October, 2018

Happy October, everyone!  I’m busy getting ready to move to Cochrane, so it’s another brief blog this month.

Since with Samhain, we begin to focus on issues surrounding death, insert seasonal rant on the irony of people putting up roadside memorials – be they crosses, flowers, or the City’s memorial bands on lampposts – where their loved ones have died in an accident, seeming to placate the spirits haunting the spots where they died. Isn’t this more of a pagan idea?  As Christians, shouldn’t they be thought of as being in heaven, and memorialized where their bodies are already interred?

Some of you remember my May, 2015 blog entry for my “Top Ten Glacial Erratics in Calgary” https://bit.ly/2xHhsjy .  As I mentioned in Facebook, I’ve recently been approached by someone wanting a more complete list, in the hopes of having them designated as local historic resources. I’ve now reconstructed my list, and hope to post it here later in October.  I’ve also found and started consulting A. MacS. Stalker’s classic 1956 study for the Geologic Survey of Canada https://bit.ly/2Q2bykz , to compare it against my list in the hopes of finding others I missed. Some of those may be no longer be in place, and it raises the question about the ones on my list that aren’t on Stalker’s.  Are they really quartzite?  I’m not a geologist.  (Nerd alert: This is further complicated by a jog in the Dominion Land Survey south of 146^th Ave., an area where a few of my Top Ten are located. A correction line compensates for the curvature of the Earth.)  Stalker’s list also opens me up for a more extended project exploring the back roads of Alberta, which may have to wait until at least next spring.

There are plenty of events this month; must be the season of the witch!

October Events:

Note these events are listed for information purposes only; no endorsement should be necessarily implied. Dates and locations may be subject to change; see the source for details. If I’ve missed anyone and you’d like to add to this listing, please contact me. All times MDT.

Sep 28-30:  New Earth Expo at the Big Four Building.  https://www.facebook.com/events/405890826545598/

Oct 5, 6:00 pm:  “Magic & Mugwort – A Wickedly Witchy Hallowe’en” at Kodiak Herbal, 2410 – 2 Ave. SE.  https://www.facebook.com/events/454976034989391/

Oct 5, 9:00 pm:  Paranormal Investigation at Rockyview Hotel, Cochrane, hosted by Ghost Hunt Alberta.

Oct 7, 1:30 pm:  Labyrinth Walk and Sound Bath, at Botanical Gardens of Silver Springs, hosted by Solar Power Health Inc. Tickets through Eventbrite.  https://www.facebook.com/events/456717324820875/

Oct 8:  Canadian Thanksgiving.

Oct 8, 9:47 pm:  New Moon. Lunar Month of Gort/Ivy begins.

Oct 11, 7:00 pm:  Calgary Pagan Pride Society AGM at Denny’s, 1804-19 St. NE.

Oct 12-14:  Calgary Tattoo and Arts Festival at BMO Centre.  https://albertatattooshows.com/calgary

Oct 13-14:  Hempfest Cannabis Expo at Big Four Building.

Oct 13, 11:00 am:  Calgary Kinky Flea Market at Forest Heights Community Centre, 4909 Forego Ave. SE.

Oct 13, 7:00 pm:  Calgary Cuddle Party at Scarboro Community Centre. https://bit.ly/2obhvQn

Oct 13, 7:00 pm:  Hallowe’en Paranormal Investigation at East Coulee School Museum, hosted by Ghost Hunt Alberta.

Oct 17, 6:00 pm:  “Ecological Grief: A Discussion and Workshop” at Women’s Centre of Calgary, for those identifying as women.  https://www.facebook.com/events/246123999430502/

Oct 18, 6:00 pm:  “Witches Wine and Paint – Adults Only!” at Color Me Mine, 334-14 St. NW.  BYOB.  https://www.facebook.com/events/432234433967125/

Oct 19-21:  Calgary Gem and Mineral Show at Big Four Building.  http://www.calgarygemshow.com/

Oct 20, 10:00 pm:  Paranormal Investigation of Aspen Crossing, Mossleigh (south of Carseland), hosted by Ghost Hunt Alberta.

Oct 24, 10:45 am:  Full (Hunter or Blood) Moon.  

