Lodestone and Lightning

Lodestones, or loadstones, are magnetites that have been intensely magnetized by the magnetic fields surrounding lightning strikes. They consist of two different minerals: wustite and the familiar hematite. They are the most naturally magnetic mineral on the planet and act as permanent magnets to attract and magnetize iron. (But if you want a piece of lodestone don't assume you can find it at your area's gemstone and mineral show; I learned that lesson. All they could offer me was hematite which is nice but not the same.) Lodestone has had a long, fascinating history of use among ancient pagans as well as modern scientists. Lodestones were an immense help to the ancients as they were used in compasses. They can also be utilized in the study of plate tectonics. Interestingly enough, they were employed in various ancient temple magic tricks.

You see, back in the old days, there were a lot of gods, via priests, vying for the attentions and donations of the public. And one of the methods of attracting worshipers was to have engineers design magnificent creations to be used in the temples. I learned about these amazing feats of gimmickry from The History Channel Ancient Discoveries: Machines of the Gods. From the site:

Alexandria became the centre of this temple trickery. Writers from all over the ancient world flocked to document the strange devices. There are tantalising glimpses from the ancient texts which reveal some of the types of temple machines which were in operation. One of the most famous illusions was to be found at the Temple of Serapis, where an iron chariot hung suspended in mid air. The spectacle appeared to be the work of the gods. In fact, it is believed that a giant lodestone was suspended from the ceiling which would have made the iron chariot appear to be floating by an act of god. The trickery worked, attracting many new visitors to the temple.

The tone of the show is slightly condescending in terms of the gullibility of the worshipers but I'm too fascinated by the ancient inventions to care all that much. There were doors that opened automatically when an individual approached. There were statues of goddesses that seemed to pour out life-giving milk. There were rotating dancers and dragons that moaned as water pressure forced an arrow to shoot them. And the list goes on. If you have the opportunity I highly recommend you check out the show; it's worth it!

Anyway, back to lodestones. Even though I find the ancient uses of lodestone interesting my main concern is their use within hoodoo. Lodestones must be "fed" periodically with magnetic sand to keep them from "starving", magically speaking. They can be used for a variety of different spells depending on their size and their "gender" (more on that in a bit). Single large lodestones are used draw luck or money. Small, gravel-sized stones are carried singly or in pairs in mojo bags to attract love and luck. The very smallest lodestones are submerged in oils to be used for later spellwork.

Paired lodestones, either female/male, male/male or female/female are used in love and fidelity spells. A "male" lodestone is pyramidal or pointed and a "female" lodestone is cubicle or rounded. Generally speaking, paired lodestones should be about the same size and should "fit" together. According to Lucky Mojo:

The matching process consists of sprinkling the lodestones very lightly with magnetic sand to visually reveal their magnetic polarities, and then, by trial and error, finding pairs in which two edges join together well along their planar, convex, or concave surfaces AND also have the proper positive-negative charges that allow them to "draw" or attract along these selected surfaces.

I've always had a thing for hematite as well as any kind of earthbound object produced or affected by lightning, like fulgurite. And, this just occurred to me, I guess this means I have ties to Zeus/Jupiter, specifically Jupiter Fulgurator, as he is the god of lightning. Perhaps I should look at him more closely. I've read that, according to some American Indians and others, it's bad luck to burn lightning struck wood in a fire or stove. But I wonder about using lightning struck wood to, for example, make a ritual tool? It's been touched by a bit of the heavens and, while it obviously wouldn't be magnetized, I figure it would still have some powerful qualities attached to it.

What do you think of lightning in terms of its magical effects?

Growing Pains

So if your read many pagan blogs you're likely familiar with Deo's Shadow, a popular pagan podcast, and the fact that it's two creators have switched to atheism. There are so many posts about this that it would take forever to link them. Just check out The Wild Hunt to find a few and that will get you on your way if you haven't already read about it. Apparently, this change in two apparently well-known pagans (that I've never heard of btw) has caused a little uproar. There's talk of folks outgrowing paganism and of paganism having no coherent community. Some have explained/complained that all the magic and worship and general weirdness of paganism is pointless. Some have said they couldn't get a scientific grasp on paganism and so left it behind them. And on and on and on. And some formerly die hard pagans have, for some reason, been hit pretty hard by this. They're feeling the need to re-examine their beliefs, or something like that. Personally, I don't get the big deal. So some folks who were pagan aren't anymore? Who cares? We are all walking a comparatively new path and there are bound to be dabblers who drift in for a while, some for shallow reasons, some with all sincerity, and eventually drift out. Why does this cause people to doubt themselves and their pagan path?

It makes me wonder how many of us have studied the early years of Christianity. If you haven't given that fascinating period in history a look lately, or ever, let me just tell you: it was a mess. People didn't understand what was going on because no one knew what they were doing. It was all new to them and they were creating a religion from the ground up. They started form scratch. They had less to work with than neopagans as we have a rich history of ancient paganism to study. The rituals of mass and all that didn't spring up out of the ground; they took years to become entrenched. The organization and power of the Christians didn't rise up from out of nowhere. People drifted into Christianity because it was different, because it was new or because it spoke to them. And not all of them stuck with it. And lookee at what those early Christians created: a religion that has dominated for 2000 years! I'm not saying neopaganism will do the same but what I am saying is that we've just got to expect these kinds of things. Just because these events are new to neopaganism doesn't mean they are new in the larger sense. Of course we don't have much coherence. Of course we don't have much of an established community. How could we? There are only a few of us and many of us are very far flung.

