We intend to inform, amuse, challenge, and help connect individuals in the greater online Pagan and magickal community. Watch for upcoming issues featuring interviews, how-to articles, personal essays, examination of historical and theoretical topics, Pagan and magickal-themed fiction, poetry, and art, and whatever else that our volunteer contributors might come up with to present to our audience.

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Welcome!

Ben Gruagach,
editor

Ganesha courtesy B. Gruagach

Welcome to the premiere issue of Online Pagans Magazine!  Our hard-working band of contributors has been conspiring for months to put together a quality publication for all types of Pagans from all around this magnificent world we share.

As a gift to the Pagan community this issue is free.  Everything was done on a volunteer basis because we wanted to give something back to our community.  Online and electronic versions of the magazine will cost nothing and printed versions will be available for the cost of production and shipping using print-on-demand technology.

In this issue you’ll find articles on:

• the Solstice covering both the northern and southern hemisphere
• parenting from a Pagan perspective
• a selection of touching poems written by a modern American Hindu
• a bit of history and theory about the Wiccan threefold return concept
• notes from a paranormal investigation conducted in North Dakota USA
• a thought-provoking article about the problems with preconceptions and cultural blinders when following “traditional” Pagan paths
• observations of how the worship of Brigid has changed over the years
• a straightforward explanation of  a blended spiritual path that is becoming more popular: Christo-Paganism
• book recommendations, photos, and more!

We would love to showcase the work of even more Pagan authors, poets, photographers, musicians, and artists regardless of what media you employ.  If you have something to contribute for a future issue please send an email to submissions@onlinepagans.com

Photo by Ben Gruagach

Solstice is upon us! A wonderful day – one of only two that come each year: the first in June and the second coming in the month of December.

In June solstice in the northern hemisphere shows us the longest day of the year, and it shows us summer, sunshine and warmth. In the southern hemisphere it is the shortest day of the year and brings with it the promise of the sun coming back, the days starting to get longer and the promise of spring to come.

There are many ways to celebrate a holiday and it is often easy in the northern hemisphere to forget that there are a lot of folks celebrating the same day but in a different way with the sun still as a focus. In the north we are celebrating the abundance of sun, and in the south we are encouraging it to come back.

Let’s talk a little bit about some of the colors that are traditionally used with the holiday. Colors to celebrate the sun include golden yellows, bright scarlet reds, white, pink and even violet. As the longest day of the year the summer solstice is a bit more of a sexy holiday where we can wear fresh flowers in our hair and celebrate the brightness of the sun and the full life around us.

For a winter solstice, with it being the shortest day of the year, we want to use silver to honor the moon and warm golds to remind the sun to come back, and to honor the promise of longer days ahead. It is more of a holiday of looking for and soaking in some warmth from a fire and more layers in clothing, and decorations and the colors tend to lean more to the darker hues of the greens and reds.

At the cold winter solstice there is more of a focus on bringing our mind and body into harmony, gaining peace and balance. Summer solstice instead is often focused toward going, being, and outside activities and of course the time of many marriages.

Regardless of when you are getting married you can trace many of those wedding traditions back to old pagan ways, from tossing the garter to wearing rings to confirm the marriage. The flowers that are carried and then tossed are a phallic symbol – promising the girl that catches them that a man is coming and she is the next to find a mate. The garter is a circle representing a woman, and to the man that catches it a promise of a maiden that will come to him.

Both the winter and the summer solstice include the old religion practice of hanging a branch or wreath over the doorway. In winter the evergreen is there to remind us that life is ever present, ever renewable and ever green. In the summer the branches used are instead for protection and Rowan branches are often the ones we choose.

Herbs are also an important part of a solstice holiday! In the summer the herbs are abundant and we are gathering them and using them fresh; but hopefully we are also drying them for use throughout the year including at the winter solstice when we are making our soups and stews savory and reminding us of the warmth of summer. In the winter months we may be harvesting roots, but in the summer months we are able to harvest the buds, flowers, leaves and stems!

The solstice holiday reminds us well of the wheel of life and how we go from the darkness of the winter solstice, all the way to the brightness and longest day of the summer solstice and then we are headed back again to the shortening of the days leading us back to the winter.