Oct 26, 7:00 pm:  “Witches and Warlocks Costume Gala”, featuring The Black Roses and Corporate Succubus, at Border Crossing YYC, 1814-36 St. SE. https://www.facebook.com/events/474930492918773/

Oct 27, 10:00 am:  Calgary New Age Market “Booganza” at Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Association.  https://www.facebook.com/events/163731384384442/

Oct 27, 10:00 am:  “Enchanted Okotoks” (think Harry Potter) in downtown Okotoks.  https://www.facebook.com/events/239685826665194/

Oct 27, 6:30 pm:  Embodied Bliss: Tantric Cacao Journey into the Sacral Chakra, at Scarboro Community Hall.  https://bit.ly/2PfPlPL

Oct 27, 7:00 pm:  Calgary Heathens Meet and Greet.

Oct 27, 7:00 pm:  Paranormal Investigation of The Rustic Emporium, Bassano, hosted by Ghost Hunt Alberta.

Oct 28:  Celtic Tree-Month of Ngetal/Reed begins, according to Robert Graves.

Oct 28, 7:00 pm:  Paranormal Hallowe’en Party at Rose & Crown, hosted by Ghost Hunt Alberta.

Oct 31:  Traditional Samhain. Happy New Year!

Nov 3, 7:00 pm:  “Witches’ Night Out” Fundraiser for Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter, at Calgary Shriners Event Centre.  Women only; watch for Muggles!

Lunar Calendars

With Chinese New Year upon us, this may be a good time for a word on lunar calendars.  Many pagans, timing rituals as they do by the Full and New Moons, are apt to mark time using a lunar calendar.  The specifics of the calendar can take several different forms.  The Chinese lunar calendar, for example, begins with the New Moon closest to their equivalent of Imbolc, which means it can occur in either January or February.

English author Robert Graves virtually invented the so-called Celtic tree-calendar in his landmark 1948 book, The White Goddess.  Beginning with the winter solstice, Graves divided the year into thirteen months of 28 days each, plus one intercalary day (two on leap years). While this calendar has the benefit of fixed dates, I personally don’t see it as “lunar”, as it’s independent of the lunar phases.  Still, this system has been popularized by Llewellyn Books through their calendars, so many solitary pagans use it to mark time.

An interesting variation on this is the calendar presented by Canadian hedgewitch  Jean Kozocari.  In her 1994 Book of Days, Kozocari and others proposed a fixed 13-month calendar beginning at Samhain, the pagan New Year.  Graves’ tree-months (Birch, Rowan, Ash, etc.) were still kept, but shifted to the revised New Year, with Birch beginning in November.   This still doesn’t work for me, though it may for some.

My personal preference, which I’ve been using in my Almanack since I began using it in the mid-nineties, is a lunar calendar beginning with the New Moon closest to the Winter Solstice.  Over the course of the year this works out to be about 12-1/2 lunar months, so the last (Ruis/Elder) lunar month of one year is often the same as the first (Beth/Birch) of the new.  A number of published calendars use this system. 

Beginning this month, I’ll list both the Graves’ tree month dates and the Winter Solstice “lunar month” dates, both as an exercise and for those of you who prefer the system of Graves and Llewellyn.

February Events:

Note these events are listed for information purposes only. Dates and locations may be subject to change; see the source for details. If I’ve missed anyone and you’d like to add to this listing, please contact me. All times MST.

Feb 1-2:  Traditional Imbolc.

Feb 2, 7:00 am:  Groundhog Day Pancake Breakfast at Blue Grass Nursery and Garden Centre, south of Crossiron Mills. Balzac Billy prognosticates at 8:10 am.

Feb 4, 7:30 pm:  COGCOA Coffee Cauldron. http://www.cogcoa.ab.ca

Feb 7:  Birthday of Margarian Bridger (1957-2016), founder of Evergreen Tradition.

Feb 10, 5:23 pm:  Full (Snow or Quickening) Moon. Penumbral lunar eclipse.

Feb 11, 10:00 am:  Calgary New Age Craft Market at Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Hall.

Feb 14: Valentine’s Day.

Feb 18:  Luis/Rowan tree month begins, according to Robert Graves.

Feb 19:  Dances with Witches. Info: Calgary Pagan Network on Facebook.

Feb 20:  Family Day (Alberta).

Feb 25, 7:00 pm: Heathen Meet and Greet. Info: Calgary Heathens on Facebook.

Feb 26, 7:58 am:  New Moon. Nion/Ash lunar month begins.