Minnesota Pagan News & Resources » Path & Practice

EarthHouse Midsummer Gather Memories – 2011

Jack Green — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 19:50:37 +0000

EarthHouse Project’s 11th Annual
Midsummer Gather for 2011
Litha 34,255 S.W.R.
By Rev. Jack Green of Hollow Hills Coven

If you like Labyrinths or home brewed mead this is the place to be. If you don’t mind camping in drizzle and lots of earwigs visiting while you’re hanging out with a bunch of pagans and singing, drumming and dancing around a roaring fire, then this is it. Jenny Green and I left Paganistan for the Blue River and Eagle Cave on Dyad 19, the 19th day of Dyad Moon (that’s Sunday, June 19th in the Roman calendar.) It took about 5 hours to get to the campsite. We had done our Esbat, our Full Moon rite the night before (Saturday) but the Full Moon was on Dyad 15, Wednesday June 15th three days before. It’s always on the 14th or 15th day of the Moon when you start the day count at New Moon so we circle on the nearest Saturday.

The Campsite and it's History

Eagle Cave is in Southern Wisconsin (An Ojibwe word) in what was Dakota Country around 1600, then Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) Country by 1800. By 1860, what was left of the First Nations after the wars and the plagues were all pretty much rounded up and corralled onto the various reservations. The Nearest Reservation is the Ho-Chunk Rez about 70 miles almost due north. Despite Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s modern depredations the names of the land itself still tell the story. The old native tribes are now numbered with our spiritual ancestors and our future allies for though we are only Second Nations here we are the First Nations reborn in the Old Country: Europe.

Practicing the Abbot's Bromley Horn Dance

Settling in at the Campsite

Once there, we set up our camp. It had been a while since we had been camping and it took a bit to get my woodland legs back. Fortunately, the EarthHouse registration packet included a list of things to bring. Unfortunately, we got there just as the opening ritual had begun, so we waited until the gate was again open. Then we pitched our new tent and borrowed a tarp for our sheltered area. The brand new tent was larger than we thought so we used two tarps underneath rather than just one as planned. The community fire was already going and the first night’s drumming had begun by the time we finished our set up. This is the same overall site as the old Pagan Spirit Gatherings I had attended in 1988 and 1996 and it was just as hilly so my legs and ankles got a good work out. While finding a relatively level spot for the tent was tricky, it was possible.

Jenny and I attended some workshops together and others separately to better cover our bases, but we couldn’t see everything we wanted to. We were frustrated we couldn’t get going right away, but it had rained the night before, and it was very difficult to start a fire. We finally got a fire going and had a late breakfast and I finished setting up our campsite while Jenny went to a drumming workshop. It was pretty rainy and misty until Thursday and we had to use our rain ponchos a couple of times. The rest of the time was quite nice and sunny. We got to star gaze a couple of nights and I gave some informal star walks. On Friday night Jenny and I saw the International Space Station pass over. It moved like a satellite but it was much brighter. Now that it’s finished some people say they can see its oblong shape. Godspeed to the heroes who have died trying to open up the next frontier not just for humankind but now for All Gaian Life.

Pagan University

In addition to a series of workshops and kids programming, there was Pagan U or Pagan University which focused on more advanced topics and I was asked to do a session on Pagan History. These classes were generally right after morning meeting and the first one was an Herb Walk and Plant Identification. Presentations included Ecological Restoration, a Spiritual Perspective which involved a hike in the local woods on Monday with Chris. Divination: What, How and Why on Tuesday and To Know, To Dare, To Will, To Keep Silent on Wednesday, both by Estelle Daniels. Thursday’s was Understanding the Labyrinth with Mama Cat and my Pagan History was on Friday. While I did get to explain the broad sweep of the topic, the detailed discussion only got us up to Stonehenge and the Megalithic Tribes.

The feasts and the music shows were awesome! The Midsummer Feast on Wednesday, 22rd Day (June 22rd) of Dyad Moon was huge and we made turkey chili for the vast potluck collection and the Barbarian (camper’s leftovers) Feast on Saturday, Dyad 25, June 25th. (Note: it is quite rare that a Roman Month such as June starts on the day of the New Moon of a lunation like Dyad Moon so Month and Moon days match up but it does happen. When it does you can often get several moons in a row that do it, like the next moon: Buck . . . it was just as big)

Smiley Face in the Fire

Music, Ritual and Other Wild Things

The musical guests were great too: “Folk Magic’ played Wednesday night. On Friday, the 24th Day of Dyad Moon, Cat Gut did a violin concert on that put us in the salons of 18th Century Europe while we lounged in a 21st Century Wisconsin forest. Amazing. Jenny and Bear sang folk songs afterwards, including a few requests. That night the amazingly talented Cat Gut also gave us an awesome fire-spinning show during the drumming and dancing of the community fire circle. (See above photo). The previous evening, Cat was practicing with her light spinning LED wands that created a number of very interesting optical effects, but my camera’s batteries were dead at that point.