At summer solstice we want to encourage time outside, dining outside, lounging on the porch, the patio, your yard or a local park – outside with family and friends is the key! Bike, walk, hike and swim, camp; just get outside into nature and into the sun. Go on a nature walk and learn to identify herbs, flowers, trees – you can even look for stones and shells near a water source.

Winter solstice is more about time inside, near a fire, close to our friends and family. It’s all centered more around the home and being in the home. You can even play the crystal wish game. Everyone is given a wrapped crystal, some are beautiful and some are not so much to look at; each person unwraps theirs and sees what they have been given. Then someone rings a silver bell. When the bell rings you must make a wish, and then give your crystal away. If you give the crystal away with a happy heart your wish is said to come true; if not then the wish is probably not going to come back to you!

It is funny to watch how even grown ups have been taught to hang on to what they have, and do not want to hand away a beautiful crystal or stone. We forget the truth that all of them are all perfect gifts from nature. The game can continue as long as you wish – and some families even leave a bell out for an entire gathering allowing anyone to ring the bell, and give you the opportunity to make a wish.

Regardless of where you are on June 21st, embrace the solstice energy; embrace the wheel of life and make some time to just soak it in and enjoy!

photo CC courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/tillwe/38356334/

We all know the idea of “follow your inner voice” or “well what does your tummy say” after all that is advice that is passed down again and again in families. BUT what about when that inner voice tells you that Uncle Bob is not someone that you should hug? Followed immediately with your mom saying “Don’t be shy! Go over there and hug your Uncle Bob.” When it comes to teaching youth to follow their inner voice, we often cut that message short or ignore it all together in an effort to be polite or nice.

What message are we then teaching the little ones? Trust your inner voice unless it will make someone uncomfortable or unless it is impolite – is that really the message we want to be sending? After all in life often standing in our own truth is not always comfortable.

As a child gets older there will be many times that peer pressure alone will encourage them to ignore their inner voice. Perhaps the child knows the rule of never getting in the car with a driver that is drinking, and maybe the inner voice is screaming NO! – but all the friends are saying come on don’t be rude, don’t make a scene; just come on! So when we want to teach a united message of living authentically and listening to our heart, or our tummy or … do we really want it diluted with polite, nice and well behaved?

What if instead you are headed to Aunt Lilly’s house and you have the talk on the way – it is ok, you do not have to go and hug her, just be polite and use your manners. But once you get in the door Aunt Lilly scoops up the child and takes her off to the kitchen to give her a present.

It is complicated isn’t it; trying to think of all the different places in your life where you need to balance trust, love, lessons, manners, safety and so much more. Trying to set an example and do it right while leaving the space for another to walk their own path.

What we do know is that when it comes to children that are sexually abused approximately 30% of the perpetrators are relatives of the child and around 60% are “friends” of the family, babysitters, or neighbors. Only about 10% of the cases are from offenders that are strangers. (1)

So we know for a fact, that in the case of child sexual abuse, the majority of threat comes from a person you know, and allow to spend time with your child.

Now that we have a very real threat in mind, do you look differently at the idea of listening to that inner voice? Your voice or the voice of your child – the actions and the words and even the body signals.

We often think that listening to our inner voice is a valuable tool, and at the same time we treat it like something that is over-reactive or can be ignored with a stronger will.

So what kind of tips will assist you on your path, and as an example to youth and others? One is to be authentic with your feelings, honor them and explain that is your reason for a decision.

An example could be – I am just not feeling comfortable about this camping trip over the 4th of July, so no I am not going to come. I do hope you have a good time though. Then follow through on honoring that voice and the choice that you have made.

When it comes to children often it is best to talk to the other adults in their life and let them know what your parenting goal is and how they can HELP you to make sure that the child will have all the tools they need later in life to stay safe and honest with themselves.

Once you get started you will see it is actually easier then it first seems and you will probably be pleasantly surprised at the support you do have available from the other adults in your life.

References

(1) Julia Whealin, PhD – National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, US Department of Veterans Affairs.

Case #1 Investigation 1

Small town ND

12 July 2008

We were called in to conduct an investigation at a small town local business.    Employees had been complaining of being afraid in the basement, feeling like they were being watched and occasionally feeling as if they were touched.

