Beltane, 2019

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:  Traditional Beltane.

May 1-5:  RESET Calgary Book Sale at Crossroads Market.

May 3-5:  CRLC Gem, Mineral, and Fossil Show at VIVO Centre, 11950 Country Village Link NE.  http://crlc.ca

May 3, 7:00 pm:  Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle, Inglewood Community Centre. 

https://www.meetup.com/The-Calgary-Drum-Circle-Meetup-Group/

May the 4th:  “And also with you”.

May 4, 10:00 am:  Third Annual Lethbridge PaganFest at Galt Gardens, sponsored by Southern Alberta Pagan Association.  Road trip!  https://www.facebook.com/events/401460783751145/.

May 4, 4:46 pm:  New Moon.  Lunar Month of Uath/Hawthorn begins.

May 5:  Calgary Pagan Pride Pathway Cleanup at Vista Heights Diamonds.

May 10-12:  CBC/Calgary Reads Book Sale at Calgary Curling Club.  Donate Apr 17 – May 5.

May 10, 7:00 pm:  Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle (see May 3).

May 11, 6:45 pm:  Sound Healing Cuddle Party hosted by Numinous Creations, at Scarboro Community Hall. https://www.facebook.com/events/399159550637833/

May 12:  Mother’s Day.

May 12, 1:00 pm:  Calgary Witches’ Meetings meetup in south Calgary.

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

May 17, 7:00 pm:  Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle (see May 3).

May 18, 3:11 pm:  Full (Flower) Moon.

May 20:  Victoria Day.  Planting season begins!

May 24, 7:00 pm:  Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle (see May 3).

May 25, 7:00 pm:  Calgary Heathens Meet and Greet.

May 31, 7:00 pm:  Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle (see May 3).

Jun 1, 7:00 pm:  Paranormal Investigation at the Rustic Emporium, Bassano, hosted by Ghost Hunt Alberta.  https://www.facebook.com/events/439174313502524/

Jun 1-2:  “Horde at the Hive” Viking Village at Chinook Honey Company, Okotoks.  https://www.facebook.com/events/1784858728290594/

On "The Fall" and Redemption, or, "Things That Make You Go 'Waah!'"

After crying over another soppy TV show (and I admit I sometimes seek these out for therapeutic reasons), I got to thinking again about why we cry.  Not the purely mechanical crying over onions or physical exertion, but emotional tears, and particularly those triggered by a good story.

Obviously these stories, and I extend these to religious myths, touch us because they deal with issues present or past in our own lives.  As my mentor Kate once said, all religions are about how we deal with change in our lives.  And as someone else once said, all stories are about the Fall (and, I would add, about redemption).  It depends on your perspective which Fall you’re talking about; it could be “original sin” in the Christian sense (the loss of innocence and Paradise), the Cabalistic fall separating us from the spiritual world, the loss of a job, the loss of a loved one through death or marital breakup, the loss of our own self-esteem through suffering from addiction, abuse, discrimination, gender dysphoria... the list goes on.

The journey of our lives is often the journey of loss, change, and trying to find our way back.  We may find solace in stories of dying and reborn gods, of journeys to the underworld in search of truth, in pathworking on the Tree of Life, in the cycles of the Moon and the seasons.  And as we make the difficult journeys through change, hearing stories of those who find their way back from loss to redemption cause us to cry, either because we’re still on that journey, or still feel the echoes in our lives.  (Spoilers...)  In The Princess Bride, Buttercup and Westley are reunited in true love; Dustin Hoffman’s character in Kramer vs. Kramer awkwardly crashes a company Christmas party because he swore to his son he’d have a job before Christmas; Colin Firth’s character in Love, Actually, travels to a town in France and publicly proposes to the love of his life in broken Portuguese; down and out boxer Rocky Balboa fights champion Apollo Creed the full fifteen rounds; Ricky Gervais’ character in After Life overcomes the cynicism and suicidal tendencies following the loss of his wife to see the value in other people’s lives, and begins to love again.

The important thing to remember is that as much as we may feel we are alone on our journey, we never really are.  “Love is all around,” as the songs go, and even if we are unable to reach out, if only to help other people on their journey, others are always ready to reach out to us.  New beginnings after loss, and the promise of redemption: appropriate things to think about, in this season of Ostara and yes, Easter.

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.

Apr 5, 7:00 pm:  Calgary Witches’ Meeting at Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle, Inglewood Community Centre. 

https://www.meetup.com/The-Calgary-Drum-Circle-Meetup-Group/

Apr 5, 2:50 am:  New Moon.  Lunar Month of Saille/Willow begins.

Apr 8:  5 years until 2024 Total Eclipse!

Apr 12, 7:00 pm:  Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle (see Apr 5).

Apr 13, 11:00 am:  Calgary Kinky Flea Market at Forest Heights Community Centre.

Apr 13, 6:45 pm:  Calgary Cuddle Party hosted by Numinous Creations, at Scarboro Community Hall. https://www.facebook.com/events/2034577453256633/

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

Apr 16:  Alberta Provincial Election.  You know what to do.

Apr 19, 7:00 pm:  Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle (see Apr 5).

