Beltane, 2018

Happy Beltane, everyone!  It looks like our long winter is finally over and spring is here.  Still, remember that the average date for last frost here falls on the Victoria Day weekend, so we may still have some cool days ahead.

With Beltane, the Green Man begins to show his face hereabouts, ending the rule of the Horned God.  The phallic Maypole spins energy into the Earth, and the Earth responds, sending forth new shoots, grass, and leaves.

In my personal Wheel of the Year, the young Oak Lord transitions from Warrior to Lover; his romance and mating with the Goddess initiates her transformation from Maiden to Mother, as they conceive the Holly child.  Mapping the Wheel onto our lives, Beltane corresponds to adolescence and all it entails: challenging boundaries, authority, and self; dating, courtship, and sexual awakening.

Some of you may have heard this week of a Christian fundamentalist group who wanted (presumably symbolically, but one can never quite be sure) to “break the altar of witchcraft in Calgary”.  This local storefront church was alerted by a “Public” Facebook event posted by a local pagan market, beginning, “Calling all Witches, Wizards, Vikings and Shamans, Pirates, Fairies and Sprites, Pagans and Heathens of all Traditions…” The Christians typically overreacted, believing this to be the Pagan Worldcon, and prayed for our souls, or to save their own. Still, it prompted several pagans here to avoid the event, or to alert Facebook to the hateful and discriminatory nature of the self-professed Christians’ video and particularly the comments of a few of their followers (one used numerous knife and bomb emojis in hers).  Still others stayed firm in their determination to go, support the community, and face these people if they came to protest.

Ultimately, it proved to be tempest in a teapot, Shakespeare’s “much ado about nothing”.  There’s a Public Relations lesson for Pagan organizers here: be careful how you classify your events, particularly on a platform like Facebook.  Public means Public; ANYONE can see what you post, so if you do go public, be careful what you say; even a humorous prologue can be misinterpreted by the wrong people.  And be prepared for the backlash; I remember one group long ago who even requested a police presence for their public Sabbats.  Luckily it proved unnecessary.

May 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.

May 1:  Beltane.

May 1, 10:30 am:  Second Annual Pagan Cultural Festival at Galt Gardens, Lethbridge.https://bit.ly/2jmCNYNhttps://bit.ly/2jmCNYN

May 2-6:  RESET (formerly Servants Anonymous)/Calgary Herald Book Sale at Crossroads Market, 1235 – 26 Ave SE.

May 4^th:  Talk-Like-A-Jedi Day.

May 4-6: CRLC Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show at Vivo Centre, 11950 Country Village Link NE.  Those rocks at the silent auction? They’re probably Margarian’s…  Info: http://www.crlc.ca

May 5, 7:00 pm:  Abandoned Saloon Paranormal Investigation at Crossroads/Country Roads Saloon, 2120 – 16 Ave NE, hosted by Ghost Hunt Alberta.  https://bit.ly/2HVdVFx

May 5, 8:00 pm:  Fia Forsström “Legacy of Light” Concert at Rutland Park Community Association, hosted by Calgary Tantra. https://bit.ly/2JAX9sv

May 6:  Spring Goddess Gathering at Glamorgan Community Association, sponsored by Calgary Goddess Groups.  https://bit.ly/2KleRBC

May 11-13:  CBC/Calgary Reads Book Sale at Calgary Curling Club. https://bit.ly/2r2pkJg

May 12-13:  “Horde at the Hive” Viking Village at the Chinook Honey Company, south of Okotoks, with the Sons of Fenrir.  Bring the kids for the battles, and taste the latest batch from the meadery!  https://bit.ly/2r7CtRv

May 12:  World Fair Trade Day.  “Live fair, one product at a time.”  http://wfto.com

May 12, 7:00 pm:  Calgary Cuddle Party at Scarboro Community Centre, 1727-14 Avenue SW. https://bit.ly/2r9o0VG

May 13:  Mother’s Day. 

May 13:  Celtic Tree-Month of Uath/Hawthorn begins, according to Robert Graves.