The building that this business was in had been built a bit over 100 years ago and abutted an opera house that burned in the early 20^th century.  Local legend has it that this was once a mortuary.  This was fueled by the fact that there is a lift type mechanism in the basement that would allow items to be brought up to the first floor.

We focused on three areas that night; the basement, kitchen area and garage.  On our initial walk-through we tested the electromagnetic fields with the EMF and KII meters, making note of any unusual fluctuations.

I was most drawn to this old mirror in the garage.  It reminded me of something one would see on a washstand with a basin.  The mirrored glass was old, cracked and dis-colored in areas.  The woodwork though was still lovely with dovetails, and no nails.  There was a noticeable energy about it, and I found myself thinking that if I were to touch it would my hand go through that glass.  For some reason I felt like it would.

We never really caught anything substantial that first investigation.  There were surely some unusual occurrences but they were all more of a personal nature.

Though two of us could swear we heard ragtime music on a gramophone in the kitchen.  It was not caught on any of our recording tools.

What happened to me after this first investigation is what threw me, and lead to the second investigation.

However, I will say, I knew leaving that it had never been a mortuary.

POST INVESTIGATION

One of the first things an investigator does is crash and burn as soon as they can.  It can be rather hard to do so right away if one is all pumped with what occurred during the investigation or itching to go thru their evidence.

What follows are the raw notes I took on what happened to me after.

13 July 2008

Slept from 4-9 am.  Dreamed of a WWI doughboy.  Not enough to recognize a person but flashes of uniform, military life, a weapon discharging, screaming, smoke fear and writing letters.

Noon – 3:00 pm.

The dream happened again. Same soldier. Strongly feel he is American.  Ragtime music.

Emailed Marie* to find out if there is any tie to this small town and WWI.

16 July 2008 @ 6:39 am

The dream came again.  Vague impressions.  Definitely WWI, probably the Western Front.  He’s American; the glimpses of the weapons and uniform are consistent with WWI and the USA.  He is early to mid 20’s.  Hair color is light. Perhaps a sandy blonde.  At least medium height, decent build, though a bit on the leaner side.

The view is like ‘live’ shots like in an old, scratchy black and white movie with no sound.  There is some action – in brief spurts.  Feel percussion. Smell and see haze of smoke. Chow time. Bunking down.. A dirty hand writing a letter though I cannot read it.  Gentlemen hanging around talking though I cannot hear what is being said.  Somewhat surreal as I feel like I am part of the action but am not.  Chest feels heavy and I feel like I am moving in slow motion or trying to walk thru a river of black tar.

Sometimes I am ‘in’ the soldier then standing outside.  Wake up and I feel like I lost something.

20 July 2008

Still dreaming of him – definitely feel he was in the war.  Still snippets of information though.  Combat had to cause his death. Though he will not show me. Why can’t I see his face?   Seems wrong to just give me bits and pieces. Makes me feel like I am crazy.

27 July 2008

Dreamed about him again. Same snippets of information. He is stating to feel like an old friend.

01 August 2008

Still the dreams. Did I tap into something or did he find me?  I know I am right about the time period and his death due to combat.

On a side note:  the site was never a mortuary. It has been a lumber yard, hardware/feed/grocery store but never a mortuary.

12 August 2008 @ 3:15 am

He died. Snippets again followed by chaos, and the stench of combat, and pain, and screams.  His hands are bloodied and someone is calling his name C? or C?  He died but not right away. Not during the time I dreamed.  Maybe from his wounds later?  I hurt all over like I have been ripped apart and I want to puke.

8:20 pm

Marie found something that listed WWI casualties for the state.  There is a list and pictures. Too afraid to look.

13 July 2008

I looked at the list and there is one C name that matches what I heard in my dream.  I am not ready to look at the pictures.

15 August 2008

He was back again up to the wounding. I looked at the pictures and it is him. CJH.  We need to go back.

Note:  CJ was born in Blufton, MN  14 March 1892.  He was a grain buyer up until he enlisted in the Army July of 1917.  He served in Battery A, Field Artillery i.e. the Rainbow Division.  Offensive Engagements he fought were:  Auisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, and Muese-Argonne.  Defensive engagements were:  Champagne-Marne, defensive sectors of Luneville, Baccarat, Lorraine, Esperance, Souain, and Champagne. Death was due to wounds received in battle and occurred approximately 26 October 1918. He was 26 when he passed. That same year his mother lost her husband, and one of his elder sisters to the influenza.