I imagine in big cities and in places like California there are a lot of pagan-y, magical people to form a community so maybe they have a different perspective. But, lest we forget, the greater part of this country is not very densely populated. Yes, I'm talking about the Midwest and the Bible Belt. I'm smack in the middle of it and I can tell you there are very few pagans around here. In my entire county there are maybe 6 pagans that I know of and probably not many more than that in the closet. We can't form much of a coherent community because, well, it's hard to galvanize a movement consisting of only 2 or 3 involved people. This is just a microcosmic example but do you see what I'm getting at? There just aren't enough of us yet to be called a movement in the true sense of the word. And I imagine that neopagans in other countries face the same lack of numbers issue that Americans face. We haven't been around long enough; there just aren't that many of us. Compared to the age of religions throughout history ours is still very young. Neopaganism is a child; we've got to expect some growing pains.

What Came First? The Monuments or The Agriculture?

Or, was the Neolithic Revolution, during which agriculture and thus populations exploded, brought about by the need to feed large groups who gathered to build (and later worship and celebrate at) monumental structures? Or was advanced agriculture already taking place which then allowed for the feeding of large groups of builders and later worshipers and celebrants?

This is something that has long puzzled me. It's also been a subject of debate among archaeologists and historians for years. And while this fascinating archaeological dig in Turkey doesn't actually settle the problem it promises of great things to come. For, you see, only about 5% of the entire area has been excavated and it will be many years before everything is uncovered. But what has been uncovered is amazing.

But the location, age and sheer size of Gobekli Tepe have led some to posit a radically different explanation for the change. "The intense cultivation of wild wheat may have first occurred to supply sufficient food to the hunter-gatherers who quarried 7-ton blocks of limestone with flint flakes,"

What is most interesting about the site is that, so far, it looks to have been constructed right smack at the point when the semi-nomads settled into communities. In other words, this site was built by a new breed of men who, unlike everyone before them, began to live in structured communities. This is one of the most important time periods in the history of the human race. Settled communities, brought on by the need to sew, watch over and harvest crops, lead to everything that we think of as civilization: planned cities, organized work forces, writing, mathematics, etc. If not for this radical change the human race might not have even survived!

And, interestingly enough, the sudden change might not have been so sudden and may have taken place for a completely different reason.

For many experts, climate change was behind the transformation. Global temperatures had been warming gradually since the last Ice Age. Between 10,800 and 9,500 b.c., they suddenly plummeted again.

From a pagan perspective I can't help but wonder about the role of early religion within this debate. After all, the ancient monuments weren't just built with simple, pointless partying in mind. Some of them were probably temples dedicated to specific deities and many of them were built to mark solstices, equinoxes and other celestial events. So, what role did that play? Was there a religious revolution which then brought about the agricultural revolution? Did the ancient pagans decide to build big to show veneration for their gods which then brought about the need for more food? After all, if you got several hundred, or even thousands, of people quarrying and transporting huge stones that doesn't leave much time for hunting. If you've got 1000s of man hours devoted to massive earthworks there's not going to be time or energy for the tracking of game.

I guess what it really boils down to is that we may never be certain what brought about the Neolithic Revolution but that, in future decades, the site of Gobekli Tepe in Turkey may contain a lot of revelations. Personally, I think the answer probably lies somewhere in between the various theories. Some people wanted to build big and realized they'd need a lot of food to nourish their workforce while others in another region decided to build big simply because they had plenty of well-fed folks with nothing much to do while the plants grew. I'm not discounting the climate change as catalyst for change theory either. If things got colder it would stand to reason that people might come together to tough it out. After all, communities provide more people to cut and gather firewood. More people crammed into the same building means more body heat. But then, more people means more help with the harvest too. So, who knows?

Winter Solstice Wishes

Winter Solstice Sunrise at Newgrange, Ireland.

We all come from the Sun God
And to Him we shall return
Like a flame of love
Rising to the Heavens

Happy Solstice!

The Winter Solstice: Neolithics to Christians

The word solstice comes from the Latin: "sol" for sun and "stictere", to stand still. Did you know that in January the Earth is about 3 million miles closer to the sun than in June? It doesn't affect our climate in any way though. After all, 3 million miles is nothing in astronomical terms. Rather, it is our planet's curious 23 degree tilt that gives us our seasons. On the winter solstice our hemisphere is tilted farthest away from the sun than at any other point during the year, giving us the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice. And there's more than that happening, astronomically speaking. From Wikipedia:

On the night of winter solstice, as seen from a northern sky, the three stars in Orion's Belt align with the brightest star in the eastern sky Sirius to show where the Sun will rise in the morning after winter solstice. Until this time, the Sun has exhibited since summer solstice a decreasing arc across the Southern sky. On winter solstice, the Sun ceases to decline in the sky and the length of daylight reaches its minimum for three days, during which the sun does not move on the horizon. After such a time, the Sun begins its ascent into the northern sky and days grow longer.

