Author: Khalila RedBird

Belated Imbolc Greetings

Imbolc is the time of year we evaluate how we have held up to our dedications and commitments to ourselves and each other. Sometimes those evaluations keep us so busy we forget to post. Or we get tied up trying to figure out how to work the website in its new environment.

In any case, may you be at home in this new year and your refreshed dedication to that which is real, personal, and important in your life.

I find much to inspire me in John Beckett’s posts in his blog Under the Ancient Oaks on Patheos. This particular posting of old postings brought several good ones together, and I commend them to your attention. With thanks to John.

Casting the Circle/Creation Myth

A lesson and ritual for a group of newcomers (specifically incarcerated men) which was developed originally to satisfy an assignment in Survey of Chaplaincy, a course presented by Patrick McCollum at Cherry Hill Seminary in 2005.  The Creation myth and the attributes of the directions are adapted from McCollum’s book Courting the Lady.

Priestess

Standing in the center of the circle of newcomers, beside altar with wand in hand:

speaks

Nothingness, piled upon Nothingness, gathered in the center which is also the whole of everything, which is Nothingness.

The Mother formed Herself from the Nothingness. She looked around. (look around, ending up facing East)

She was Alone – All One. In Her loneliness She screamed.

Lazra meck, Her scream, the light of darkness, went away from Her (walking toward the East, wand extended and searching) –

Until it realized it was separate from Her and moving away from the only Other that there was. (stop moving)

Here – this place of realization, this enlightenment, this first place, we will call East. Here we celebrate illumination, light, the element of Fire.

Here lazra meck began to seek the path back to the Mother. (begin walking toward South, tracing the circle with the wand)

bringing the illumination, the fire – in a shining arc –(stopping at South)

until the light takes on form and substance, and becomes solid. Here, this place of solidity, we will call South. Here we celebrate form and substance, matter, the element of earth.

Again lazra meck continued seeking the path to the Mother (begin walking toward West, tracing the circle with the wand)

heavy now with substance and illumination, yet incomplete (stopping at West)

until it found itself churned in the cauldron of creation, the womb of the Mother, and coming to birth in the waters of life. Here, this place of birth, of life, we will call West. Here we celebrate Life and the element of water.

Alive now, lazra meck continued seeking the path to the Mother (begin walking toward North)

living substance, illuminated, yet incomplete (stopping at North)

until it found the Mother’s gift of spirit, of soul, the anima, and became a complete and independent being, alive, aware, and determined. Here, this place of inspiration, we will call North. Here we celebrate Spirit and the element of air.

Complete and independent, lazra meck still longed to rejoin the Mother (begin walking toward the East)

and chose to continue the search (stopping at East and turning toward the center)

until lazra meck recognized a place it had been before and from there (walking inward, embracing wand)

retraced its path and reunited with the Mother.

addressing newcomers

In our circle, in our sacred space, this is the center of the Universe. Very small actions here can lead to major changes in the outside world. We take particular care with what we say and do here – one way of thinking of it is that what we do comes back to us, three times over, but not necessarily in the ways we predict it will. (One good reason for a Witch not to turn someone into a frog)

We will learn more ways to make magic, to do it effectively, but for the first try, we’ll start with the basics. The first step is Intention. What do you want to do, and why?

Here in sacred space today, each of you will have the opportunity to do one small bit of personal magic, with the rest of us helping. Think about it for a minute. What would you like to change in your life – something that could happen in the next week or so? If what you want is something big – I hear what you’re thinking, and remember, we’re starting small here – maybe break it down a little and pick a manageable piece. State your intention or request to yourself. Look it over to make sure it’s not going to hurt anyone else or yourself. See if it’s something you can ask the Mother for.

When you’re all ready, I’ll ask you to come up one at a time to the altar. While the man at the altar states his intention – or makes it a prayer to the Mother – the rest of us will focus our attention on supporting his magic. At the altar, state your intention or request quietly. The rest of us really don’t need to hear what it is. We will trust you that what you are asking is intended without harm, and we will focus our intention on your request.

We’ll start with the East and move around the circle the same direction we cast it.