The Rituals are of course what a lot of folks come for. The Chocolate ritual on Monday was funny and tasty. The Summer Solstice rite on Tuesday was not the usual celebration of the union of the God and Goddess, but more of a magical rite on what we wanted to get rid of in our lives. Wednesday was the Midsummer Feast and Thursday Mama Cat led a Labyrinth Walk. There was a closing ritual on Sunday, which we attended as we were packing up. We made sure to get as much contact info as we could from our new friends before we left.

Nature and the local wild life as usual had it’s own agenda. In addition to the mists and rains in the first part of the week, we had a startling large number of earwigs getting into every nook and cranny; plus gnats that well, bugged us. There were tons of birds of all local species. Skunks patrolled for trash at night—I could hear their little growly voices at times. A Barred Owl debate woke Jenny and I up around 3:00 AM Thursday morning. We think they were arguing about territory as the screeches came from two different sides of the tent.

EarthHouse Midsummer Gather was a blessed relief from Mundania, the Muggle World. I still get a little culture shock after every pagan gather but the spiritual recharge is well worth it. After the gather, Jenny wanted to somehow to make our alarm clock say “It’s Coffee and Hot Water too!” just like the morning call of Rick’s Café and the village herald we were greeted with each morning at 7:00 AM. All in all it was a great, engaging weekend and we had fun relaxing, meeting new friends and reconnecting with old ones as we ‘recharged’ our pagan batteries.

Faery Seers in Minneapolis

Jenny Green — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 21:18:10 +0000

This past weekend here in Minneapolis, several people filed out of their driveways through the snow canyons the streets have become to converge in Uptown to learn to be Faery Seers. One associates faeries with green and growing things, not with the white mounds that mark one of the snowiest winters on record. But like my companions, I was excited to learn about these teachings offered by Orion Foxwood.

I signed myself and my husband up for the course as soon as it was announced last fall. We had just begun the process of forming our first coven after years of working with other groups. With his intensive studies of the Stone Ring peoples and my intuitive work with the Faery, we dedicated the Coven of the Hollow Hills at Mabon. Learning the Faery Teachings was simply acting in accord for us as we began our journey.

As a two day workshop, I expected a certain level of intensity as I immersed myself in the experience. I was not disappointed, as Orion is a charming and informative speaker, he began by telling us a bit about the Faery Seer work as he was taught it. I filled page after page with notes, and we learned some wonderful exercises. His teachings are less about connecting with the little spirits in nature than about the Shining Ones or the Gentry. Tall and majestic they are the faeries of light and enchantment who work with humankind to maintain a balance on earth.

This is considered the first of many Modules to come which would work with the system of the Tree of Enchantment which is in second book. It has been compared to a western kabala with nine keys. I wasn't expecting a Cosmology with this, which is what I get for not reading the book ahead of time. By the end of the first day, I had so much information that I could not process it all.

There were a few points during the day that Orion played some music for us. For me the worst one was the song You Are Loved by Josh Grobin, who really is just a glorified choir boy, and I found the song to be a gross interruption in the teaching. My heart belongs to folk music, both ancient and modern, and it was sad to see this as part of what was supposed to be a folk tradition class. He totally missed the mark with this.

There was some energy work we did, with movements that were kind of like Tai Chi. Working with breath, movement, and intention in a group like that was a quiet blessing, and I wished that the first day had had more of that. We were all very tired by the end of the day.

Sleep came easily and heavily, and the morning found us stopping for some Gatorade and other snacks to keep our juices flowing for Day 2 of the workshop. During the first day we were introduced to working with and seeing ourselves as co walkers. As in the Feri tradition founded by Victor and Cora Anderson, and the Huna tradition by Max Freedom Long, the Faery Seer Tradition has three aspects to their souls called walkers. I won't get into the details of it all, as it is all in the books by Orion Foxwood, this was strange for me work in this way, as I never had a problem slipping into Faery during meditation.