This special time of the year has been celebrated the world over from time out of mind. We're not really sure which ancient culture first began to study and honor the solstices and equinoxes, as there are monuments relating to these dates in nearly every ancient culture, but it's likely to have been of marked importance since Neolithic times. For the record, "neolithic" means new stone and refers to a particular stage of human technological development starting around 10,000 BCE. This period saw what is historically referred to as the "Neolithic revolution" in which farming and metal toolmaking reached previously unknown heights of sophistication. These advances allowed for intense population growth and the development of settled communities which leads us, via the ancient Sumerians in what is now termed the Middle East, to the first examples of recorded history. So, it would stand to reason that the Sumerians were among the first to recognize the solstices and equinoxes.


The first peoples to make monuments related to the winter solstice, however, came from Europe. Or, perhaps more accurately, the oldest surviving monuments known to modern archaeology that relate to the winter solstice come from late Neolithic and Bronze Age sites like Newgrange in Ireland and hundreds of henges and other monuments in Britain. Newgrange is one of my personal favorite ancient places, far closer to my heart than Stonehenge and several centuries older than said henge. It is older than even the great pyramids of Egypt at about 5,000 years of age. The huge monument was built to receive a ray of light into a deep chamber on the morning of the winter solstice that fell on beautiful spirals, solar discs and other symbols. At no other time of the year was this space illuminated which gives us a good indication of the significance of the winter solstice to those who built this ancient site. After all, the Neolithics were the first to perfect farming; the timing of the seasons was crucial to their very survival.

But, as stated above, the ancient Europeans weren't the only Neolithics to honor the solstices and equinoxes in stone. Sacred sites relating to the winter solstice alone have been found all over, including the Americas, Asia, Indonesia and the Middle East. Most notable, in my opinion, are the Chaco Canyon sites in New Mexico built by ancestors of the Pueblos and the Hopi and the Great Zimbabwe, AKA "African Stonehenge", site. These ancient sacred sites, and many others the world over, have fairly precise alignments involving the winter solstice. It gives me shivers to think of the ancient sites not yet discovered!

As the winter solstice sees the return of the sun after the longest night of the year it naturally lead to the incorporation of the worship of sun gods and no holyday holds more sway over us today than that of the ancient Greco-Roman period. The ancient Greeks celebrated the Chronia, in honor of Chronus, around the time of the winter solstice. Eventually, as is typical of the ancient Romans, the holyday was Romanized and became Saturnalia, and Chronus became Saturn, a deity of--you guessed it--agriculture and the harvest. The festivities were marked by the usual sacrifices, the exchanging of gifts, legal gambling-even by slaves, and a symbolic reversal of the roles of slaves and their owners (meaning the slaves were still doing all the work but things were a little more laid back than usual) and general partying all around. Originally the holyday was only celebrated for a single day, 17 December, but gradually grew in length due to its immense popularity. It was such an important and popular festival that, despite the efforts of more than one Caesar to shorten it, the celebrations eventually spread to encompass an entire week.

Saturnalia is tied up with such an important decision that a little Christian history is warranted to explain it. To understand this you must know that Saturnalia was eventually superseded by the festival of Sol Invictus, the Roman sun god imported from Syria, which borrowed many of the characteristics of the previously celebrated holyday. During the reign of Julius Caesar a great number of calendar reforms were instituted, one of which firmly placed the winter solstice, the celebration of the return of Sol, on 25 December. Later in the 4th century CE the Emperor Constantine, who considered Sol to be the same deity as Jesus, perhaps quite naturally decided upon 25 December as the birth of the savior of his new religion. So what was once Saturnalia became the festival of Sol Invictus and then became the celebration of the birth of the new sun god, the Christ child. So it would seem that some of the old Saturnalia traditions would quite naturally have survived in the more recent celebrations of Christmas, namely the gift giving and the general emphasis on food and drink.

And so, to honor his return and ask his favor I say a short prayer to Sol.

In these dark days of winter, and dark economic times of social unrest, may the light of the returning sun bless us all. Whether we honor Chronus, Saturn, Sol, Jesus or no god at all but simply welcome the return of warmth may we all be filled with the joyous potential of the season. As the calendar year turns and a new president takes the helm of my country may we all benefit from the better times to come.

Edited on 21 December: It has occurred to me that, given all the dates and facts being thrown around in the above, it might be good if I listed some sources. Duh! You'd think I'd never written an essay before. So, here are some of the sites I consulted for this post:

Free Republic
Wikipedia entry for Sol Invictus
Wikipedia entry for Constantine the Great
Wikipedia entry for Saturnalia
Wikipedia entry for Winter Solstice
Solstice at Candle Grove.com
December at Religio Romana
I also consulted "The Golden Bough" and a couple of other books that I'm too lazy to run upstairs to fetch. I've also read a lot about this subject over the years so I just consulted my memory and my pineal gland.

Monumental Morass

It seems there's a lot of problems with various ancient monuments being either neglected, cut off from the public or being degraded by ugly and poorly planned fencing and temporary buildings and other problems. It was recently reported that many ancient sites in Greece are falling to bits because of neglect. There have also been complaints about various Grecian sites being cut off from tourists or being open only for short days or being closed altogether to visitors due to lack of staff.