Case #1 Investigation #2 15 August 2008

We went back armed with a name to see what would happen.

Things happened.  Increased activity included the sounds of boxes falling when none had, unexplained cold spots,  electromagnetic jumps on the KII,  a shirt tail being lifted and the sensations of being touched.  Three EVPS were caught. Multiple people saw a dense shadow the shape of a person walking when there were no car lights etcetera to explain that.

In addition, four people saw, what appeared to be a face trying to form in the kitchen.  It was at the same time and I do not feel it was a figment of our collective imaginations.

When this happened I could not move. First I felt choking sorrow. I wanted to go to my knees and just cry.   Then there was a pressure around my waist, as if someone had slung an arm around me, and I then found myself leaning against the sink counter. The entire area looked hazy to me and I flashed in and out. Then I felt happiness.  It was not coming from me.  I think he is happy someone finally sees him.

We did catch one quite intriguing evp at the end.  We were packing up our equipment when a member of the team felt something definitely tug at his shirt.  He, unfortunately, cursed.  What followed was another member making ribald remarks that were equally politically incorrect.  When listening to the playback there was the sound of someone whistling a catchy ragtime tune.

Thoughts and Afterwards

16 August 2008 @ 8:33 pm

The dream started as it always does.  I am not going to reiterate or describe those images again.  This one went beyond his ‘wounding’.  I felt CJ slip away – which tells me he did not die immediately after his wounding but probably, lingered.

In this dream I felt him leaving his body.  Tendrils of him disconnecting and floating upwards staring down.  It sounds like a rehash of every near death experience related but in the dream it felt real, and right.  And wrenching.  The struggle at first to hang on and then just a gentle easing as one reaches the realization that this was it.  There is no more CJ in the physical sense.  Stillness.

Then the dream skipped even further forward to the kitchen of this business. I was not there but he was watching the others.  He tried to make them see him but they cannot.  He reaches out to touch them and he is not sure if they can feel him.  He won’t go to the basement as he does not like it there.  He avoided us the first time but when I asked, “Were you in the military?” he became interested.

He wants Ned* to call me up from the basement.  He knows he can reach me.  He tries to show us his face so we will know him.  But he cannot seem to make it work and feels badly that he has upset me. So he slowly withdraws back to just watching and hovering.

The problem with dreams is the fact that they are dreams.  They cannot be proven as viable contact.  A person can say, “I dreamed the towers would come down” and be lying through their teeth after the fact.

Dreams are also very subjective.  Was I ‘seeing and feeling” what I wanted to in that building?  Was it pulling from my sub-conscious desire to communicate with a perceived anomaly?  Or did I really touch another being that others cannot see?

If one follows the theory that dreams are subjective, and manifestations of sub-conscious wishes, or needs, then how do I reconcile this with the fact I started dreaming about a WWI soldier out of the blue?  I can honestly say that, though I often ‘dream’ of soldiers and war, WWI has never featured in any of them.

How do I factor in the repetitive nature of these ‘dreams’?  How I felt like I had been active and not actually sleeping?  A dream that shows the wounding and the knowledge that this lead to his death?  If these dreams are a product of imagination how could I flesh him out as a person with a face towards the end and THEN find a face that matches?  The face of a young man who died almost fifty years prior to my birth.  I have never seen this picture before.  Or were the images in my dreams more general then I thought and I filled in the lines?

But why would I hear that specific name in my dreams?

However, if one discards the series of dreams, then one would have to discard the identification.  Which would then beg the question, “Why did this name provoke activity on 15 August?”

What is it about a pizza place that would hold this energy there?  The town itself is quite a rich history and perhaps the land itself holds energy that brings things forward.  I believe the past does not merely imprint itself on the human psyche but on what surrounds us as well.

He was a grain buyer before the war with family living in that area.  This building was a hardware and grain store during that time. There is a possible tie.

The mirror.  That mirror is what started it, and I keep thinking he looked into it once or twice or more before he left the states.  The first dream started with a hazy face in that mirror.

Maybe there is some kind of portal.

I know that what I experienced was real.  I know that what I dreamed really happened.

I know that CJ visits me sometimes.

It does not matter to me what others think.  This was real.