Apr 19, 5:12 am:  Full (Pink) Moon.

Apr 21:  Easter Sunday.

Apr 22:  Earth Day.

Apr 25-28:  Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo at Stampede Park.  No honey badger cosplay allowed.  http://calgaryexpo.com

Apr 26, 7:00 pm:  Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle (see Mar 1).

Apr 27, 10:00 am:  Just be YYC at The Village, 4039 Brentwood Road NW.  https://www.facebook.com/events/427222687816218/

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

Apr 28, 6:30 pm:  “Rhythm Cradle: A Night of Musical Healing” hosted by Circles of Rhythm.  https://www.facebook.com/events/2182980862017502/

May 1:  Beltane.

May 4, 10:00 am:  Third Annual Lethbridge PaganFest at Galt Gardens, sponsored by Southern Alberta Pagan Association.  https://www.facebook.com/events/401460783751145/

Pagan Practice in the Era of Climate Change

Happy March, everyone.  Robert A. Heinlein wrote, “Climate is what we expect; weather is what we get.”  It’s been on my mind for some time that paganism is a very climate-driven movement, at least in celebrating the Sabbats.  Yet in an era of increasing climate change, the weather, and by extension the climate, is becoming more unpredictable.  I’ve only recently learned that part of the meteorologists’ hype over the “polar vortex” comes from the fact that the pre-existing vortex, that area north of the east-flowing jet stream that drives our weather, has currently split in two, one over North America, the other over Eurasia, buffeted by an air current coming north from the Pacific.

This all can screw with what was a predictable agricultural calendar (albeit based in Britain) that’s often the foundation of the Wheel of the Year.  At least the solar cycle is still consistent; the days grow longer and shorter at the same rate, and the Sun still makes its slow march up and down the horizon.  It seems that, in Alberta at least, we’re constantly caught in a battle between the cold, wet north winds and warm, dry west winds that bring the Chinooks.  Alas, we can also note that the west winds bring the smoke from forest fires during the summer and fall.  There’s the seed here for changing some of the emphasis in our mythologies.

It brings to mind Aesop’s fable of the North Wind and the Sun, and, with a more Christian bent, Andersen’s tale of the Snow Queen, and Lewis’ Narnia tale of the battle between Aslan and Jadis, the White Witch.  Or we can simply declare that the weather is all a cruel joke played by Loki, or the Trickster god or goddess of your choice.

Of course, it goes without saying that part of our pagan work, should each of us will it, is working magically and practically to convince business and government to combat the effects of climate change, and work for the healing of the Earth.  But as the climate continues to change, and becomes more susceptible to being weather, the mythos we use in paganism must continue to adapt, so that our celebrations always remain relevant.

March 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 Mountain.

Mar 1, 7:00 pm:  Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle at Inglewood Community Centre. 

https://www.meetup.com/The-Calgary-Drum-Circle-Meetup-Group/

Mar 1, 7:00 pm:  Cuddle Club YYC at Scarboro Community Hall.  https://www.facebook.com/events/2340047152906461/

Mar2, 10:00 am:  Just Be YYC Market at The Village, 4036 Brentwood Road NW.  https://www.facebook.com/events/509444482911123/

Mar 5:  Fat Tuesday.  Pancake Day!  Mmmm... gluten!

Mar 5, 11:19 am:  Mercury Retrograde in Pisces begins (to Mar 28)

Mar 6-10:  Red Deer Gem and Mineral Show at Harvest Centre, Westerner Park, 4847A-19 Street, Red Deer, hosted by Silver Cove.  https://www.facebook.com/events/335546100587937/

Mar 6, 9:04 am:  New Moon.  Lunar Month of Nion/Ash begins.

Mar 8:  International Women’s Day.

Mar 8, 7:00 pm:  Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle (see Mar 1).

Mar 10:  Daylight Savings Time begins.  Spring forward!

Mar 15, 7:00 pm:  Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle (see Mar 1).

Mar 17:  Celtic Pagan Remembrance Day.

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

Mar 20, 3:58 pm:  Vernal Equinox.

Mar 20, 7:43 pm:  Full (Worm) Moon.

Mar 22, 7:00 pm:  Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle (see Mar 1). 
Mar 24, 12:00 pm: Witches of Alberta Meetup.

Mar 28-31:  Rock-A-Palooza Gem and Mineral Show at Spruce Meadows Congress Hall, hosted by Silver Cove.  http://www.canadagemshows.com/alberta-events.html

Mar 28, 8:59 am:  Mercury Retrograde in Pisces ends.

Mar 29, 7:00 pm :  Circles of Rhythm Drum Circle (see Mar 1).

Mar 30, 10:00 am:  The Witches’ Brew at Hillhurst-Sunnyside Community Hall.  https://www.facebook.com/events/378028756334280/

Mar 30, 7:00 pm:  Calgary Heathens Meet and Greet.

Mar 30, 8:30 pm:  Earth Hour.  http://www.earthhour.org

Mar 31, 6:30 pm:  “Rhythm Cradle: A Night of Musical Healing” hosted by Circles of Rhythm.  https://www.facebook.com/events/2182980862017502/