Yesterday, the authoritative newspaper Sunday Vima disclosed that the Cycladic isle of Delos - the site of Apollo's mythological sanctuary and one of Greece's most important ancient venues - resembled an "archaeological rubbish dump". Recently, it emerged that many sites, including Delphi, Mycenae and the spectacular Bronze Age settlement of Akrotiri on the popular island of Santorini, were only partially open or permanently closed.

Due to overwhelming criticism, mostly from tourists and tour guides, the Grecian government has made a push to add more staff to various sites and has publicly admitted the disgraceful state of many prominent ancient sites.

Now there's some more controversy brewing about the state of Stonehenge. Specifically, what was supposed to be a temporary visitors center has instead been left for years and is quite unsightly. There is also much to do about proposed roadways and promises the British government hasn't--so far--kept. It's reached the point where, once again, an elder Druid is camping near Stonehenge in protest.

Pendragon, 54, is hoping his protests will encourage the Government to remove the fences around the monument, build a tunnel over the A303 and grass over the A344...A public inquiry was set up in 2004 to look at ways of improving the traffic flow in and around the Stonehenge area. Among the many options that were discussed were a new dual carriageway and a 2.1km bored tunnel.

Seems Pendragon protested similarly in the 90s with success as the site was eventually opened to the public, whereas before it hadn't been.

All of these problems surrounding these ancient temples and sites saddens me and not just as a pagan but as a lover of all things ancient. Ancient sites are the remnants of the roots of our modern society. They hold so much mystery and have so much to teach us. As a pagan I naturally appreciate these places as many of them were worship centers for the ancient pagan and thus have a clear connection to modern pagans. Back in the day the gods were worshiped with multiple daily offerings at these temples, they are holy places, they are sacred. And I applaud Mr. Pendragon for his efforts to improve the state of things over in England.

I guess these problems are just a symptom of our Christianity-drenched society; the old pagan places just aren't very important. I'm cynical enough to imagine that many Abrahamic folks would prefer these ancient sites were bulldozed. I'm still baffled, however, by the British and Grecian governments' letting these important places go to hell; they are, after all, huge draws for tourists. Tourism is vitally important to both countries, and it amazes me that they'd shoot themselves in the foot this way.

P.S. Pompeii is now in a state of emergency due to its sad state.

Thoughts on this Initium Aestatis

I blogged last year about my introduction to the goddess Aestas, the Roman goddess of summertime. Initium Aestatis is the Roman celebration of the arrival of summer but it hasn't felt very summery around here yet. I haven't felt that Aestas has truly returned. It's gotten steadily steamier and the plant life has certainly greened as it should. But we've had few truly hot days. We had such a rainy spring and early summer that the weather stayed cool. And here we are and it's nearly July and I've only rarely felt like jumping into the pool. I wonder if Aestas will arrive soon or if our summer will be a cool one altogether. Of course, we use air conditioners and staying inside all the time will make it seem like summer hasn't arrived but I spend my fair share of time outside and it just doesn't feel like summer yet. So, I'm going to be doing a little rite to help bring on the true firey heat of summer which is a little thing I like to call "blowing stuff up" to celebrate the fact that I don't speak with a British accent.
Above, a mosaic of the Greek summer horai, which is a rough equivalent to Aestas. (I don't include an image of Aestas because I've never found one.)

Healing Blue Stones of Stonehenge

News from England: the blue stones of Stonehenge, which were placed 150 years before the larger, more recognizable stones, were transported 250 miles from Wales most likely because reputedly healing spring waters flowed in the area of their origin. This is fascinating. This theory lends credence to what I've always thought: Stonehenge wasn't (just) a memorial to the dead, it was an active and dynamic site for the living. According to the LA Times article:

Tim Darvill, a professor at the University of Bournemouth, and Geoff Wainwright, president of the Society of Antiquaries of London, have spent the last six years researching Stonehenge and the rocky outcrop Carn Menyn, thought to be the site in the Preseli Hills from which the bluestones were taken.

Darvill and Wainwright, the co-directors of the dig, found the Welsh site to be a center for ceremony and burials, where the springs that flowed below the rocks were regarded by ancients as having medicinal powers.

They hope that by finding evidence to tie the stones from the Preseli Hills to those at Stonehenge, they will have an answer to the age-old question of the site's purpose.

The two men hope to establish a more precise timeline, to within 10 years, for the construction of Stonehenge by using radiocarbon dating to compare samples from the excavation with those taken from the site in Wales.

I find this fascinating! There's even evidence, according to the article, that brain surgery took place there! I can't wait until the results of the radio carbon dating come in. I've always thought of Stonehenge as a center of worship, a ritual circle where the various holydays were celebrated, deities invoked and nature honored. But now it seems it could also have been a center for healing where green witches and shamans of the herbal and midwifery persuasion would perhaps gather and practice their art.

