Joyce & River Higginbotham
Llewellyn, 2002 $14.95 US
ISBN 0-7387-0222-6

Review by Daven

Rating: ★★★★½ 

When I saw this title in the catalog I got somewhat concerned. The blurb said that it was 250 pages long, and promised to explain paganism to those not familiar with the concept. My concern stemmed from the belief that 250 pages is just too small a space to explain a subject as complex as paganism.

Believe it or not, the authors actually manage to do it.

This book is clear and concise in the descriptions of what Paganism is and is not, without ever once making blanket statements like “Pagans all believe….” or “Belief in ______ is shared by all pagans…” and so on. They also never make the mistake of stating that Wicca is the only thing in paganism. They distinguish clearly between Wicca, Asatru, Shamanism, Voodoo and so on, which in my experience is a novel change.

In fact in the ethics section, the authors not only contrast but also compare Wiccan, Asatru, etcetera.

I applaud the questions and the exercises in each chapter. For example, in one section about pagan concepts of the deities, they give an example used in their own classes, and then encourage the reader to take a hard look at their own beliefs, and map out their concept of God on the same chart, so that there is a visual comparison with others.

These exercises are in every chapter, sometimes multiple times if the subject is a complex one like worship and ethics. They also encourage journaling so one can see one’s thoughts and feelings on a page and be able to objectively consider them. There is even a section in each chapter if one is having problems digesting some of the concepts.

However, this book is not an in depth examination of paganism, it is an introduction to the rich diversity in our society and communities. I think this book would be totally appropriate for one to purchase and give to those friends and colleagues who are honestly trying to find out what we believe and come to some sort of reconciliation with it. This is not for those who reject paganism in general as satanic nor will it convince them that we are not, a closed mind is incapable of learning. It is written for the person who has an open intellectually curious mind.

There I have a few slight problems however. I feel that the ethical discussions should be at the front of the book rather than being held until the last chapter. I would have liked to see a list of recommended references broken down by Pagan path for those who are trying to explain a specific path to someone.

This is a good introduction to paganism one that I think would be useful to those who have relatives who are struggling in understanding. I think the Higginbothams did an exceptional job with a difficult subject. I give this 4 1/2 stars out of 5.

Originally posted 2009-11-15 17:01:06.

I was reading “The Wildhunt” today and I noticed that the ADF has elected a new Arch Druid.

I’d like to add my congratulations to all the other wishes of well to Rev. Kirk Thomas, the new head Druid in the ADF.

How does this affect me as an independent druid? Well, it really doesn’t, except that the leadership of one of the major Druid groups is going to swing a huge club and shape how not only the ADF, but Druids in general are seen in the future.

I’ve known Isaac for a couple years, had the honor of talking to him via email once or twice. I’ve reviewed books by Skip Ellison and also talked to him via email a couple times on websites and email lists that we shared. I have found both men to be very intelligent and open to new ideas, while still maintaining the highest standards for themselves and their Order. Kirk has a HUGE set of shoes to fill.

That said, I don’t know Kirk at all. I’ve never talked to him, nor have I had the honor of reading any of his works. I am going to have to take it on faith that he will be as good as Isaac and Skip have been.

I hope that with this changing of the leadership, some of the problems that have kept me at arm’s length with the ADF will be corrected and worked with. The next few years are going to be very interesting for Druids of every Order.

Originally posted 2010-06-09 16:10:40.

On the surface, this leg of the Witches Pyramid is probably the simplest on the surface since it’s doing the process that you have decided on. The decision to do the spell has been made, the caster’s Will is honed and ready to force the change, but now you get your tools out and start the chants to cast the spell. Sounds simple, right?

But there is much more than that to this aspect of magic. Daring to do a spell means you have a self confidence that says you have the divine right to impose your Will on the universe; that you have the right to actually make things happen simply because you want them to happen.

To my mind, that takes a special kind of arrogance. To say to the Universe and to whatever form of Deity you honor, “I know better than you do, and I am going to MAKE this action happen.” That sounds pretty severe and arrogant in my opinion.

It is saying that your life is not good enough. It is saying that you know how your life should be, in opposition to how it actually is, and it is saying that no matter what, you will use any methods, fair or foul, to force the outcome you wish.

It is daring the Universe to do its worst to you.

It is acceptance of not only the outcome, but also all the additional problems and unintended consequences of this spell.