On the way to class the second day I felt a little bit wary, because while I did learn some useful things the first day, it was not at all what I expected. But the second day proved to be delightful, and things were starting to click. Again pages of notes were taken, and an understanding of what a Faery Seer was started to become more clear. It is less about seeing the realm of faery, than about working with it.

At one point we went out into the store and Orion pointed out some books that he recommended. R.J. Stewart is his teacher, mentor, and publisher so naturally all of his books were recommended. For folklore he recommended The Fairy Faith by W.B. Evans-Wentz and Meeting the Other Crowd edited by Eddie Lennihan. No mention of anything by Brian Froud, who is so clearly the greatest Faery Seer of our time. He missed the mark with this as well.

Still, two misses during two full days of workshop is not a bad track record. He works with his Faery Wife which is Brigh, a faery queen, who made her presence known there and bestowed on all of us a blessing at the end. There are some wonderful aspects to the workings we learned. Overall it just didn't feel like the Faery that I know and love, but the techniques will be very useful to me and the Faery Folk that I already work with. Maybe someday I will meet the Queen of my faery troupe, it will be good to do so.

The Bright Lady of Imbolc

Veronica Cummer — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 22:51:02 +0000

Even as Yule is a sabbat about hope and the return of light, so Imbolc or Candlemas is also a festival of fire and light. Whereas Yule may be better associated with fire of the Sun, light, and life (often symbolized by a child), Imbolc is more properly a celebration of the fire of creativity, of enlightenment, even of revelation. If Yule is birth, then Imbolc is rebirth, the awakening to inner knowledge and the forging of body, mind, and spirit required to hold the bright spark of the divine. It is not so much the fire of the returning sun, but of home, hearth, and the fire within.

Many pagans venerate Brigid or Breed at this time, Brigid being a Goddess of poetry, prophecy, the forge, and of healing, among other things. Her association with fire can be seen in how She may be depicted as a pillar of fire or having fire on Her head, the same sort of "tongues of flame" that was said to have descended on the Christian apostles and meant they were imbued with the Holy Spirit, a spirit that some equate with the feminine and who is sometimes even called "The Lady." She is the spirit of divine truth, which must then also be named enlightenment or gnosis.

A sign of this is often shown as a "halo" or circle of light above or behind the head of someone who has been "sained," or made holy. Oddly enough, another way that Brigid is depicted is with a serpent coiled around Her head, a creature long linked to eternity, rebirth, and knowledge. Serpents have a long association with various ancient Goddesses and also represent fertility. Brigid's serpent is no different, and if you make a Breed's Basket for Her, you could just as well put a serpent in it as a wand or other phallic symbol.

Serpents may also be depicted as dragons and both are traditional guardians of sacred treasure troves that contain the riches of mystery and knowledge. Old stories relate how special dragons or great serpents have stones in their heads and, if you can slay the creature and take the stone, you will be granted immortality or divine wisdom. This stone is most probably related to the great Emerald said to have fallen from the forehead (third eye) or crown of Lucifer. Despite the negative press He has been given for many years, Lucifer's very name stems from light and He is still known to some as the Light-Bearer who brought divine fire to the Earth. This Emerald may be also equated to the Emerald Tablet, from which the phrase we all know, "as above so also below" descends.

These then are the tongues of flame, the sacred doves of The Lady, the serpents or dragons of fire that bestow knowledge at Imbolc, as well as fertility, creativity, and resurrection. This is the forge of Brigid and of Tubal Cain on which we are remade for the light within. This is the whirling flame into which we can descend and come to speak with the voice of the divine, whether as poetry or prophecy or in the form of charms and spells. This is the treasure we seek, the gems of insight that can inspire not just ourselves but our community.

To make an altar for Brigid or to celebrate Her in ritual at Imbolc, you can use not just lit candles then, but dragons, serpents, emeralds and other gleaming gems, white doves, whistles (used to call Her during rituals), water from a sacred well, eggs (symbolic of both new life, the birth of the sun, and of Logos itself), and beer or ale. Writing a poem in Her honor would also be most appropriate.

Ritual Blessings and Blunders

MomHen — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:59:52 +0000

by MomHen

Public rituals are special beasts.

I use that term deliberately.

A ritual has its own life: It makes demands on those who would shape it; it rewards those who contribute to it; it has a beginning, a middle and an end, just as any living being is born, develops, and dies; it establishes a relationship to every being involved, tangible or not.