Bona Dea

Around this time of May sacred rites in honor of Bona Dea, the Good Goddess, were celebrated in Rome. The Bona Dea is a goddess of fertility and healing who was especially loved by women and slaves. As the daughter of Faunus she is sometimes called Fauna. She is also sometimes called Fatua, or Fate. Her temple on the Aventine hill included a medicinal herb garden and something of a doctors office as well. Like Diana, or the Greek Artemis, her rites were for women only and even images of male animals were removed from the area of the sacred rites. Not much is known about her rituals. We do know that during her May rites a sow was sacrificed to her and Ceres and that wine, since it was officially off-limits to women, was called milk and drunk by the celebrants. History also tells us that decorations of vines and flowers were used with the exception of the myrtle since one story held that Faunus had beaten his daughter with myrtle branches, perhaps in the course of a purification ritual. Juvenal, the hilarious Roman satirist, claimed that the rites of the Bona Dea were orgiastic and wild but this is not to be taken as literal truth as he often exaggerated to make his point. She is ususally portrayed on a throne with a cornucopia in hand and often appeared on coins. Snakes, as symbols of healing, are sacred to her and consecrated snakes were kept in her temple in Rome.

I am just getting to know the Bona Dea. She is a Great Goddess and I would so love to know more about her ancient rites. I can't find much about her online and am feeling rather stymied. Her close ties to Diana and Ceres means her interests include animals, agriculture as well as virginity and I'm determined to learn more about her. I will seek to learn more of her through deep meditation and further study.

Floralia

We are smack dab in the middle of the Floralia Ludi, the spring festival honoring the goddess Flora. She is a goddess of flowering plants, vines, olives and fruit trees as well as youth and fertility. In the Circus Maximus the temple of Flora, between the Aventine and Palatine hills, was decorated with, of course, flowers and instead of the usual white the Romans dressed in colorful clothing as they enjoyed the sexual freedom of the festival. Even animals were dressed with flowers and hares and goats were released into the city as they were especially linked with fertility. There were special theater performances, games, stripteases and much feasting and drinking to celebrate the energetic bloom of spring. At one point the games and festivities fell out of favor due to the wildness of the celebrations but were reinstated in 173 BCE as a six day festival after storms and other troubles had destroyed crops. The emphasis on sex and fertility was such that, in the cities, prostitutes claimed the festival as their own. In the country the celebration was much closer to nature and focused less on the party and more on the growth of crops. Beans and seeds featured heavily in the celebrations and were not only planted at this time but also scattered amongst celebrants to promote fertility.

As for myself, I've been celebrating the festival by potting the first of the spring flowers and enjoying the beauty of springs first blush. We started with dianthus, pansies and violas. Violas are my special favorite flowers. When I was a baby I apparently found them, or their fairies perhaps, funny and would laugh at them. So, violas are also called giggle flowers around here. The weather has been weird lately; we had frost the other night. It seems to be warming up again and hopefully this time it'll stay warm. As long as the weather cooperates tomorrow we'll get peas, radishes, lettuce, beets, corn, green beans, pinto beans and cucumber seeds started in the gardens. We've also got red and white onions to get in the ground. So, I've got a full day of planting ahead and am actually looking forward to continuing the Floralia tradition in this way.

Original art by Josephine Wall.

Robigalia

25 April is the date of the Roman festival of the Robigalia, a special time to beg the kindness of Robigo, goddess of mildew, mold, wheat rust and similar crop killers. Or it may be meant to honor the god Robigus depending on which source you search. On this day, a procession beginning in Rome left the city by the Flamian Gate, then crossed the Milvan bridge before reaching the fifth milestone on the Via Claudia. At that point the procession entered a sacred grove where a dog and a sheep were sacrificed and their entrails burned on the sacrificial altar. According to Ovid the flamen (priest) then said the following words:

Harsh Robigo, spare the sprouting grain and let the unblemished tops quiver above the ground. Let the crops, nursed by the heaven's propitious stars, grow till they are ripe for the sickle. Yours is no feeble power: the grain on which you have branded your mark the husbandman gives up for lost. Not the winds, nor the showers, nor the glistening frost that nips the sallow grain, harm it so much as when the sun warms the wet stalks; then, dread goddess, is it the hour you wreck your wrath. Spare, I pray, and take your scabby hands from off the harvest: Harm not the tilth; be it enough that you have the power to harm.

While I'm obviously not going to sacrifice any animals I am taking steps to control the mushrooms and fungus that like to grow in my seedling cups. A couple of years ago a very knowledgeable herb lady gave me some advice to curb these kinds of plant killers. She said to mix ash and sand and sprinkle that on my seedlings. I've never tried it before this year but I've been using this mix for the last few days and so far I think it's working. *knock wood* Nowadays only farmers and gardeners care about root rot and similar problems but just think of ancient times, or even just a couple of hundred years ago. As if propagating and planting and weeding isn't hard enough can you imagine your very life rotting away before your eyes? The food for one's family, that produce they barter for other goods, gone and all because of mold. After losing several crops of herb seedlings to root rot I can only imagine what it would be like to lose one's only food source. So, on this day I honor the goddess Robigo as well as those who have gone before me in marking this day.