Image CC courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/riverap1/3731118876/

Pulled into my husbands’ court by my uncombed hair
Thrown onto the floor where hundreds of feet touch their thick, red silk
The flowing carpet rises and falls like the mist of my garden
I know you are immovable in your rage Shákuni

Your ego knows no limits, it is like a snake stalking a mouse
Quietly without remorse in its meager heart

All eyes watch me cry in anguish as you pull my sari
To end of this room it flows like the Gaṅgā
Shining with its thin, gold-laden fabric
And crippled by your greedy fingers

Dignified beauty you tossed with your dice
Human emotions you sacrificed with your heart
Bring your eyes to mine to see one word: regret
Ha! You are the nectar’s enemy: regret!

If you took me then Kṛṣṇa will smite you right now!
His chakra a knife for your spineless body

All my fears that followed me at night with my friends
Nibbling on their black pearls while I watched roses rise
They are you…a shadow that rapes the moon
I cannot give you my body for it belongs to Keśava!

My life will one day be returned to his home
To live as a cowherd while churning milk for his hungry lips
The boyish smile and curly hair that barely touches his shoulders
His eyes so wide yet shaped like the waning moon

Little specks in the corner of both eyes are galaxies unknown to us
So far away other people exist for whom Kṛṣṇa is their king

If I am his then he is my king too
Shákuni, you are the drunken ego, a corrupted seed for humanity!
My body is a vase holding the virtues of Sūrya
He touched my spirit to give me a bite of his own

Disrobing me in front of my husbands and all the Āryas of their kingdom
is a sacrilege!
I cry to you to stop this great injustice!
Can’t you see I have sunken into a sea of distress!?
No, you are busy drowning my voice with your wicked laughter
Brahmā gave you a boon that protects your life from any physical or divine harm
Yet, has he no shame when seeing this monstrous deed?

Ma! You are Sarvāsuravināśā, come to my rescue!
Show your terrifying face to this savage
Make him cower under your crippling stare, ma!
Turn his limbs into brittle sticks so he will stop treating my honor like a toy

Earth Mother at the Temple of Sekhmet, Indian Springs Nevada

Some modern Wiccans have decided to not include the Wiccan Rede and the Law of Threefold Return in their philosophy.  Some even argue that statements like the Threefold Law aren’t Wiccan at all[1].  The usual arguments are that the Wiccan Rede, “An’ it harm none, do what you will” is too simplistic and is impossible to follow, and the Law of Threefold Return is a Christian concept that is punishing in essence.

Both of these arguments are based on rather shallow interpretations and aren’t supported by historical documentation about Wicca, at least as Gerald Gardner promoted it.  Modern Wiccans are free to abandon or adopt philosophies into their practice as they see fit, but should take responsibility for these choices rather than trying to justify them based on weak arguments.

The word “rede” means “advice” – it’s not a commandment like the Christian ten commandments are supposed to be absolute.  It’s a guideline, a suggestion, about how a Wiccan can try and live their life.  There is no punishment implied for a Wiccan who fails to live up to the advice.

The essential lesson of the Rede is all about being responsible for your own actions or lack of actions.  Yes, choosing to not act is an action too!  It means that we should take responsibility for what we do in our lives as much as possible, and accept responsibility for the consequences of what we do or through inaction fail to do.

That means that when we act in a mundane or magickal way we have to think about what it is we’re doing and how it affects the web of everything that is touched by our actions.  Everything is connected so what we do affects all sorts of things.  Acting mindlessly is irresponsible by the standard of the Rede as acting mindlessly means we haven’t considered the harm that could be involved.

Just being alive means we’re doing harm to something, as many critics of the Rede have noted.  Microbes die as we breathe, and as our bodies’ white blood cells attack other microscopic life forms that are invading our bodies.  Insects die when we walk around.  Plants and animals die so we might eat.  It’s all about trying to be conscious of the impact we have on everything else, and making decisions about how we will live and act.

The Threefold Law (or idea that “for every action there is a reaction”) is not the same thing as the Wiccan Rede, but the two ideas are closely intertwined.  The Threefold Law is a variation of the scientific law “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction,” or the ecological understanding that everything is connected. When we act the impact of our actions will come back to us somehow.  We can’t do things maliciously towards others (like magickal cursing) and expect to not suffer some fallout from our actions.  While it’s not necessarily possible to quantify what is sent out comes back three times or more, the ecological understanding that all is connected ensures the results do most definitely come back to affect the originator in some form.