May 15, 5:48 am:  New Moon. Lunar Month of Uath/Hawthorn begins.

May 19:  Noon – 4 pm:  Hergest’s Fabric and Notions Sale in Hawkwood.  Contact me for location.

May 21:  Victoria Day.

May 25-27:  Badlands Paranormal Weekend – Dorothy and East Coulee – sponsored by Ghost Hunt Alberta.  https://bit.ly/2r8YGOK

May 26, 7:00 pm:  Calgary Heathens Meet and Greet.

May 27, 6:00 pm:  Witchcraft Discussion/Education Group, hosted by Calgary School of Informal Education.  https://bit.ly/2JxhEGI

May 27, 7:00 pm:  Sound Healing Cuddle Party featuring Ocian Flo, at Scarboro Community Centre.  https://bit.ly/2JFrzd4

 May 29, 6:58 pm:  Full (Flower or Deer) Moon.

PrairyErth by William Least Heat-Moon

William Least Heat-Moon is best known for his Blue Highways, in which he went in search of America by driving lesser-known routes that circled it. In this, his followup, he cross-folded a map of the lower 48 states and landed in Chase County, Kansas. He spent six years there, talking with its people, walking the land, and exploring its flora and fauna, its history good and bad, its geography and geology.
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The book is divided up by the twelve ordinance maps that define this nearly-rectangular county. His writing style varies from interviews to extensive quotes on relevant topics, to amazing poetry documenting the lives of the coyotes and prairie chickens. He talks about many things, including floods, prairie fires, murders, race relations, feminism, the building of the railroad, the changing face of agriculture, and the plane crash that killed football legend Knute Rockne. He talks to farm kids who see little future there. Poignantly, he also covers the fate of the Kansa (Kaw) people, their history, downfall, deportation, near-extermination, and diluted revival.
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Although perhaps a little dated now, PrairyErth is recommended reading for anyone seeking an appreciation of prairie ecosystems. It's also a demonstration of "deep ecology", exemplifying to those who seek to deepen their connection to the earth, to learn everything they can about their little corner of it.
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My rating:  Five pentacles out of five.

The Mysteries of Britain

The Mysteries of Britain: Secret Rites and Traditions of Ancient Britain by Lewis Spence
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was originally written in 1922, when academic standards on these topics was a bit more lax than they are today. As the blurb indicates, Spence theorizes that a "cult of the dead" arose in northwestern Africa during the Paleolithic era, and made its way by separate emigration routes to Egypt and Britain, where it was adopted and revised by the Celts. "Druidism", as Spence refers to it, became an initiatory mystery religion, tied to the myth of the earth goddess Cerridwen's cauldron and the sky god Hu/Esus/Hesus, who became equated with Arthur. The cauldron, which figures in both Welsh and British mythology, became transformed into the Grail myth. Spence also argues that Celtic Christianity was the natural result of the fusion of these two religions. Spence argues that the Druids themselves survived as the Culdee sect of Christianity.
On a more esoteric level, Spence cites the "Barddas" collected by Iolo Morganwg, referring to three circles of existence: Annwn, the watery abyss, Abred the plane of physical existence, living and dead, and Gwynvyd, the realm of animated and immortal beings. The fourth realm, Ceugant, contains only God, and may refer to the Sun itself. Spence ends with a call for the restoration and revival of Britain's native Secret Tradition.
Not being an expert on Druidry, I can't really comment on the validity of his claims. It may, however, make a good if somewhat antiquated starting point for anyone interested in modern Druidry.

View all my reviews

Of Ostara, Equinox, and Duelling Elephants

In (dis)honour of the flat-earther amateur astronaut who tried shooting himself into space recently… and in continuing honour of the late, great Terry Pratchett (whom I feel is recommended – and fun - reading for pagans):

Spring comes to the Discworld, and the Great A’Tuin begins tilting the northern (headwards) half of the Disc a little closer towards the sun.  Two of the four elephants on the great turtle’s back take up their ancient grudge-match again.  One, on the west side, raises its trunk and begins blowing warmer air from the rim.  The other, on the north, counters by raising its trunk even farther, blowing down on the snowy Hub Mountains at the centre of the great disc, spreading cold winds upon the land.  It’s a losing battle though; the increasing tilt of the Disc will make sure warmer weather will come. But is it any wonder the people are so confused? 