(when all have finished)

The focus and intention of a community is stronger than that of any individual. By all working together, by supporting each other, we can each have more success in our personal endeavors than we could separately. Even when we don’t know what the other guy’s needs are, just by focusing our intention on supporting him we can make a difference.

Meaning and Understanding

At the heart of our understanding of All That Is — the Universe around us, the Gods, the daily news — is cognition. How we think. What our minds do with what our senses offer as input and what we have already processed and stored, whether we remember it or not. And it turns out that humankind developed our current capabilities in cognition over eons — indeed, we wouldn’t expect it to be any other way, but, of course, we take it for granted.

The video below is the first in a series by Prof. John Vervaeke, of the University of Toronto Psychology Department and Cognitive Science Program, laying out the details of our human cognitive development against the history of human development.

And this brought to my mind the course in Pagan Apologetics I took at Cherry Hill Seminary, taught by Dr. David Oringderff of Sacred Well Congregation, the premise of which was that Paganism is the indigenous religion of humankind.

There is a lot of content in this video, delivered in straight lecture style in front of an almost-useless whiteboard. Conveniently, YouTube lists the books Vervaeke mentions:

  • Michael Anderson – After Phrenology: Neural Reuse and the Interactive Brain
  • Barry Boyce (Editor) – The Mindfulness Revolution: Leading Psychologists, Scientists, Artists, and Meditation Teachers on the Power of Mindfulness in Daily Life
  • Andy Clark – Natural-Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence
  • Michel Ferrari and Nic Weststrate (Editors) – The Scientific Study of Personal Wisdom: From Contemplative Traditions to Neuroscience
  • Harry Frankfurt – On Bullsh*t
  • David Lewis-Williams – The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art
  • L. A. Paul – Transformative Experience
  • Massimo Pigliucci – How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life
  • Matt Rossano – Supernatural Selection: How Religion Evolved
  • Daniel Siegel – Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation
  • Steve Taylor – Waking From Sleep: Why Awakening Experiences Occur and How to Make Them Permanent
  • John Vervaeke, Christopher Mastropietro, and Filip Miscevic – Zombies in Western Culture: A Twenty-First Century Crisis
  • Michael Winkelman – Shamanism: A Biopsychosocial Paradigm of Consciousness and Healing
  • Susan Wolf – Meaning in Life and Why It Matters

Just as we did in Pagan Apologetics, Vervaeke looks back to our primitive human ancestors, the physical traces they left, and the differences between those who came before and those who came after. He focuses in this episode on the transition from the middle- to the upper- paleolithic, about 45,000 years ago, as the Neanderthal population faded out and the human population expanded out of Africa.

What I want to do is point to a time when many people think our humanity, the kind of people we are now, came into form. Not fully like the way it is now, because of course there’s been lots of historical and cultural processes, but the kind of humanity that we would recognize as “us” and how much this was bound up with meaning making in the way that I’ve been talking about.

Episode 1

This episode is just under one hour, and it moves quickly. The second half gets into the details of the upper paleolithic transition, focusing on the work of the shaman, on ritual, and on the various ways of knowing. It is better experienced than read, but the transcripts are available.

Yule 2020

Continuing our latest Tradition, Sacred Grove will gather in cyberspace for Yule this Turning of the Wheel. On Sunday, December 20, at 8 pm EST, please join us for ritual on ZOOM. The link to join is below.

We will seal the gathering (no one further will be admitted) at 8:15 pm.

Jaime Gironés, writing at The Wild Hunt, offers The Longest and Darkest Night for our reflection.

Without regard to the name of the celebration or the phase of my life, the celebration has always had the same main meaning to me: it has always represented hope. After the darkness of the longest night of the year, the sun is reborn – and with this rebirth, light is rekindled in our hearts and spirits. After this very difficult year, I think hope is what we need the most.

Jaime Gironés

John Beckett is presenting Under the Ancient Oaks Online Winter Solstice Ritual: December 18 at 8 pm CST via YouTube, as well.

This is Pagans, polytheists, and others continuing our sacred traditions under difficult circumstances. This is using all the resources at our disposal to maintain our commitments to our Gods, ancestors, and other spiritual allies. This is us, doing what must be done.