Lux Mundi

10 December is sacred to Libertas, Roman goddess of Liberty. She is The Light of the World as her torch of hope burns everlasting. Originally perceived as a goddess of personal freedom she later became a goddess of the Roman state. Temples to her have been found on two of the Seven Hills of Rome on which the city was built, namely, the Aventine Hill and the Palatine Hill as well as numerous others. She is often depicted on Roman coins with a pileus cap worn by slaves when they were set free as well as a laurel wreath and a spear.
I was almost born on July 4 and would have been named Liberty. It's strange but I dreamed last night that I told someone this and here it is, the day to celebrate Liberty! It's funny how our minds work. I'd already read about Lux Mundi so part of my brain decided to remind me. I take this is a sign that I should strive harder to enjoy my personal freedom and not be closeted and stifled so much.

Hecate Night

Tonight is Hecate Night in honor of the Great Goddess Hecate. Although She has other sacred days within various cultures, the Romans especially honored Her on the 29th of each month, this is the day I and others mark as specially meant for Her. Although considered by many to be a Greek goddess She actually originated from Asia Minor, Anatolia to be exact. She later became somewhat incorporated into, but independent of, the Greco-Roman pantheons. She is a goddess of many guises including a mother goddess, sorceress, Queen of the Underworld and Queen of the Night. Though She is considered a crone goddess by most neopagans today She is herself a Triple Goddess and thus a Great Goddess. According to one myth She shares the moon duties with Artemis and Selene, as maiden and mother respectively, and is represented by the dark of the moon. But as the moon itself produces no light of its own it is in fact always dark. As such, Hecate is the moon goddess of all phases and stages as well as goddess of sky, Earth and Underworld. Without Her we would quite possibly have no seasons as, out of all the gods, only She heard the pitiful cries of Persephone and took steps to ensure Her part-time freedom from the land of the dead. Her sacred symbols are the key, as a guardian goddess of the Underworld; the scourge, as a herder and sometimes beater of souls; and the dagger, symbol of Her ritual power as well as Her ability to take life, especially that of babies who would otherwise suffer worse fates. Dogs are also sacred to Her as they are able to sniff out good souls from evil souls and as such Cerberus is especially Her friend. Crossroads, as metaphors for the past, future and present, are sacred to Her and offerings to Her are to be left in these magical places. In the past victims of violent or otherwise questionable deaths were often buried at crossroads so as to encourage Hecate to quickly take the deceased away to the Underworld.

The more modern understanding of Hecate is that of patroness of witches and mighty crone goddess. She is a wise, stern and sometimes cruel goddess who does not suffer fools gladly and will gladly kick you in the face if you deserve it. She does not coddle or baby Her followers but rather She challenges us to challenge ourselves, to incorporate the darkness within us into our larger souls and thus become whole. She is not to be trifled with, She cannot be fooled and She reigns over the unconscious land of dreams and that of the Underworld. She is a Great Goddess, some would say, The Great Goddess. All hail Hecate!
For a more exhaustive history of Hecate visit Wikipedia. Original art by Luis Royo.

The "War" on Christmas

We are well into November so it's that time again. Yes, the War on Christmas is warming up. Instead of assuming that everyone celebrating a holy day this time of year is a Christian many people prefer to be inclusive about it and say "Happy Holidays". And this is such an evil thing, it is such a blatant attack against Christmas that boycotts are being encouraged, books are being written, rants are being shouted and people are getting pissed. Myself included. This is such bullshit. I am tired, tired, TIRED of this "I'm a poor persecuted Christian, I can't dictate how my government works and I can't force others to believe as I do, woe is me" argument. You know what? The "I'm so persecuted" religious line is an old one and it's an obvious call for a pity party. It's an attempt to paint yourself as the underdog; it's a self-serving bullshit story.

You feel put upon because not everyone says "Merry Christmas"? What's the big deal? Not everyone worships your savior and that's gonna...what?....hurt your personal faith? Offend Jesus? I'm pretty sure Jesus is a big boy and can handle it. But if you're still worried about Him I've got a solution, why don't you celebrate the birth of Jesus a little closer to the actual date? It's in the spring, dumbass, and any regular viewer of The History Channel can tell you that. Furthermore, give the pagans back our holiday. Ya know why the birth of your Christ is celebrated on December 25? Because that's just right next to the ancient date of the Roman holiday of Saturnalia. Ya know what else? It's right next to the winter solstice, which falls on the 22nd this year and which has been celebrated by cultures the world round since time was time. Modern neopagans, like myself, would like these warmongering, self-righteous ignoramuses to know these facts. In fact, while I'm at it, give us back the rest of the holidays you stole from us. Easter was named for the goddess Eostre, a Celtic pagan deity who was offered a special egg by a hare who was granted immortality. Imbolc got turned into Groundhog Day. Beltaine became May Day. I could go on. Of course, I'm oversimplifying, but the point still stands. The Puritans were right, Christmas is too pagan. And there's a reason for that. It was stolen from the old pagans. Give it back and celebrate Jesus' birth near the actual date. Then you won't have people offending you with their "Happy Holidays" cheer. But then, you wouldn't be able to piss and moan about the War on Christmas. Oh dear, what else would you have to whine about? Perhaps the senseless deaths occurring every day in Iraq, ya know, the real war?

Now that would be a real holiday gift.