Both the Wiccan Rede and the Threefold Law are attributed in some form back to Gardner.  As the founder and initial popularizer of what we know today as Wicca, to say that the Wiccan Rede or Threefold Law is not Wiccan is to betray a lack of historical knowledge.

Gerald Gardner mentions the idea of the Wiccan Rede (“harm none” and “do what you will”) in his book “Witchcraft Today.”  Doreen Valiente, one of Gardner’s early High Priestesses, discusses the origins and development of the Rede at some length in the chapter “Witch Ethics” of her book “Witchcraft for Tomorrow.”  Janet and Stewart Farrar also discuss the Rede at some length in their chapter on ethics in “A Witches Bible.”  Raymond Buckland, who was initiated by Gardner’s High Priestess Monique Wilson (“Lady Olwen”) also insists that the Wiccan Rede is a central point of Gardnerian philosophy in his “The Witch Book: The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-paganism.”

The Threefold Law is also identified as a Gardnerian teaching by Raymond Buckland in “The Witch Book.”  There is clear evidence of this in the second degree initiation ceremony from the core Gardnerian Book of Shadows.  In this ceremony, it is explained to the initiate that everything returns threefold, and as a symbol of this, the initiate scourges their initiator three times the number of strokes administered in the first degree initiation.  The one who administered the first degree scourging therefore receives it back threefold.

The Threefold Law isn’t a Christian philosophy, but more likely borrowed from Hinduism where it is usually known as the Law of Karma.  Despite the claim that it is a punishment and therefore a philosophy of deterrence, it is described more in terms of ecological unity – everything is connected, so what is sent out will undoubtedly come back in some form.  This is not a philosophy of punishment but one of unity.  If one sends out peace and love, the expectation is that peace and love will come back in some form.

The Wiccan Rede and Threefold Law can be a sophisticated basis for a religious philosophy for those who examine it in some depth.  It is not necessarily a philosophy for everyone.  One of the greatest strengths of the modern pagan community is that there is room for lots of variety and difference.  While the Wiccan Rede and Threefold Law do not have to be part of all Wiccans’ philosophy, they are very much part of historical Wicca despite claims to the contrary.

In most cases in my country, by dint of living in Ireland, we are convinced that we do know quite a bit about the subject. Given that Traditional Irish Religion is a minority religion within Celtic Paganism, itself a minority religion in Ireland, never mind the scarcity of Traditional Irish Religion outside Ireland, most of the knowledge we acquire is almost never through personal exposure to actual native forms of paganism.

On top of books, films and other similar sources, we primarily base our knowledge about Traditional Irish Religion on what we already know from more popular forms of Celtic Paganism. From Celtic Wicca, Celtic Shamanism, Druidry etc. We assume that people practicing Traditional Irish Religions are organized into similar groups too and are taught about it in the same way as in those popular forms of Celtic Paganism. We might be very disappointed when we see groups of people at sacred sites seemingly walking around instead of performing group rituals. We might suspect Traditional Irish Religions aren’t religions at all because no one is loudly invoking a deity. We are used to things from more popular forms of Celtic Paganism and can assume they are universal in Celtic Paganism. When Traditional Irish Religions do not meet our preconceived expectations rather than considering the possibility that those expectations might be misplaced or in error, we can become frustrated.

In my experience approaching any neopagan path with preconceptions is one of the greatest hobbling posts to neopagans today. Nearly as big a problem is the mistaken assumptions people have.

A while back on an internet poetry forum the subject of duotheism within Celtic Paganism came up. Specifically, someone wanted to know the names of ‘the god and goddess’ in the Irish Culture. When an elderly person, a man whose family may have practiced a form of Celtic Paganism in Ireland long before Gardner made his efforts public, responded by saying the concept of a God and Goddess didn’t exist in his tradition – the forum became a battle field. There was outrage, he was called so many big words by way of insults there must have been a sale on insult-word-a-day toilet paper or something. The main gist of the complaints seemed to me to be that he was being insensitive in the format of his reply and he was behind the times. What’s comment worthy in my opinion is not one of the critics had even a fraction of his experience and none of them bothered to ask why he didn’t believe in duotheism.