Daring to do something can be a problem if you are going against the Powers that Be. If a deity has decided that the person you are trying to help is supposed to be sick at the same time you are trying to make them well, and you heal them anyhow, despite all the warnings and problems of that healing, there may be divine retribution. To Dare means you are willing and able to accept that and deal with it.

No matter what anyone says, there are Powers in the Universe that could be upset that you are doing this spell. Perhaps, it is because there will be unknown “butterfly effect” problems in another segment of creation. Maybe it is because there will be a power drain from something else that is needed and it may simply be that the desired outcome is supposed to be one that is out of reach. It is possible that binding you are doing is in opposition to the protection this God has promised to His follower.

Daring to do this spell anyhow sets you up to be in direct conflict with that Power. It means that there is the possibility that They will be upset with you and make your life “interesting” for a while as retribution and punishment.

Now, assuming that your Will and your Knowledge is up to snuff in this whole process, the Dare stage is when you actually start doing the spell. At this point, the recriminations and self examination should be done, the decision made and now you actually get out your Tools and start the spell. Just that act, should throw you into an altered state of consciousness. This is the physical stage.

If we relate these legs of the Pyramid to different sections of our being, then “To Know” is the mental preparation part, “To Will” is the spiritual part, and “To Dare” is the physical part of this entire process.

Remember when I was saying before about humanity being wish generators? Well, wishing for something is only part of the whole process. Wishing will only get you so far magickally, it’s the actual process of doing the spell that will achieve results.

But then there is still one part that needs to be addressed, and thankfully it is showing up in more and more teaching texts. Part of the “To Dare” process HAS to be actually doing the mundane things that will help the spell along.

In other words, if doing a spell for a job, Knowing what job you want is good, Willing that job into your life is another good part, Daring to actually do the spell is really good, but having the courage to go out and face rejection over and over is the most important part.

Daring must also encompass the mundane. It does take effort and courage to follow through on the mundane side of things, if only because we might fail.

In a post he made in his LiveJournal, Taylor Ellwood made the very interesting point that most people are conditioned to avoid failure at all costs. As part of that, we are also not trained to accept success, and current societal standards are doing no favor by encouraging a similar mindset of “it’s okay to fail” in the next generation.

In any spell, simply beginning the process of the spell will open the door for failure. Failure will become an option. So one of the goals in any spellcasting process must be accepting that the spell might fail and striving to prevent that failure. Don’t go into the spell with the thought that it will fail, but accept that the “nature of the beast” is going to include the failure of the spell and then strive to overcome it.

Of course, the standard excuse is to blame other factors, for that failure. “The Stars weren’t right,” or “Goddess must have other plans for me,” or “It will happen eventually,” are all excuses that come very rapidly on the lips of those who try spells and fail.

But as one Doctor Who episode pointed out¹, what if we dream the impossible? What if, despite all things to the contrary, we actually make it and make our dreams come true?

No one is trained to that, but we are trained to fail. So Daring to be courageous, to actually do what we say we want, that is real magick. To think that it is possible to achieve what we want, to have what we dream about, that’s wonder.

This attitude is prevalent in most of modern Western Society. The very first word that most children learn to understand is “no”. From then on it is “don’t”, “can’t”, “no”, “Ain’t gonna happen” and more negative ascertations. Very few opportunities in our life teach us how to succeed and what to do when one achieves a goal.

It’s one reason that there are so many books and seminars that try to show people how to succeed. But I have rarely seen anything that shows you what to do when you do succeed.

Our culture is built on the supposition of failure, and thus to actually attempt something that is highly likely not to work is an incredible step of confidence. Actually taking the step to face that possible rejection for the bare slim chance that we could have a better life is truly Daring.

This is the core of “To Dare”. Taking that leap of faith, that step that may pay off and may not, even after been told all your life that you probably aren’t going to make anything of yourself. You must be ready to take that step despite the array of problems in your way, from the mundane to the deities themselves. To take that step, knowing that it may not pan out, but trusting yourself, your knowledge and your training to see it through anyhow.

Then you must have the confidence to follow through with the mundane work as well, to see the process through.

Then, add another layer, Daring to continue anyhow, even if the original spell didn’t work and do it again, despite disappointment in the past. Making sure that you do not, do not, do not quit; even when logic says “give up”, when reason says “enough already”, and when the universe orders you to cease, stubbornly going on is the essence of, the heart and soul of To Dare.

Originally posted 2009-11-10 02:54:34.

(Note from Daven:  This is kind of a primer for Druidism.  I don’t know how much of it is accurate, since I learned from a different Way.  However, it sounds correct as far as it goes.  Once again, use your brains about all this.  Just because it’s written down here doesn’t mean that it’s written in stone.)