Here on the round world, it’s the northern hemisphere that begins nodding towards the Sun, and the southern hemisphere away from it.  We’ve just passed the equinox (“equal night”), as the daylight hours now exceed the night.  It’s a pet peeve of mine that those new to the path confuse it with “solstice”, meaning “Sun stands still”.  About Mar 21 or so, we have 12 hours of daylight, and the Sun rises and sets due east and west respectively. We are fortunate this year in that Ostara (under its various spellings) occurs so close to the moveable Christian feast, so I at least don’t feel the cultural disconnect that Easters in mid-April can bring (“but we celebrated Ostara weeks ago!”).

The animal fertility of “bunnies and eggs” that so often infuses our rituals is triggered by both the lengthening days and the warmer weather.  It can be confusing (I admit it still is for me) that Beltane, with its emphasis on sex, is not about the fertility of animals, but of plants… pagans are just “showing the way” for the flora.

In my own personal Wheel of the Year, the aging Holly lord is in his Sage aspect. Since Imbolc, he has been teaching his young Oak Apprentice in the magickal arts. Oak, meanwhile, has been looking lustily at the Maiden goddess, and slays the Holly Sage so he can have her for his own.

If we map our lives on the Wheel of the Year, Ostara can be associated with adolescence and our own apprenticeships: our training in school, and ongoing learning during our lives. Perhaps in another sense, it’s about establishing, celebrating, or reinforcing our own identity, particularly in the wake of life-altering events; something to think about in terms of crafting your own rituals this month.

April 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.

Apr 1:  All Fools’ Day, and Easter Sunday.

Apr 7, 11:00 am:  Calgary Kinky Flea Market at Forest Heights Community Centre, 4909 Forego Ave. SE.

Apr 14, 10:00 am:  Calgary New Age Market at Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Hall. https://www.facebook.com/events/158642184896444/

Apr 14, 7:00 pm:  Calgary Cuddle Party at Scarboro Community Centre, 1727-14 Avenue SW. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/calgary-cuddle-party-tickets-25420398095

Apr 15, 3:21 am:  Mercury retrograde ends.

Apr 15:  Celtic Tree-Month of Saille/Willow begins, according to Robert Graves.

Apr 15, 7:57 pm:  New Moon. Lunar Month of Saille/Willow begins.

Apr 18, 6:00 pm:  An Inconvenient Sequel screening and discussion at Green Calgary, #100, 301 – 14 St. NW.  http://www.greencalgary.org

Apr 21, 8:00 am:  Alberta Wilderness Association “Climb for Wilderness” at the Bow Building.  http://www.climbforwilderness.ca/

Apr 21, 7:00 pm:  Paranormal Investigation at East Coulee School Museum, hosted by Ghost Hunt Alberta. Tickets through Eventbrite.  https://www.facebook.com/events/246930162510554/

Apr 22:  Earth Day.

Apr 22, 9:00 am:  An Inconvenient Sequel screening and discussion at Green Calgary, #100, 301 – 14 St. NW.  See Apr 18.

Apr 26-29:  Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo at Stampede Park. http://calgaryexpo.com

Apr 27-29:  Body, Soul, and Spirit Expo at Grey Eagle Casino.  http://bodysoulspiritexpo.com/expo/expo.php3?city=104

Apr 27, 9:30 pm:  Paranormal Investigation of Rockyview Hotel, Cochrane, hosted by Ghost Hunt Alberta. Tickets through Eventbrite.  https://www.facebook.com/events/911865068986290/

Apr 28-29:  The Crystal Cauldron Marketplace at The Market on Macleod, 7711 Macleod Trail S.  https://www.facebook.com/events/1754295301295671/

Apr 28, 7:00 pm:  Calgary Heathens Meet and Greet at Denny’s McKnight.