John Beckett

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Cherry Hill Seminary – Samhain

Cherry Hill Seminary published the Samhain edition of its newletter highlighting spring course offerings and regular online events.

Cherry Hill Seminary empowers spiritual leadership, scholarship, and ethics through theological and pastoral education to nurture interfaith engagement in a diverse society.  For more information, visit www.cherryhillseminary.org , or click here to email us.

Spiritual Potluck is a weekly gathering for a virtual hour of reflection, ritual and sharing, email for link to attend.

Reclaiming Samhain Ritual 2020

Reclaiming is offering it Samhain ritual celebration online this year on October 31 at 1 pm PACIFIC time. Their announcement has links under How to Participate for anyone interested.

On October 31 — Halloween —  at 1 p.m. PST, the 41st Annual Reclaiming Spiral Dance will be streamed online at: www.reclaimingspiraldance.org

Intention: In the midst of uncertainty and the unknown, we come together to call forth the rains of justice and renewal.

[Fortunately, even with a 4 pm Eastern time start, there should be plenty of time to participate in this event AND in the Sacred Grove Samhain ritual via Zoom at 9 pm.]

Your Body as Your Working Tool

We, the living children of Earth and starry Heaven, are composed of body, mind, and spirit. While we speak of three named components, those are so tightly interdependent as to be inseparable this side of the Veil.

In this excerpt from Israel Regardie, The One Year Manual: Twelve Steps to Spiritual Enlightenment, we are led to explore spiritual growth through mindful practices of body relaxation and breathing, with thanks to the Servants of the Light mystery school for bringing it to our attention.

“ONE OF THE MAJOR GOALS of any system of self-development or spiritual growth is the acquisition of sensitivity or self-awareness. There is only one way of acquiring this awareness — and this is to become aware.

Sitting comfortably in a straight-backed chair, or lying flat on one’s back in bed, one merely attempts to observe what is happening, as it were, “under the skin.” You simply watch your body, its sensations and feeling here and now.

This only — and nothing more. Do not try to relax or to breathe in any unusual or special way, or to try to control the thoughts that float through the mind. All these processes and methods will be dealt with later.

For the time being, merely become conscious of any sensation that arises anywhere in the body. I suggest you wriggle around for a moment or two to find that one position which seems most comfortable. Having found it, stay in it, and do not move from it in any way.

There should be absolutely no voluntary muscular movement for the rest of the practice session. Not even a wriggle of a toe, or a wiggle of a finger.

The session should last not more than ten minutes at first, but gradually by the end of a month should be extended to half an hour. For many people this will seem an eternity in which every instinct will cry aloud for a wiggle of some kind to ease the tension. This should be resisted. Other students will find the ten minutes to pass, as it were, in a flash.

Samhain — another possibility

John Beckett, who is farther along the path to online ritual than we are, is presenting a Samhain ritual via U-Tube on Friday, October 30. His blog post, linked below, has given me a few ideas to incorporate in our Zoom ritual on the 31st. He has prepared a video; we will be co-creating the ritual in real time. He does not require checking in, responding to an invitation, or even identifying yourself; we’re doing the Zoom thing and will see each other’s faces ( or profile pics).

All in all, we have much the same intent. I commend his article to your attention. I’m planning to watch/join in his ritual on Friday.

Under the Ancient Oaks Online Samhain Ritual: October 30

The post, quoted:

Different sabbat, same pandemic.

I really thought we’d be able to have a public Samhain celebration. Denton CUUPS went so far as to write up a proposal for an in-person event. It would have had limited attendance, mandatory masks, social distancing, and other precautions we believed would be sufficient. There is no such thing as “safe” but we thought this would present little additional risk to people who are not completely quarantining.

But before we could send the proposal to the Board of Denton UU for approval, the “third wave” began. Even with precautions, holding a public event right now would be irresponsible.

So we’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing – hold online rituals. Denton CUUPS’ ritual will be on their Facebook page. It’s in progress and should be finished early next week.

The Under the Ancient Oaks Online Samhain Ritual is ready. As with the UTAO rituals for the past three high days, it will be a YouTube Premiere.