A World of Stonehenges

I thought I'd share this interesting Craig Childs opinion piece regarding new finds at Stonehenge and seeming different versions of the ancient site all over the world, old and modern.

The new discovery, two miles from Stonehenge itself, is an elaborate residential compound now being excavated. It is a site where the builders of Stonehenge may have lived and where pilgrims may have stayed while attending feasts and ceremonies. Fascinating tidbits have been unearthed: a timber version of Stonehenge, evidence of different kinds of occupations in the 4,600-year-old village and a processional "road" leading to the nearby Avon River. These finds add to the picture of an enigmatic Neolithic religion, in which stone-paved roads are aligned with celestial features and great circles frame the rising and setting sun at key times of the year.

These recent discoveries fill out the picture of Stonehenge. I always assumed, as did everyone I guess, that there must be remains of settlements somewhere close by Stonehenge. For all that building to go on there would have to have been people living in permanent homes, similar to the worker settlement near the Giza pyramids in Egypt. That said, the bigger story is the Stonehenge-like structures the world over. There is a Stonehenge-like structure even here in the states.

The Big Horn Medicine Wheel in Wyoming, dating back several hundred years, is a complex celestial calendar, its 28 spokes of aligned stones pointing to risings and settings of the sun and various stars. This medicine wheel, in turn, is similar to the Nonakado Stone Circle of Japan, from the 1st millennium BC, where standing stones mark important, calendrical events on the horizon.

Other Neolithic Stonehenge-like structures can be found in Turkey, the Sahara desert in Egypt and New Mexico from the Chaco culture. All these structures, as well as many modern buildings such as governmental buildings in D.C., were built according to the stars or otherwise incorporated sacred geometry. I find this fascinating to say the least. I don't know a thing about architecture in the practical sense. I just find it amazing that ancient, and many modern, buildings were built to align with the cardinal directions or showcase celestial events like solstices, equinoxes or the rising of certain important stars. And while I don't really care about modern government buildings I would definitely want my fantasy Roman home and temples built according to these sacred alignments.

The Horned God

Above is a line drawing version of "The Sorcerer" or the horned shaman from Paleolithic cave art found in modern France. The figure is quite obviously therianthropic, meaning it blends human and animals’ forms into a symbolic image. The trouble arises when one tries to pin down the meaning of said symbology. The most commonly held theory is that the image portrays one of the earliest spiritual leaders, a shaman, in the course of a ritual or trance. Pre-historic shamans used the same techniques that later shamans use to induce trance and work magic: chant, dance and various hallucinogenic or otherwise psychotropic natural substances. These shamans were the medicine men, and possibly women, of their society; they were learned herbalists and healers, intermediaries between the people and the gods and the natural world, practitioners of the earliest religion and magic. These historical horned shamans are the ancestors of later gods such as Cernunnos and Pan.

Cernunnos is probably the most easily recognizable and most popular of the Horned Gods. His name is literally "the horned one". He was worshiped all over Gaul (mostly present-day France) and in Britain; hence he is a Celtic deity. He has the antlers of a stag and is thus the lord of the wood and wild things. He is also sometimes accompanied by his symbols the torc, ram-headed snake, the stag and purse full of money. He is the god of fertility, life, animals, wealth and the underworld; he is a Great God. He is the Celtic British leader of the Wild Hunt, which makes its way across the land by night sweeping up evildoers. He is reborn every year at the winter solstice after the longest night of the year, or Yule, falling at about 21 December in the northern hemisphere, joins with the Great Goddess at Beltaine, around May 1, reaches his full strength at the summer solstice, around June 21 and dies at Samhain, October 21, which many pagans consider the end of the year; all so he can be reborn again at Yule. Most historical records maintain that Cernunnos traditionally dies at midsummer and that's very likely true. But we neopagans have felt it necessary to lengthen his life until Yule. In Gallo-Roman images he is shown alongside other Celtic deities as well as Jupiter, Vulcan and other Greco-Roman gods. After the coming of the Anglo-Saxons he became Herne the Hunter worshiped somewhat in England but more so in Germany and France.
Pan is the Greek god of shepherds and flocks, most popular in Arcadia. He is a son of Hermes the messenger god. Pan is a satyr with the horns, feet, hairy body and mountain climbing abilities of a goat. His attributes include a shepherd's crook and a crown of pine needles. As a part of the retinue of Dionysus his overwhelming lustful appetites lead him to chase nymphs throughout the forest. He is another descendent of the Paleolithic horned shaman.

Lughnasadh, Harvest Celebration

The Celtic god Lugh, the one of every skill, originally intended this holyday to be a funeral feast for his foster-mother Tailtu. During this time in historical Ireland there was a 30 day celebration in which Lugh and he consort, the nature goddess Rosmerta, were worshiped. Since then, this day has become the first of three harvest festivals within neopaganism. I didn't get to celebrate the calendar holyday with my group as me and mine are under the weather and probably will still be sick when the astronomical day comes around on the 7th. We did, however, get to enjoy the first harvest of our corn on the calendar day, the 4th. And what corn it is!! Sweet and delicious!
For me, this time of year has always marked, not only the first corn, but the onset of the most consistently hottest time of the year. The plants love it, as long as there's enough water around, and everything is growing like wildfire. The days and nights are steamy and misty, the air is full of bugs and their songs, the gardens are producing lots of fresh wonderfulness, and the sprinklers, pools and air conditioners are in full use. Temperatures and electric bills are high but as Janis sang: "the livin's easy". It's a time to get out in the sun and pick some produce then go back into the cool house and eat it. The hobbit in me is very happy, even if the mosquitoes like me like I like fresh corn.