Apr 29, 6:00 pm:  Witchcraft Discussion/Education Group at CommunityWise Resource Centre (formerly Old Y), hosted by Calgary School of Informal Education.  https://www.facebook.com/events/1596741910406000/

Apr 29, 6:58 pm:  Full (Pink or Wind) Moon.

May 1:  Beltane.

May 1, 10:30 am:  Second Annual Pagan Cultural Festival at Galt Gardens, Lethbridge.   https://www.facebook.com/events/1264633076990020/

March, 2018

Thanks to those of you whom I've recently met, for your kind words about this blog.  It's always good to know I'm not sending things into the void.  I’ve been devoting writing time this month to my personal family history, so look for my regular column next month. In the meantime, if you haven't already, enjoy my book review of The Avebury Cycle which I posted earlier in February.

March 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 Mountain.

Mar 1, 5:51 pm:  Full (Worm or Storm) Moon.

Mar 2, 7:00 pm:  Paranormal Pub Night at Ceili’s, 803 – 8 Ave SW, hosted by Ghost Hunt Alberta. Tickets through Eventbrite.  https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/paranormal-investigation-and-pub-night-ceilis-tickets-42359899600

Mar 2, 7:00 pm:  Calgary Witches’ Meetings Full Moon Circle in NE Calgary.

Mar 7, 7:00 pm:  Community Day Free Drum Circle at the Village, 4039 Brentwood Road NW, hosted by Circles of Rhythm.

Mar 10, 10:00 am:  Just Be YYC Market at Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Hall.

Mar 11, 2:00 am:  Daylight Savings Time begins.

Mar 15-18:  Rock-A-Palooza Gem and Mineral Show at Spruce Meadows Congress Hall, hosted by Silver Cove.  http://www.canadagemshows.com/medicinehategemshow.html

Mar 17:  Celtic Pagan Assimilation Day.

Mar 17, 7:12 am:  New Moon. Lunar Month of Fearn/Alder begins.

Mar 18:  Celtic Tree-Month of Nion/Ash begins, according to Robert Graves.

Mar 20, 10:15 am:  Vernal Equinox.

Mar 22, 6:19 pm:  Mercury Retrograde until April 15.

Mar 23, 7:00 pm:  Calgary Witches’ Meetings attends Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle in Inglewood.

Mar 24, 10:00 am:  Spiritual Wellness Women’s Show at the Village, 4039 Brentwood Road NW.

Mar 25, 6:00 pm:  Witchcraft Discussion/Education Group at CommunityWise Resource Centre (formerly Old Y), hosted by Calgary School of Informal Education.  https://www.facebook.com/events/1596741910406000/

Mar 31, 6:37 am:  Full (Sap or Blue) Moon.

Mar 31, 7:00 pm:  Calgary Heathens Meet and Greet at Denny’s McKnight.

The Avebury Cycle, by Michael Dames (1977, Thames and Hudson Ltd., London, UK)

This book is a companion volume to Dames’ previous The Silbury Treasure: The Great Goddess Rediscovered.  Unfortunately, I hadn’t read that one, but I gather that the gist of it is that Silbury Hill, near the famed circle complex at Avebury, England, conceals additional birth-goddess imagery in addition to the obvious pregnancy/womb implications of its shape.

This 1977 work is a more comprehensive study of the entire Avebury complex.  It helps if one has actually visited the area (as I did in 2002), or has some familiarity with the various monuments that were built there.  Avebury consisted of a henge with bank, ditch, and stone circle approximately 1300 feet in diameter, containing two smaller stone circles. Into this henge proceeded two stone-lined “avenues”: West Kennet Avenue to the southeast connecting to a former wooden henge called The Sanctuary, Beckhampton Avenue (now virtually obliterated) connecting to a now-lost corresponding monument to the WSW.  Silbury Hill itself is slightly west of south of Avebury, close to a major seasonal spring on the River Winterbourne called the Swallowhead (designated “K1”).  Downstream of this is the smaller Waden Spring, named after the hill of the same name, joining the Winterbourne close by at a point designated “K2” to form the River Kennet.  K1 and K2 line up perfectly with sunsets and moonrises at Candlemas (Imbolc) and Martinmas (Nov. 11, effectively Samhain). West Kennet Long Barrow sits on the hill above and slightly east of Silbury and the Swallowhead. 