Those people were incensed by a simple response in text on an internet forum because of the mistaken assumption that Traditional Irish Religions have to meet the same standard formula as popular forms of Celtic Paganism. That it had to be sensitive to individual tastes and needs and had to be democratic and fair. Whether or not I agree that duotheism is absent from Traditional Irish Religions, it is based on a cultural tradition, and because of that, and maybe to its detriment in a modernist society it’s not something that can be altered to suit the situation. It’s validated not by its mass appeal but by its relationship to our culture. It’s not for everyone, it’s not even for everyone in Ireland. It wont suit everyone’s tastes but instead of using the opportunity to ask why someone of such vast experience held a personal belief they hammered away at the hobbling post with their mistaken assumption.

No one enjoys being told that they don’t know what they’re talking about. Even if we suspect it’s true, we resent having it pushed in our face. It’s even worse when we have devoted ourselves to reading and talking with other people about the subject at hand. We hate thinking that all that effort has gone to waste. If you have the inclination this anonymous typer has a piece of advice. When you’re tempted to be angry at your preconceived notions or mistaken assumptions being held up to you, think less about the irritation of having your ideas attacked and more about the opportunity to expose yourself to new and wider experiences. It isn’t always pleasant. It might even be something you don’t want to hear but in my experience it’s easier to walk a Celtic Pagan path without the hindrance of two broken legs.

Photo CC courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/vegas/431672848/

I am the Mistress of the everlasting Night!
You, Sūrya, shall bow down to my black feet!
If your eyes wander to side of this grassy pathway…
If your lips kiss anything other than my smoke-covered skin…

Know my heart will not tolerate such laziness!
A noose to pull your light into the copper jar
It makes me wonder if those poor souls are worthy of your touch

You whore! To follow someone other than my great beauty is a sin!
Is my body not slim enough for your liking?
Adorned with the finest gemstones of our Father’s heavenly paradise
Picked by fortunate servants who worship my voice and reason
They pray for a kiss from my lips yet you pray for release from the clutches of my shadow

If the sunlight is burned like the skin of a baby’s flesh from being touched by a candle
It is no reason to whine like a child
Whimpers and little tears are reserved for the rain
But your sunlight…such a glorious entity you are!

I followed you after the birth of this universe
Our Mother created us for her amusement
An inner joy filled her mind to cause a smile
From that came her immortal children, beings of raw light

We were too hot to touch, so you became the sun and I became the empty hole in your nightmares
My enemy from birth, the one who tried to squash me like a cockroach!
I pulled you by the arms into my embrace
The wind felt it and whispered to us to merge into one creature

Sūrya, you sit down, waiting for me to show you what true godhood is
The immeasurable weight of my lust holds you to the purple sea of stars
I don’t moan but listen to your own…the sound is the bells of our mother’s temple

It is sweet yet meager if compared to my hunger when dawn joins me
Do not feel inferior my love, even the thunder of the sky is small to my ears
Can you see why I must subjugate your tangible body?
Fire cannot be touched unless someone wants to become a monster
But I can feel it in my hands and yearn for your enticing kisses

You run away if I look at you for a second
Maybe I engulfed your enormous body too fast
The next universe already has a sun, don’t make matters worse!
If you leave then my heart break into pieces and fall to Bhūmī-Devī’s mountains

photo by Ben Gruagach

Wiccans often describe the sequence of annual celebrations or sabbats as the Wheel of the Year.  This imagery is very apt.  It illustrates the cyclical nature of reality: what we celebrate now will come around again in due time.  It also helps us see the sabbats as part of a greater whole.  Each sabbat is a spoke on the great Wheel.  As the Wheel turns, the seasons turn, and as the seasons come and go our lives progress through a repeating sequence of celebrations, times of work and times of rest.

We humans have a tendency to spiral our attention down to focus on the small details of our lives.  There is great beauty in the smallest detail just as there is magnificence in the larger patterns.  Unfortunately, focusing on the small details often results in losing sight of the larger pattern.  We sometimes gain a skewed sense of proportion and importance from paying too much attention to the small details at the expense of keeping the larger picture in mind.  Balance is important.

