Reflections on Pan Pagan My first Pan Pagan festival happened sometime between 1990 and 1991. I attended my first pagan festival at Lothlorien, in central Indiana, in 1989 and I fell in love with festivals. Festivals, and the Festival Movement, were a way to meet other pagans in a natural setting and share what it was to be pagan with others of a like mind. That first Pan Pagan festival took place in Plymouth, Indiana, self-proclaimed Blueberry Capital of the... Read more
Hergest Ridge Hergest Ridge is a large elongated hill which traverses the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom, between the town of Kington in Herefordshire and the village of Gladestry in Powys. (Wikipedia, 2023) Hergest Ridge is also the second album by talented music Mike Oldfield and was released on Virgin records in 1974. I managed to get listen to a promotional copy of this album while I was working for my high school radio station in 1975. (Wikipedia, Hergest Ridge, 2023) The... Read more
A Pet, Passing My household familiars are more than just pets. They are more than just familiars. They are an integral part of my family. I cherish their presence in my life as family, as a Nature Spirit. About five years ago, we took in two cat brothers who were abandoned in our neighborhood. One was a Maine Coon, the other was a sweet tabby cat who captured my heart immediately. We had them both tested for feline leukemia... Read more
Solstice Solstice comes almost unexpectedly. In a part of the world where the seasons change, Autumn into Winter can arrive quietly, without warning, almost unnoticed. The ten days between solstice and the civil new year are a time of quiet and reflection that I like to call the Ten Days of Silence. Solstice New Year While there are ample reasons to recognise the November Cross-Quarter as a new year or the 1st of January as the civil new year, the... Read more
Prayer to Macha We call to you today, Macha, Goddess of sovereignty As we stand upon this land, Let there be sovereignty of the land, Fertile, Proud, And free. Let choice be yours alone, Send your blessings, I pray. We call to you today, Macha, Goddess of sovereignty, As we stand on our own, Let there be sovereignty of one’s own body, Empowered, Proud, And free. Let choice be ours alone, Send your blessings, I pray. We call... Read more
The Shining Ones Speak I have recently read comments by people on how they feel separated or distant from the Gods, or, as we call them in ADF, the Shining Ones. Of all the Kindreds, they are the entities that differ from us the most. The Ancestors are those that we knew, or at least knew of. The Nature Spirits are those that inhabit this middle realm with us. The Shining Ones, well, they are very different from ourselves. ... Read more
Getting to Know the Ancestors (I Never Knew) I never knew my maternal grandparents. My maternal grandfather passed away before I was born, and my maternal grandmother passed died on my second birthday. I know them from pictures on the wall and from stories I have heard. Now, I wish to know them better. What I do know My grandfather was a vegetarian, like I am, unusual for a person living at the turn of the 20th century. He worked... Read more
Finding Cernunnos Finding Cernunnos is one of those classic Celtic undertakings. The destination is uncertain and the journey is through a number of passageways which may lead to wonderous discoveries. Or to dead ends. This post is about that journey. Better yet, it is about that journey, so far. Gundestrup I cannot remember when I first saw an image of Cernunnos for the first time. I know that it was the image from the Gundestrup Cauldron, but the exact year... Read more
Building a Devotional Practice with the Shining Ones As Pagans, we can merely observe the eight High Days and then move on with our lives. As Devoted Pagans, we develop a daily practice that helps us to build better relationships with the entities, spirits, and allies in our lives. This is the sixth in a series of “Building a Devotional Practice with” presentations. The first three dealt with the Land, the Sea, and the Sky. In this offering, we conclude... Read more
Right in Liminal Space Earlier this week, I was thinking about liminal space. What is liminal space? It is that place that is “in-between” the world, so to speak. Let me give you a classic example. I live really close to Lake Erie. I like to go to the lake and look at the place where the water meets the horizon. That meeting place, that intersection point: that is liminal space. It is hard to tell, in this example, where... Read more
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