Discounting the childhood Catholic masses and the ~1000 weddings I’ve photographed (which, let’s face it, are very ritualistic), I’ve been attending rituals, mostly pagan and both public and private for – OMG it’s been twelve years! I’ve played many roles in those rituals from rookie to elder, participant to High Priestess (High Priest in a couple). I’ve been assistant, conduit, shill, cheerleader, battery, fool and guardian. I’ve been privileged to witness some awesome rituals and have endured some that (for me) fell completely flat. But whatever happened, I can truthfully say that I’ve learned something from every ritual I’ve attended.

In a closed/private ritual, you-the-ritualist (presumably) have at least a working familiarity with each of the expected corporeal (and incorporeal) participants, and design the ritual with the attending sensitivities and requirements in mind. The folks involved in the ritual (including guests) are familiar with the particular etiquette, have been schooled in the traditions and many have even rehearsed/performed the ritual. If this set of beings have been working together for some time, many of those considerations become taken for granted in the writing of the ritual.

In a public ritual, however, you-the-ritualist have no such assurances and cannot afford to make any assumptions. You may be dealing with veterans and newbies, traditionalists and eclectics, folks who may know more than you do and folks that literally have no clue, folks who have physical or mental abilities or disabilities, sensitivities and triggers. While it’s impossible to think of everything , you must make a strong effort to do so, and be prepared for all possibilities and/or at least have an “exit strategy.” This means they-who-run-the-show must be able to think creatively, be able to roll with whatever “punches” are dealt to them, and be able to handle any kind of energy that is thrown at them.

Some of the pitfalls, perhaps most of them, can be mitigated by proper design, prudence, and communications. I offer these suggestions for those who wish to present public rituals.

Communicate.

Except for nagging, there is no such thing as over-communications. Of course you’ll tell folks the date, time and address. But also include:

· a general idea of the working (celebratory, meditative, somber, evangelical) or focus

· age-appropriateness (child-centered, -friendly, -tolerated or adults-only)

· a clue about its tradition (Gardnerian, Dianic, Feri or Wiccan-Shaman-Druid)

· directional resources (phone#, links to maps)

· parking, accessibility or transit considerations

· preferred attire

· suggested monetary donations, if any

· contact information for additional questions

· a reminder to be diet- and allergy- respectful (fragrance-free, labeled foodstuffs)

If possible (if the advertising media permits), provide additional background material to prepare your participants for the experience. For instance, if you’re planning a Samhain ritual, let them know what kind of food might be particularly welcome, and the symbolism that you will be using, perhaps the mythos behind your story or the basic concept of your working.

Prepare your participants.

Shortly before your ritual, consider presenting a 5 or 10 minute orientation session for those who have never been in ritual or don’t know what the Sabbat’s about.

Appoint/recruit someone who can play host and bring the newbie-off-the-street into line for the ritual. NOTHING will kill your momentum/energy quicker than someone demanding to know WHY you’re flicking salt-water at folks, or why you’re waving that sword around. Be certain that the new folks about to enter your circle know that they’re coming into a space as sacred to us as any church, mosque, synagogue or temple.

Also, in the interest of avoiding incidents in the middle of ritual, consider announcing before the ritual: what incense will be used; what’s in the cakes and ale, who to look for if they need assistance, how/where to exit the circle if needed.

Prepare yourself and your assistants.

Critically and realistically assess the public-presence talents and capabilities of those conducting the ritual. Rehearse at least once to get the logistics and choreography worked out. Do not expect everyone to get everything perfect, and be tolerant of cue cards and crib sheets.

Disclaimer:

I’ve only got twelve years of exposure, and fewer years as ritualist under my belt. Many folks in the community have thrice that and more. This is intended as a reminder for those who already know this, and a checklist for those who are just learning.

Northern Dawn Slates Guest Ritualists for 2010

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:21:53 +0000

This article was forwarded to us, and we thought we'd share . . .

For the past 27 years, one of NordCoG’s major goals has been to serve both our gods and our community by providing incisive public ritual four times a year.

But lately it’s become clear that something has changed. Attendance at rituals is down, and increasingly it feels as though we’ve lost the creative edge we once had.

So this year, we’re trying something new.

Under the overall artistic direction of veteran liturgist Steven Posch, Northern Dawn has invited several of our most gifted local ritualists—Paul Rucker, Stephanie Fox, Robin Grimm, and Magenta Griffith—to create our roster of rites for 2010.