Under the Ancient Oaks Online Samhain Ritual
Friday, October 30
8:00 PM CDT
YouTube Premiere

The Ritual

The ritual follows the same general liturgy as my other rituals, which is the same as I’ve used in public rituals for the past 15 years or so. Except I made a couple of tweaks, which happens rather frequently. There may be a blog post on the evolution of my Pagan liturgy someday…

The Deities of the Occasion are Lugh, who we honored at Lughnasadh, and the Morrigan, who we honored at Summer Solstice. We are calling on Them because we previously honored Them in UTAO rituals (and thus everyone who participated in those rituals has at least the beginnings of a relationship with Them) but also because we have a need for Their virtues and Their skills.

There will be a two-part main event. The first part will honor those who have died from Covid-19 this year. Samhain is a time when we honor our dead, and this year over a million people have died from Covid worldwide. Whether their lives were cut short by days or by decades, they all died before their time, and they deserve to be remembered.

The second part is a working for victory – in particular, victory in the upcoming U.S. elections. The Gods I follow have never told me who to vote for. But I think that’s less because They don’t care and more because They think government is something we have to figure out for ourselves.

The ritual mentions no candidates or political parties by name. But I’ve made my positions clear. The intention of the ritual is that those who oppress refugees, the poor, racial and religious minorities, women, LGBTQ persons, and anyone else be thoroughly and decisively defeated.

If your politics includes voting for people who do these things and revel in them, this isn’t the ritual for you.

What you need to participate where you are

You’re welcome to simply follow along. If you’d like to participate where you are, you’ll need a candle and something to light it with, something for offerings and something to pour them into. I’m using whiskey this time – you offer what seems right to you.

Repeat the calls of ‘hail and welcome’ and such. Pour offerings as I pour them, and light your candle as I make offerings to the central fire. For the main working, add your will and your magic to mine.

When we’re done with the main working, we’ll share a drink among ourselves. After the ritual, be sure to dispose of your offerings in a respectful manner. Pouring them on the ground is ideal. Never pour offerings down the drain.

The ritual runs about 25 minutes.

Why Friday?

As much as I prefer to celebrate Pagan holy days on the actual dates, the reality is that Covid or no Covid, Saturday October 31 is going to be a busy day. Those of you with kids will have to find an alternative for trick or treating. Many of you will celebrate Samhain with your family or close friends. More people will be available on Friday than on Saturday.

Of course, because this is a video ritual, it will remain available after it’s done – if you can’t make it Friday evening, it will still be there on Saturday, or whenever you’re ready.

A note for non-U.S. readers: most of the world goes off daylight saving time the last Sunday in October. The U.S. doesn’t change until the first Sunday in November. So the time difference between “here” and “there” is likely to be an hour off from what it usually is. Check your phone’s world clock or one of the online time zone conversion sites. Or set a reminder on YouTube and let it do it for you.

The future of online rituals

I’m getting more comfortable with the video production aspects of online rituals.

On one hand, I always enjoy learning new skills. On the other hand, my goal in life is to be the best Druid and priest I can be, not to be a better videographer. I wish I didn’t have this on-going opportunity to keep making ritual videos, but we learn the skills we need to do the work in front of us.

I will continue to facilitate online rituals until we can start meeting in person again, or at least until I can do it. It’s too early to make a commitment for Winter Solstice, but given what I’m reading about the “third wave” I think it’s likely I’ll be doing another one.

May your beloved dead be honored and remembered, and may your Samhain be deep and meaningful, however you choose to celebrate.

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John Beckett on Samhain

Samhain: Celebrating the Season

Is Samhain coming, or is it already here? The answer is a little bit of both.

For those of you who are new to Paganism, Samhain is one of the four ancient Celtic fire festivals, along with Imbolc (February 1), Beltane (May 1), and Lughnasadh (August 1). The word means “summer’s end” – it marks the end of summer and the beginning of winter. In modern Pagan lore it’s the third and final harvest festival. It’s a time to think about the reality of death, and to remember our loved ones who have died.

This 2014 post by Jason Mankey has all the history of the day and the season, and it describes how we got from there (i.e. – ancient Ireland) to here.