SIMPLE INTRODUCTION TO DRUIDRY

We seem to be living in a time when the past is calling to us at the top of its collective lungs. We are somehow living with deep memories of a past that touches us in a way we don’t understand but hunger to embrace.

The work of Druids is the work of re-making the connections between out everyday lives and the wonder and Magick of the inner worlds. We current day Druids and Wiccan’s are trying to again open the gates of the Soul where everything we still remember resides. To once again use the Power of the Self: intellect, intuition, instinct and emotions to seek the good of ALL people which are health, wealth, wisdom. Love and personal power.

You’ll find this to be a very skeletal account of the Druidic faith and how it has similarities to the craft of the Wise. If I can gift you with an enticing and uncomplicated look at what is practiced by some of today’s Druids, I hope it will be another joyful path upon which you might explore as you seek the Ancient Ways – the Magick, the Wisdom and the Mysteries, with diligence and pride.

There is a good deal that you will find similar of you were to do ritual using the Wiccan rites and those of the Druid. Similar at least, in principle. Both use the basics; relaxation, concentration, visualization and the rational of ritual. Your success in the ritual depends on your skills and your personal study from the sources that have spoken to you in some way and on some level. But understand that even when Druidry is approached as a simple, personal religion, the traditional disciplines of the mind and respect for Druid histories are needed for good results.

If you have a ” feel” for Druidry you will know without hesitation that it is the past that is calling to you. You will have a need to light the Sacred Fire in the place of the Spirits. You will seek out the hidden Holy Spring in the forests heart. You will feel called to worship the Old God/Goddess and to restore their Honour in the modern times. It is… overwhelming at times to work with and through the Mighty Wise Ones of old. You will seek to walk the Elders way, even though we may not possess all the knowledge of the Ancients.

DRUID SYMBOLS AND MAGICKAL WAYS: FIRE, WELL and TREE

While Wiccan rite commonly uses the four elements, Earth, Water, Fire and Air, there are only three that are the center of Druid ritual and Magick. The Holy Well, The Sacred Fire and the World Tree. They have MANY levels of meaning and they must always be present in any working.

At the deepest, the Fire, Well and Tree connect with the primal powers of the cosmos. Holy Wells open the powers of the Underworld, the dark source of the whole of the worlds potential. The waters flow from the womb of the primal mother, whom the Celts call DANU, the mother of Wisdom.

The Sacred Fire brings the Sky power into the Sacred Grove. The Gods and Spirits are seen as being enfleshed by Fire. It is the power that awakens the individual mind. It is the Heart of the Earth and in every being it is the source of the individual Self. Fire is the power of the Primal Father known to the Celts as the Dagda, the good God.

The World Tree is the power of connection. From its base root in the depths to its peak against the skies, the Tree upholds the home of every Kindred. It is a Magical road and carries the powers between Earth and Sky. It is the symbol of the Middle Worlds where ALL things have light and dark.

These are the Powers of the Center and are what bring ritually into every Druid rite and Holy Place.

THE WORLDS AND THE KINDREDS

The universal use of the four elements is understood by Celtica and Wiccans differently because they are the broader movement. The classical system of the four arranged within a Pentagram is for the Druid, replaced by the three realms of Land, Sea and Sky, with the Sacred Fire in the center. These are used as principles of interacting all of the worlds teaming life whether human, animal, plant, stone or spirit.

THE LAND,…

…is the home of our HUMAN Kindreds and of our closest allies. The Land is our common world where most of us will live out our lives. The fresh water that wells up in the Earth is also considered part of the realm of the land.

THE SEA,…

…Is the wild place that lies outside our common land. The SEA is the home of vast and teaming life that is different from our own. It is the place of OTHERWORLD Isles, the home of the Sidhe heroes and is the land of the young.

THE SKY,…

…is the source of light and shadow. It is the place of the Shining Ones. The Sky overarches the Land and Sea just as the Gods and Goddesses watches over all of us. The turning, waxing and waning of the two lights of Sun and Moon

Within all these Worlds, all common life is sustained. In the middle of these Worlds is found the Druidic Sacred Grove. This is the place of flowing together. There the Sacred Fire burns, by the Well of Wisdom, beneath the World Tree.

And all is as it should be.

THE OTHERWORLDS

Within and behind our common realm, as close as that plant next to you and as far afield as the deepest ocean lie the Otherworlds. The Otherworlds are the homes of the Spirits, the Tribes of the Noble ones and the Shining Ones themselves.