In preparation for each sabbat, one of our guest artists will work with community volunteers to craft and enact the ritual. This should not only provide us with some topnotch ritual, but will give us all an opportunity to work alongside, and learn from, some of our community’s most creative and experienced priests and priestesses.

Lighting up the dark nights of Oimelc 2010 will be visionary artist Paul B. Rucker’s “Welcome, New Fire: The Rite of the Three Bredes” on Saturday, February 6 at Newell Park in St. Paul (http://mn-stpaul.civicplus.com/facilities.aspx?search=1&CID=1&pagenum=4&RID=76&Page=detail for more information).

If you’d like to get more involved with the ritual itself, come to the walk-through and rehearsal on Sunday, January 24 (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=248916736543&index=1 for more information).

“I’ve been percolating this ritual for years,” says Rucker. “It takes its inspiration from the first genuine drawing-down that I ever witnessed, at a NordCoG Oimelc in the mid-80s. ‘Three Bredes’ will be primal, experiential, and iconic, accessible to neophytes but with the depth to satisfy the experienced.”

Upcoming events (tentatively) include: the Marriage of Leaf and Horn (Bealtaine), The Passion of the Harvest (Autumn Equinox), and the Rite of the Three Crones (Samhain).

Omega Artworks Rises from the Ashes

Jane Hansen — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:53:04 +0000

Like many people in Minnesota, I bought my Athame at the Minnesota Rennaisance Festival years ago. It is a true piece of craftsmanship. Unfortunately, these folks were unable to continue to have a booth at fest, and we were without a supplier of custom ritual blades. Well, the good news is, that this year (2009), they are officially back doing custom work through an online store. Of course, we have added them to our Artist Website Links. Here's the description from their website:

Omega Artworks is owned and operated by Gary and Suzy Zahradka. All work is done by us in our studio in St. Paul, Minnesota. For over 25 years we have been designing unique and original swords, knives and sculpture. We offer a wide range of options for custom designed swords and knives, but also maintain an inventory of items you can purchase today!

Our objective is to combine beauty with functionality — to create a work of art that is beautiful to the eye, thrilling to the hand and inspiring to the imagination. As you look through our website let you imagination go, then contact us and let us know what you are thinking.

We're thankful to see they are working again!

I also have to mention that there is also a Pagan Forge which has been firing up the forge, training up apprentices, and creating ritual tools which you may have seen at various festivals or at Pagan Pride. Founded and guided by long-time priest and smith Ken Ra, it's called Underhill, and we will be doing a full feature on them in the coming months.

Stitch by Stitch

Jane Hansen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:33:21 +0000

I have a partner who knits. She's been working on this gorgeous black and silver blanket for the better part of a year. She doesn't knit fast, in fact, she doesn't even try improve her speed. For her, the reward is to know she is actively creating something while watching a movie, or sitting and talking. Each stitch takes her closer to her goal, but although she will use the blanket when it is done, that's not what it's about. As soon as she is done, she will start another. She always has to have a project going. I heard someone ask her once why she doesn't just go out and buy a blanket. Why waste the time and effort that goes into knitting?

The answer was simple: Not knitting would have felt like a waste of time. I want to be clear that the motivation here is not to be a mindlessly productive multi-tasking achiever. Remember, she does this really slowly. I think it's much more than that. I think to know that the blanket is truly hers, each and every loop, provides an added layer of value the materialistic and instant culture we live in just doesn't seem to get.

She's not focused on the result. She's focused on the action. She did not just say "let there be blanket" and there was blanket. It may be mundane, and not magical seeming, but I think the method of taking things stitch by stitch is true magic. Thought becomes will becomes action becomes manifestation. Over and over and over again. The manifest action of knitting a blanket uses the same core principles used in magic. The practice of those principles in the mundane teaches us that there are no short cuts. For magic to happen, action must be taken. So often, we go from thought, to will, skip action and expect results.

Action is where life happens. Think about it. Live is a verb. Living is not an end result. Neither is magic. I think that's where a daily practice really comes in. Whatever we do, on a consistent basis, day in and day out creates the links with life (aka magic) that, when we need it, we can call on to help us bring into being that which we need or desire.

That's one heck of a security blanket.

The Riddle of Perfection

Veronica Cummer — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:32:22 +0000

Love is indeed heaven upon earth;
since heaven above would not be heaven without it;
for where there is not love, there is fear;
but, “Perfect love casteth out fear.” ~Penn

How shall I do to love? Believe.
How shall I do to believe? Love. ~Lord Leighton

Perfect love and perfect trust…we have all heard those words many times and yet we all still ponder and wonder at what they may mean. They are simple words, love and trust, but how simple is it really to feel them in anything approaching a perfection of grace. Though, when it comes right down to it, what do we really know about love or trust.