Furrinalia

Furrina is an Italian goddess of springs. She is therefore a goddess of fresh water but also of the underground sources and movements of water. She is a water and an earth goddess who, while usually making it possible for people to survive, is not always benevolent. Sometimes the water dries up or simply cannot be found. Sometimes there are floods or tainted water. This festival is related to the celebration of Neptunalia and Salacia 2 days previous. Our sources of fresh water are honored and celebrated on these days, especially since drought can take hold during this time of year. It is a time to ensure that gardens and other plants are getting enough water. It is also a time to pay attention to one's own water intake as well as that of animals. These are the dog days of summer after all, it is the most consistently hottest time of the year. It is a time to appreciate our springs and give thanks to Furrina for blessing us with her bounty. To learn more about Furrina and her recently discovered grove, visit this great page.

Initium Aestatis

Today is the Roman festival of the beginning of summer. It is the sacred feast day of Aestas, the tutelary goddess of summertime. She is an obscure goddess who may have been a pure invention of Ovid. He describes her as standing near the throne of Phoebus, god of the sun, along with other representations of time such as the other seasons, day, year, etc. She is portrayed as naked except for a garland made from ears of corn. She is so obscure I couldn't find a picture of her anywhere.

On this day I will make prayers and simple rites to ensure a rich and abundant summertime for myself and other aspects of my life. I hope to improve my physical health, mostly by losing extra weight, and improve my mental health by learning to better deal with my fiery rage. I also hope that our gardens continue to grow and thrive. I have meditated on Aestas and found that she is indeed a distinct goddess, I felt her today when a summer thunderstorm made a sudden appearance. I could feel her cleansing my mind and spirit as the wind and rain whipped around and against me. It was a magical moment and a memorable meeting.

Us and Them and the Colloseum

Just came across this blog post by Jonathan Jones at the Guardian Unlimited; this was posted in Wren's Nest on witchvox. Jones writes:

The first people to denounce the Roman empire were the ancient Romans themselves - and their language of self-criticism lies behind every modern denigration of what they did. It is a mark of our ignorance that we fail to recognize this, and if you do see it, the very idea of Rome becomes more human.

Because we are no longer familiar with Roman authors, we unknowingly leap on fragments of their rhetoric as fact - so Tacitus becomes a source of caricatured images, rather being seen as the sublime product of Roman civilisation that he is.

Rome was the first society to acknowledge that it failed to live up to its own values. Greeks never seem to have worried that much about the decline of their city states, but in Tacitus you find a culture in mourning for its self-betrayal. Rome is our true mirror.

The above blog post started out with a brief mention of how we moderns consider ancient Romans to have been nothing but a decadent, warlike and scandalous people. He discusses how many people generalize ancient Rome because all they know about it they learned from movies (even Gladiator commits serious historical errors) or the Bible. And I think he's right. The ancient Romans had their problems of course and they often owned up to them. They aren't that different from us. They had jobs and families and gossip and bureaucracy and everything else that comes along with "being civilized". And they had their detractors from within and without the Empire. And I find it laugh-out-loud funny when modern Americans, especially the right, criticizes The Roman Empire for its wars; it's an outrageous example of hypocrisy of the highest order. But I would go a step further. I would also say that those who mouth off about the evils of ancient Rome are the same people who think that zillions of early Christians were killed in the Colloseum and that it was therefore some kind of litmus test for the sanctity and legitimacy of Christianity. We've all heard or read that kind of rhetoric: the early Christians were hounded and murdered en masse by the evil Romans and were/are therefore of the highest holy order. And there simply isn't evidence for that. Were some of the early Christians killed by the Romans? Yes, that's almost certain. But that's as far as it goes. The ancient Romans, for the most part, disliked the Christians but didn't go to any great lengths to eradicate them until the time of Diocletian. There's no historical or archaeology evidence to support the idea that countless Christians were specifically targeted and killed in the Flavian Amphitheatre, the original name for the Colloseum. And it wasn't even considered sacred or otherwise special until Pope Pius V and Fioravante Martinelli popularized the idea in the 16th and 17th centuries. In early Christian times the place of death wasn't even all that important; it was the place of internment that was venerated. More than that, up until the 17th century the Collosseum was used for numerous and varied purposes, including a quarry, a fortress, workshops, housing and only later as a Christian shrine. At one time members of a particular Christian order lived in one section of the structure but for no particular religious reason. And just to be anal, Christians were very likely killed in other places, not just the Colloseum, but also the Circus Flaminius, the Gaianum, the Circus of Hadrian, the Ampitheatreum Castrense and the Stadium of Domitian. What's the point of this rant? Just the same point that Jones expresses: take the time to read more than just one ancient Roman's book before you shoot your mouth off about them. You just might learn something, namely, the mirror with ancient Rome on one side and modern western society on the other.