When you perform a ritual do you worry and fuss over every little detail?  Do you feel your ritual is a failure if you stumble over a word or gesture or cue?  Do you worry that your ritual tools are not quite perfect?  Do you obsess over having just the right people in the right places at the right times for your rituals?

Relax!

Rituals are a dance: even if a specific step is missed, the overall feeling and pattern is more important.  Rituals are a work of art: even if a particular brushstroke in one spot isn’t quite right, the overall balance of colour, form, expression, and subject matter is more important.  Rituals are a song: we might miss a note, but what is in our hearts and how much effort we put into the song, and whether we enjoy ourselves in the process, is much more important.

Try and see your rituals as a whole.  What is the overall pattern of the ritual?  Does it express the intent, the emotion, the central idea you have in your heart?  How does the ritual fit in to a larger pattern of days, weeks, months, years, and even generations?  Does the ritual help you feel more in tune with the Divine?

In “The Charge of the Goddess” the Great Lady tells us: “All acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.”  She doesn’t say that rituals must be precise in order to please Her.  She doesn’t say that mistakes in wording, gesture, or sequence will disappoint Her.  Her words leave it all very open for us to decide how we will express those acts of love and pleasure.  She might actually like our mistakes in ritual if we laugh at ourselves when they happen.

Perception is an amazing thing.  We are blessed with an amazing flexibility in our senses and ability to process information.  When we focus our attention we can become oblivious to the things that rage around us.  For instance, when you are watching a good movie how often do you fail to notice the people who might be sitting around you, the traffic outside, what the weather is like, how your clothes feel on your body?  When you get wrapped up in a good book isn’t it amazing how time can just fly by?

We can stretch our senses the other way too and notice things that we often overlook if we just turn our awareness in the right direction.  Can you hear things around you, like the ventilation system in the building where you are now?  Do you hear traffic, people, birds or animals nearby?  Can you hear the wind?  Do your clothes make sounds as you shift and move?

As you focus your attention it’s common for awareness of time to shift as well.  Time can appear to stretch out or to compact itself so that an hour can seem like just a few minutes.  During ritual it often happens that time just slips by unnoticed.  Yet if we focus on the small details, worrying and obsessing about whether we did a gesture just right, time can crawl.

One way to balance out our perceptions to go into a ritual with a healthy outlook is to ground first.  Grounding puts us in contact with our foundation, Mother Earth.  It gives us a moment to calm down, smooth out our perhaps conflicting emotions, and find a still peace from which to flow into the dance that is ritual.  You can’t ground too much before a ritual (unless it puts you to sleep!) but it is possible to not ground enough before a ritual.  When we go into a ritual without sufficient grounding we increase the risk of getting sidetracked by the details.

Slowing down, breathing deeply in a slow measured pace, and touching inner stillness if only for a moment is probably the most basic way to ground.  Feel the Earth beneath you and know in your heart that She is there to hold you up.  When you feel at ease you are ready to proceed.

Grounded perceptions help us to grasp the larger significance of our rituals.  We can throw ourselves wholeheartedly into the performance of the ritual, mistakes and all, and see the end result of the ritual as just a closing bar in the song rather than mistaking results for the whole thing.  Artists often describe their art as a process as much as a finished product.  The creation of the product is as important as the final product.  They are both, process and product, part of the whole.

During my coven’s recent Midsummer celebrations, as the sultry night embraced us at the end of the day we decided to dance on the lawn in honor of the faeries while holding sparklers and glow sticks.  I brought my digital camera along and snapped some amazing photos using the low-light mode.  While we were caught up in dancing around with our sparklers, waving them around in patterns both random and purposeful, the camera was able to capture some of the magick in slices of time that are not visible to the human eye.  And as if to illustrate the time-awareness effect even more, we had to wait each time a picture was taken before we could see what it looked like on the camera’s little screen.  When making a purposeful design with a sparkler we had to just trust in the process and let the details take care of themselves.  And the results were amazing.

Spiritual ritual is the same.  We might not have the ability, right now, to see the larger picture.  All we might have visible to us at the moment are the small details that drive us crazy because they seem so nit-picky.  If we can trust in ourselves, in the Divine, and in the process of the ritual then we might find that the larger pattern does come together.

And that is when real magick touches our lives.

*** This article was originally published in Circle Magazine issue 94, Summer 2005. ***