Countless movies have been made about love, numberless books, articles, essays, plays, songs, both secular and spiritual. But, despite all that, love itself remains a mystery. This should be clue number one—that Love, capital letter “L” Love—is not something that can truly be understood, because it is something that in its totality is beyond mere human comprehension.

All that we see and call love, is not truly Love, but an extension into our world of a more than physical power. Not that it can’t be a beautiful, even joyful thing to know here in the material world, and not that it cannot lead to opening yourself up to an experience of the greater Power that all physical expressions of it but represent, but it is fundamentally so much more than that. Like the Divine, Love wears many masks in our world and though it is all around us, we cannot experience it fully while yet in the flesh. Though, we may at times come close, or glimpse it for but the briefest of moments.

The same holds true for Trust. For a perfect form of Trust is also a great power, one that we may only hold shades of in our normal everyday life. For a perfection of anything means that it is pure, complete, and utter—and who may claim to have an utter trust in anything, one where not a single doubt creeps in ever. We live and so we doubt, for that is part of being in a physical body which ages and will eventually die.

But Love, perfect Love, may be felt within the spirit. And when one feels that perfection of Love, then one also knows perfect Trust, for the two go hand in hand. This is not the love of romance, the kind of love which needs to possess, which involves making demands or fearing eventual loss or betrayal, though that is the form that most love takes in life today. This is the Love which is modeled after Divine Love, which is also called agape. Agape is Greek for “love feast,” and it means a form of brotherly love, the plural of which is the love of the brethren for each other. And certainly, we are all brothers in the Craft (although some of us are more properly sisters) and we do feast together.

Agape is the pure power of Love. It is the sort of Love that is the essence of the Divine presence in our lives, which gives life to our very spirits. And so this kind of Love can only be properly felt when you are in accord with your innermost Divine nature, when you stand in the sphere of the spirit that resides within you. The key to accomplishing this is to open your heart, for only then can you touch your soul and feel that Divine Love, feel agape for all, and know utter Trust, which is but another way to describe having absolute faith.

Perfect Trust, Divine Trust, is having a pure and utter confidence and faith that all of your expectations and desires will be fulfilled. Which means that there can be no doubt, none at all, inside you, for perfection of trust is a complete and accomplished fact. It is not a hope, it is not a wish, it is not something you think about and ache for…for if you have such an unalloyed Trust, then you just know it will be. It is having a true faith in the Divine Will, of which you are an integral part, a simple and perfect knowledge that what must happen, will happen. And that it will be a beautiful and joyous thing.

Knowing Love and Trust in their Divine forms within your heart means being at one with your own self as spirit, and so being at one with the world around you and all that happens and does not happen. It’s being absolutely aware that, when it comes right down to it, that “it’s all good.” Though, when you think about it, it does rather sound like a spell—to feel and know with utter certainty that you are one with everyone else and the whole of creation, and that the connection between it all is the power known as Love. While, at the same time, you have an utter certainty of Faith that all you truly desire will be fulfilled. Of course, it must be what you truly desire as an incarnated soul, not the desires born out of fear or anger or shame, to name but a few, all of which throw you out of yourself, out of your center, and involve something rather less than perfection.

But then who among us can know this complete and utter Love and Trust so long as we do not know our own center of being? To achieve this perfection of Love and Trust, you must enter into a different state of consciousness, an altered state of consciousness, and that involves opening your heart, which is the doorway to your spirit. For in our daily lives, we all know doubt, we all know pain and fear and loss and many of us do not know where we are going, let alone trust that we will get there. Some of us do not even know for a certainty who we are. When you open your heart to your own spirit, your own personal spark of the Divine, then you will know…for your spirit does not doubt and is not swayed by any outside influence, good or bad. That is perfection and purity; to be completely and utterly yourself, to be who and what you were born to be.

The words faith and fate are intimately connected, and fate is what is meant to be. When you are in this altered state of consciousness, you know peace and joy, for you also know that all that happens is what is meant to happen. You know that you are immortal, for both life and death are but passing phases. You can see the beauty in all things and in all people, even the one who may be sitting with a crabby face over their coffee at the next table at Starbucks. You wish them all well, but you know that they must each discover their own path for themselves, perfect themselves. You are not moved from your own center by either their happiness or by their fear or anger, even if it is directed at you.

