by the Sun to sacrifice a white bull. He reluctantly obeyed, but at the moment when his knife entered the creature’s body, a miracle took place. The bull turned into the moon, and Mithras’cloak became the night sky. Where the bull’s blood fell flowersgrew, and stalks of grain sprouted from its tail.

Spring Celebrations Around the World

In ancient Rome, the followers of Cybele believed that their goddess had a consort who was born via a virgin birth. His name  was Attis, and he died and was resurrected each year during the time of the vernal equinox on the Julian Calendar (between March 22 and March 25). Around the same time, the Germanic tribes honored a lunar goddess known as Ostara, who mated with a fertility god around this time of year, and then gave birth nine months
later – at Yule.

The indigenous Mayan people in Central American have celebrated
a spring equinox festival for ten centuries. As the sun sets
on the day of the equinox on the great ceremonial pyramid, El
Castillo, Mexico, its “western face…is bathed in the
late afternoon sunlight. The lengthening shadows appear to run
from the top of the pyramid’s northern staircase to the bottom,
giving the illusion of a diamond-backed snake in descent.”
This has been called “The Return of the Sun Serpent”
since ancient times.

According to the Venerable Bede, Eostre was the Saxon version
of the Germanic goddess Ostara. Her feast day was held on the
full moon following the vernal equinox — almost the identical
calculation as for the Christian Easter in the west. There is
very little documented evidence to prove this, but one popular
legend is that Eostre found a bird, wounded, on the ground late
in winter.

To save its life, she transformed it into a hare. But “the transformation was not a complete one. The bird took the appearance of a hare but retained the ability to lay eggs…the hare would decorate these eggs and leave them as gifts to Eostre.”

Modern Celebrations

This is a good time of year to start your seedlings. If you grow an herb garden, start getting the soil ready for late spring plantings. Celebrate the balance of light and dark as the sun begins to tip the scales, and the return
of new growth is near.

Many modern Wiccans and Pagans celebrate Ostara as a time of renewal
and rebirth. Take some time to celebrate the new life that surrounds you in nature — walk in park, lay in the grass, hike through a forest. As you do so, observe all the new things beginning around you — plants, flowers, insects, birds. Meditate upon the ever-moving Wheel of the Year, and celebrate the change of seasons.

Source:

http://tinyurl.com/c9jjkb

BRING BACK THE SNAKES DAY
– CIRCA MARCH 17TH

by OMS Patriarch Sybok Pendderwydd

This day is the modern Pagan answer to St. Patrick’s Day. Legend has it that St. Patrick drove the snakes of Ireland off the island, never to return. Science tells us that snakes were never indigeonous to Ireland in the first place, so what then is the truth (and all legends have at least a wee bit of truth behind them) underlying this legend? Prior to St. Patrick, Ireland
had been a stronghold of the Pagan Celtic religion, and their priesthood, the Druids. One of the symbols of the Druids was the snake. So what the legend is really celebrating is Christianity become the dominant religion in Ireland, once the snakes (Druids) were driven out.

For about the past thirty years, beginning with Pagans living in California’s San Francisco Bay area, raucous parties have been held, celebrating the return of the snakes – snakes in this case not just representing the Druids, but all the Pagan religions of old. The most common format has the party taking place at a local micro-brew pub, and hosted by an mc, who is usually a local Priest or Priestess from the Pagan community at large. Generally these have been bardic like affairs, with a featured musician or band, and with members of the audience participating in a kind of open-mic, offering songs, poetry, stories or demonstrations of prowess. Sometimes prizes are awarded for the best offering. Back when I was living in Santa Cruz,  the party was well advertised, and Pagans from miles around would flock in. The practice was to collect a cover fee from anyone not appropriately dressed in what is considered Celtic costume (usually just Ren-Faire garb). A snake (real or toy) would also grant you free admission.

Isaac Bonewits has written a song celebrating the fest, appropriately named “Bring Back The Snakes”:

(To the tune of “My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean”)

‘Twas on a bright Midsummer’s evening,
An old woman I chanced for to see.
She grabbed both my shoulders and shook ’em,
Saying, “Bring back the snakes to me!”

Bring back, bring back, bring back the snakes to me, to me;
Bring back, bring back, O bring back the snakes to me!

“My land was a jewel most blessed,
My people both happy and free,
Till the preachers came in with their crosses,
And drove all the snakes out to sea.”

Bring back, bring back, bring back the snakes to me, to  me;
Bring back, bring back, O bring back the snakes to me!

“Yes, ‘snakes’ was the word that they used then,
For the masters of all druidry,
Whom they murdered, converted or banished,
As threats to their new tyranny.”

Bring back, bring back, bring back the snakes to me, to me;
Bring back, bring back, O bring back the snakes to me!

“Now it’s past fifteen centuries later,
The results now are clear for to see;
Ireland was better off Pagan,
So bring back the snakes to me!”

Bring back, bring back, bring back the snakes to me, to me;
Bring back, bring back, O bring back the snakes to me!

Then the old woman’s face started changing,
Every country and race I could see.
She said, “All lands are better off Pagan,
So bring back the snakes to me!”

Bring back, bring back, bring back the snakes to me, to me;
Bring back, bring back, O bring back the snakes to me!

(click here to read part two)