Sadly, many of the stones were broken up and taken down in the early 18^th Century, at a time when communal property was being divided into enclosures by rich farmers emphasizing private profit. Many were used as building material in Avebury itself.  In more modern times, the sites of stones and post holes were marked with concrete markers, and in some cases attempts have been made to reconstruct stones from their pieces.

Dames attempts to derive the ritual cycle, the “Wheel of the Year”, that took place at Avebury at the agricultural cross-quarters during Neolithic times. Using contemporary descriptions of the site, artifacts, archeological studies of the monuments, and cross-cultural comparisons, Dames theorizes that in Neolithic times, harvest rituals were held at Silbury for the pregnant mother-goddess in early September. With the beginning of the winter quarter in early November, activities moved to the nearby West Kennet Long Barrow for mysteries of death and rebirth. While West Kennet’s oblong dimensions suggest a “long form” Crone goddess, the five inner chambers of its tomb suggest a squatting Mother goddess, so that the tomb is also the womb. Long bones like femurs were notably missing from the remains, apparently sculpted into “long form” goddess figures.  The stone forecourt to West Kennet, as with other monument in the area, are arranged to suggest an Ox goddess, underlining the cattle cull that took place at that time of year. Givers of meat and milk, bovine goddesses abound in many cultures. 

In early February, Dames says that separate women’s and men’s mysteries were held respectively at the Sanctuary, and the now-lost Beckhampton site, at the end of their snake-like avenues. There’s some suggestion that the respective female and male snakes were coiled in their burrows, awaiting renewal. 

The ritual cycle culminated with the separate processions of women and men from the Sanctuary and Beckhampton sites up the mile-long avenues to Avebury. Dames concludes that the women formed the wide jaws of the female snake on the southeast side of the henge, while twin lines of men extended their procession to touch a D-shaped figure made of several stones in the south inner circle of the henge, making the phallus of the male snake.  An obelisk stood at the tip of the D, and was replaced with seasonal Maypoles after it fell prior to 1723.  The ditch around the Avebury great circle was engineered to form a water-filled moat at that time of year, and Dames speculates that women bathed in it prior to the seasonal fertility rites. Cattle were again slaughtered near the “Cove” dolmen in the north inner circle at this time.

Dames ties all these monuments together, citing that the distances and dimensions between and within them are proportionate to the distance between Silbury Hill and the Swallowhead, and between the Waden Spring and its K2 confluence. The space between the two inner circles at the Avebury henge is equivalent to the diameter of the Sanctuary.

In line with theories of other, largely discounted, massive-scale monuments (e.g. the Glastonbury zodiac), Dames further speculates that 27 Neolithic monuments in the area (some now-vanished, others indicating pre-Avebury ritual use), and their absence outside of this design, suggest and emphasize a giant birth-goddess figure in the landscape. A chalk escarpment west of Avebury forms its two lengthy arms, hills its head and breasts, and the River Kennet flows from between its outspread legs.

It’s difficult to know what to make of Dames’ conclusions in this 40 year-old book, written almost 10 years after von Daniken’s Chariots of the Gods?  Dames has done his scholarship, as the book is copiously footnoted, with an extensive bibliography. It also features many photographs and illustrations of the monuments and related artifacts. Pagan scholarship has progressed considerably since that time, and I’d be curious to see if more recent interpretations of the sites’ ritual use exist. The best that can be said is that is provides a model for contemporary pagan worship, and would lend itself to a fictional treatment. I would like for this to be true, but not entirely convinced that it is. I rate it 3 pentagrams out of 5.