This is Perfect Love and Perfect Trust—and it is not dependant on anyone or anything else in the universe, except existing in your own heart and soul. It does not mean that you need to find just the right people to be in a coven with or to circle with. It has nothing to do with another person’s ability to love or trust you, or with having to find people that you can love and trust. Anything that comes from outside of your self, that is dependent on what someone else does or doesn’t do, is not and can never be perfect.

A pure and complete Love can only come from being absolutely removed from and yet infinitely attached to the world, both conditions to exist within you at the same time. This may sound impossible or contradictory, but when you are in the altered state made possible by being at one with your heart and spirit, then you can and will feel this form of “dispassionate compassion.” You care for the world, for the people around you, but yet this depth of caring can neither hurt nor alter the essential you in any way, for you are complete unto yourself. You know who you are. You know you are the center of the universe. You have Faith. You have Knowledge. And you know peace and joy beyond any earthly measure.

All of which does not mean that you just sit there, communing with the Divine inside you, and do not act. It only means that you act in accord with your own perfect nature and with the Divine Will, which you have placed your own will in alignment with. When you have Perfect Love and Perfect Trust, you will do what you are meant to do, what the Divine put you here in the world to do.

If we are all to stand in Perfect Love and Perfect Trust in our circles, then we need to come to stand there within the boundless circle of our own hearts. It means that our hearts have to be open, so that our spirits may express the Divine light through our bodies…so that we may be Shining Ones. Bright stars come down to the earth to show the way to the Gods. We must be truly free, and yet still be bound to our flesh, for there is a reason we are born to it and we all chose that reason. We all chose to come here, to return again to the world of man.

When we kiss each other in the circle the kiss has ever been more than a sign of simple affection; it is a declaration of loyalty, love and spiritual unity, a hail and a greeting and a mutual sharing of the magickal Powers that give life and form to the universe. One of which is Love and one of which is Trust, two sides of the same coin, the minted gold of which is the Will of the Divine.

Happy Samhain Everyone!

Jane Hansen — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:55:34 +0000

Just thought we'd post a note to celebrate the season. If you are looking for a place to celebrate at, believe it or not, there is an article at the TC Daily Planet which gives a bit of a rundown. They interviewed Eye of Horus owner Thraicie Hawkner and Wiccan astrologist Teri Parsley Starnes. They also list a few open Samhain events in a sidebar. Here is the article in full:

Celebrating Samhain Saturday

Note that the Sorgitzak Ritual will be in the gallery at the Eye and they request you call 612-872-1292 to RSVP due to limited space. If you just show up, you may not be able to participate. If this is too late of a notice for you, remember that, day in and day out, the best source for local events is the Twin Cities Pagans group. You can hook up with them in two places. You can

The Way Back

Veronica Cummer — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:30:13 +0000

We have all felt lost on occasion. We have all felt the longing deep inside us for what once was, for when our spiritual path reflected and fed the needs and desire of our spirits. We look back to a time hundreds of years ago when our beliefs were the accepted religion of Western Europe and was understood by all, Witch and non-Witch alike. And so we sometimes imagine that we are strangers in our own country. We feel like strangers to those we live amongst, for many people would like to claim that America is a Christian nation, and so it is not surprising to find that some days we feel we do not belong, that we have no place here, especially when we are told that our religion is wrong or even evil.

Europe was conquered over a thousand years ago by a faith which was not its own, that did not spring naturally out of its forests and hills, its mountains, rivers, and valleys. For the Gods of old Europe were the Gods who belonged there, who were native to the land and the people that they served. They were and they remain the Gods who best speak to the spirits of those with European ancestry and Who still reside in our very blood. We belong to Them and They belong to us, and that has always been the relationship between God and Witch.

And so we ache and long for a rebirth from the ashes of the restless dead. We hope and pray for the Old Religion to return to us and be renewed in the coming Age. We reclaim and rewrite our rituals time and again, finger through book after book and search the internet, hoping to stumble across the way back to what was taken from us. We seek after the heart and breath and bone of our own selves and of the faith of our ancestors, for the two are intimately intertwined. But, perhaps, the problem is that we are looking in all the wrong places.

The religion of the witches, the religion known as Wicca, is not Christian in any way. Its roots have nothing to do with Christianity, for like all native religions, its symbols, rites, stories, and traditions spring from the land from whence it came. It speaks to those who yet live in Europe and Britain and to those whose heritage is of that place, for it is our overriding archetypal spirit. And so, to truly understand Wicca, one must come to understand that inborn heritage. We must find within us that which speaks to us, what stirs our blood and moves our souls.

