July, 2018

Happy belated Midsummer, everyone.  The Sun has reached the northernmost point on its stroll across the horizon, and is slowly making its return trip to the south.  In British Traditional witchcraft, the Oak and Holly Kings have had their semi-annual battle, with Holly triumphant and ruling the waning of the year.  In my personal annual mythology, the Goddess is in her Mother aspect, having given birth to the infant Holly child, while Oak takes on his King aspect through his fatherhood.

I’ve been having a very busy month, so no book reviews or ruminations this time.  Enjoy the warm weather while we’ve got it, and I’ll see you next month.

July 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.

Jul 1:  Canada Day.

Jul 6-15:  Annual Ankh-Morpork “Rat-Onna-Stick Festival”, sponsored by “Cut-Me-Own-Throat” Dibbler.
Jul 8:  Celtic Tree-Month of Tinne/Holly begins, according to Robert Graves.
Jul 12, 8:48 pm:  New Moon. Lunar Month of Tinne/Holly begins.
Jul 14, 7:00 pm:  Paranormal Investigation at East Coulee School Museum near Drumheller, hosted by Ghost Hunt Alberta.  https://bit.ly/2KjyRIm 
Jul 20-22:  Paranormal Weekend at Nordegg, hosted by Ghost Hunt Alberta. https://bit.ly/2MyUMYD 
Jul 21, 10:30 am:  Cochrane Medieval Day hosted by Wardens of the Red Tower and Cochrane Public Library.  https://bit.ly/2yX4GRT 
Jul 25, 11:02 pm:  Mercury Retrograde to Aug 18.
Jul 26-29:  Calgary Folk Music Festival on Prince’s Island.  http://www.calgaryfolkfest.com/ 
Jul 27-29:  Vul-Con 2018 in Vulcan, with guests Tucker Smallwood, Rekha Sharma, and Stephanie Niznik.  https://www.vulcanconvention.com/ 
Jul 27, 2:20 pm:  Full (Buck or Blessing) Moon.  Lunar Eclipse not visible from Canada.
Jul 28, 1:00 pm:  Calgary Heathens Meet and Greet.
Jul 29, 6:00 pm:  Witchcraft Discussion/Education Group, sponsored by Calgary School of Informal Education.  https://bit.ly/2M9iE5T 
Jul 31/Aug 1:  Traditional Lughnasadh, Lammas, Freysblot…
Aug 3-6:  Panfest 2018 at Pigeon Lake.  http://panfest.ca/

Secret Games of the Gods - Nigel Pennick (Weiser, 1989)

My interest in board games began in my youth. Besides the Parker Brothers classics of Monopoly, Clue, and Careers, I also had a 100-game set that had checkers, snakes and ladders, Parcheesi, other race-type games, and some games that were variations using the same boards.  As I grew older and got into paganism, I also began to realize just how much of past culture was preserved in children’s schoolyard games, which are passed down over recess.  So I was interested when during my travels I came across Secret Games of the Gods: Ancient Ritual Systems in Board Games by Nigel Pennick (Samuel Weiser Inc., 1989, 1997).

The book starts strong, with a good explanation of geomancy, a system based on divining four rows of either one or two dots, producing one of sixteen figures, with a meaning ascribed to each.  In this, it’s related to the I Ching, but with more widespread use.  He then goes in to magical alphabets, looking at divinatory uses of Greek, runes (both Norse and Anglo-Saxon), and Ogham (though to my understanding, it was never originally used as such).  Pennick then goes into sacred geometry, of the significance of the centre and the four directions in a number of traditions, and how this relates to astrological charts, magic squares, labyrinth construction, city and fairground design, and game boards.

He looks at strategy games like Tic-Tac-Toe, and the Merels family of games, of which Nine Mens’ Morris is perhaps the most well-known.  He spends time on the Tafl family of games, where the king at the centre, with his surrounding army, defends it against the four armies at the perimeter. Note this is also similar to the Parcheesi or Ludo family of games, where competitors race their way around the board from the perimeter to the centre (a design also incorporated into modern games like Trivial Pursuit).  Pennick also talks about conventional war games like checkers and chess, including odd variations of chess on circular or larger boards, incorporating additional pieces with different types of moves.

Curiously, when Pennick starts talking about some of the older and somewhat more obscure games, his treatment becomes relatively rushed. He is no Hoyle, explaining details of game play, but only gives the briefest of overviews. The latter part of the book can only be a companion to other sources on the games themselves, and actual game play. 

Perhaps the most frustrating part of the book, at least in the edition I read, is the placement of the illustrations nowhere near the text to which they refer, leaving the reader to hunt back and forth.  Overall, it’s an interesting read, but not without its issues.  My rating: Three pentacles out of five.

June 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.

Jun 1-3:  Silver Cove Grand Opening, 7004 Macleod Trail.

Jun 2-3:  Calgary Horror Con at Clarion Hotel.  http://horror-con.ca

Jun 3, 10:00 am:  Calgary Lilac Festival on 4 St. SW.  http://lilacfestival.net

Jun 4-10:  Canadian Environment Week.

Jun 5-7:  Mayor’s Environment Expo at City Hall.

Jun 8, 9:30 pm:  Paranormal Investigation at Rockyview Hotel, Cochrane, hosted by Ghost Hunt Alberta.  https://bit.ly/2kFbHwK

Jun 9-10:  Summer Skirmish 2018 at the Military Museums, 4520 Crowchild Trail SW.  Viking battle drills, SCA combat and archery demos, jousting, and more.  https://bit.ly/2kF6K7n

Jun 9:  Calgary New Age Market at Hillhurst-Sunnyside. https://www.facebook.com/events/164222287667362/

Jun 10:  Celtic Tree-Month of Duir/Oak begins, according to Robert Graves.

Jun 13, 1:43 pm:  New Moon. Lunar Month of Duir/Oak begins.

Jun 16, 10:00 pm:  Paranormal Investigation at Twin Cities Hotel, Longview, hosted by Ghost Hunt Alberta.  https://bit.ly/2LcjXzE

Jun 17:  Fathers’ Day.

Jun 21-25:  Freezer Burn:  Alberta Regional Burning Man Festival.  http://freezerburn.org

Jun 21, 4:07 am:  Summer Solstice.

Jun 21, 6:30 pm:  Free Summer Solstice Potluck at Fish Creek Park, sponsored by Wisewood Apothecary. https://www.facebook.com/events/168438290481185/

Jun 24, 6:00 pm:  Witchcraft Discussion/Education Group, hosted by Calgary School of Informal Education. https://bit.ly/2Joj4Hb

Jun 27, 10:53 pm:  Full (Strawberry or Strong Sun) Moon.

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

Jul 1:  Canada Day.

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/