Those of us who are reborn as Witches, we seek the powers which once resounded through those ancient rites, and they are here to be called upon. The connection only lies in wait to be renewed. The key is in finding the doorway within ourselves, the road back to what was once thought lost. If we come to know our true selves, what lies below the surface of what is laid upon us by the culture and dogma of centuries of Christian faith, then we shall come to know again the Old Gods, the Old Ways, and the fourfold powers shall rise. For these powers lie within us, as much as without.

No religion can truly satisfy that intense longing for meaning, unless it is one that makes sense not only to the mind, but to the body, heart, and spirit. Just as the powers of the Four Quarters of earth, air, fire, and water come together to make the circle, so our bodies, minds, hearts, and spirits need to be in accord. If they are not in accord, then it is all the more difficult to make the leap to that which lies beyond them, the spirit that moves within the religion itself. The living faith of the living Witch.

We have dreams, visions, desires, and this longing, this feeling that something is just there, just over the horizon, and if we could but find the words for it, we could summon it into being. If we could only find the way to reconnect to that source, to the spiritual beginning place of the Old Religion, then we would know where and how to begin again for ourselves. We would know what building blocks need to be set in place for the world to be made anew, the world we all long to live in.

But it is not a simple or an easy task to shake off the beliefs of the non-Wiccan religions that many of us were raised in, let alone the constraints and of a cultural mindset heavily invested and built up by those same beliefs. It can be a slow and even painful process to shed the skin and be reborn as what we were truly meant to be. The process is made even more frightening by the fact that we are not even entirely sure what we desire to replace it with.

The clues to this new-old world are as buried treasures in what has come down to us from the past. Despite the fact that some today, even those use the name of Wiccan or Witch to describe themselves, now deny or doubt that anything has survived. It must be said, though, that all must make their own choices on this matter and if they so wish to believe that nothing has survived from that ancient heritage, then, for them, nothing shall.

But as we all have been born from the past, as we all have lived many lives, it does live on. It lives on in us. It lives on because we are those self-same witches from centuries ago, though we are now born to different bodies. It lives on because their blood did not die, but spread itself down through the many generations who have come since. And so the ways of the Old Religion have not been truly lost, nor ever can be, for they can only be forgotten.

We are the children of the past and the progenitors of the future, and it is an unbroken chain. What makes a Witch is remembering this, remembering who and what we are and all that being a Witch means. No book can teach you that if you cannot touch what lies inside you already, if you are not ready and willing to look for that spark and incorporate it into your life.

For as we are the descendants of those who once danced within the forests and upon the sacred mountaintops, who lifted up the flame of their own bodies and hearts to work magick for the good of the land and the prosperity of the people, as we are their descendants and we are them, no one can take that from us. Only if we deny who we are, if we turn away from what stirs in our blood, will we have no past. And those who have no past, have no future, for time goes not a straight line, but a circle.

We are all “hereditary” Witches if we but wake to what was given to us by virtue of our birth. It lies dormant within us, occasionally turning over in its sleep and throwing off dreams of what was and what can be again. To wake fully as Witches is to reclaim our birthright, our heritage, our powers and our place.

It is not a light matter to state that those of today’s religions that base themselves upon the struggle of duality, of light versus dark, good versus evil, have finally had their day, but that they have. They have run their course and now too must face a choice—to change or to fade and die. That is the way of things. Some might like to deny it, to deny the transformation of the Piscean paradigm to that of the Aquarian, but the slow grind of the wheel of the sky, the wheel of the Ages, is inexorable. All the prayer in the world cannot stop it. Though, no doubt, a few would like to try.

We have lived in the shadow of those who wanted us to be as they would have us and not as we desire to become. But now the light of the rising dawn will serve to reopen the doors to what was and what may be, and we stand in the middle, as always. We as the world’s Witches can sense it as other worlds draw close, as magicks and the Old Gods converge upon that inner door. As the secrets stir within us, the secrets that many in Christianity had hoped we would forget. Secrets about who we are and where we come from and what we may do. Secrets of the world and secrets of the stars and secrets of our own nature.

We have only to walk through that door to know again our heritage. We have only to give ourselves over to the living faith of our past to find again ourselves, our Gods, and our purpose. All the rest will come in time, once we have laid the foundation for it.