THE KINDREDS…

…all of us are the Children of the Mother, descended as we are through the countless lines of mortal mothers and fathers. Don’t be surprised to learn that for as many mortal Kindreds, there are countless tribes of Otherworld beings that have touched you as well. Druids will deal with and make offerings to many kinds of Spirits.

THE SHINING ONES…

…are the Oldest, mightiest and wisest of the beings within the great weaving. The First mother and the First Father. The triple Goddess. The powers of love, artistry and of healing. The children of light and shadow. The Celtic Pantheon.

THE MIGHTY ONES…

…are the Ancestors. Those of our own folk who are presently resting in the land of the dead. They watch over their descendants and lend power to aid us. It is most proper for every Druidic worshiper to honour their immediate ancestors.

THE NOBLE ONES…

…are the spirits of the non-human evolutions, both mortal and those never born. They are the multitude of small spirits of stone, herb and animals to the very Queen of the Fairy and her consort. Each has their own power and should be approached with respect whether it be a gentle herb spirit or a mighty mountain.

These are the Three Kindreds. It is also wise to remember that these are not hard and fast categories. One folks Deity or God/Goddess may well be considered an ancestor by another. So, I highly suggest that it is wisest to do honour to ALL of the Spirits.

RITUAL AND MAGICK

For both Wiccans and Druids, Ritual is a combination of proper speech, proper gesture, proper thought and the knowledge of the meanings and powers of the natural things, times and seasons. The Wise learn the potencies of herbs and stones and woods and colors and the scents and sounds of the things we are blessed to make use of. We train our minds and memory, our bodies and our emotions so that every thing we do can be seen as Holy.

In EVERY work of Magick, the Druid must know their goal and know the skill of his or her Magick. You must dare to seek it out, risking failure or error. No one is going to condemn you or shame you if you fail.

If you would be a Druid, there is one law to which we all must subscribe… That you use ALL of your will to pursue the goal you have set for yourself or the ritual, and, you must keep silent about the work, never displaying the Secret Art before fools.

HALLOWING AND TOOLS

Druid Ritual at its simplest needs only a Fire, a bowl of Water and the Druids Staff along with any offerings to the spirits. Here are the tools and Holy things “Hallows” – that would allow a Druid ritual:

SACRED FIRE

Sacred flame MUST be present at any ritual. In the most reduced circumstances a single candle would serve you just fine. A censer could hold the charcoal block for your offering and perhaps you might even ring it with nine candles. This works well if you have no hearth.

HOLY WATER

Drudic Holy Water is created from three blessed wells which have been exposed to the light of the sun, Moon and the Sacred Fire (or lightning). This water should be stored in a tightly closed vessel and added in small amounts to the larger amount used in a ritual.

THE CAULDRON

The cauldron is used to hold the HOLY WATER in Druidic Ritual. It is seem as the Primal well of Wisdom and it should always be clean enough to drink from.

THE OFFERING BOWL

Into this bowl you will place your offering to the Earth or Spirits.

THE EARTHSTONE

The Earthstone is a small piece of stone that is placed into the offering bowl. It acts as the receiver for the Mother Earth when offering is made.

THE HORN OR CHALICE

The horn or chalice is the drinking cup used to pour the offerings of drink and to drink the Blessing.

THE TORC

One piece of adornment that is central to Celtic Magick is the Torc. A Torc is a neck ring that is open in the front and usually made of spiraled metals. The Torc is a symbol of Kinship with the Celtic powers and the Clan of the Old Ways. It also indicates the Sacred mind that enshrines your Magickal knowledge and wisdom. The Torc is a special symbol for those on the Celtic or Druid path.

A SHORT RITE FOR HONORING OF THE FIRE, WELL AND TREE

(SILVER OR PRECIOUS STONE IS OFFERED TO THE WELL SAYING)…

I am here to do as the Wise Ancients did, to make offering to the powers and to bless this work as a Hallowed tool of Magick.

O Sacred waters,

You who flow and swirl beneath all being;

Accept my offering!

Let me know the inner depths within myself.

The source of all.

The well of inner wisdom.

Sacred well, flow within me!

(AN OIL OR HERB IS OFFERED TO THE FIRE SAYING…)

O Sacred Fire,

You who consume and transform,

You are the true light of the Shining ones.

Accept my offering

And let the Holy Flame

Warm my spirit and my Life!

Sacred Fire, burn within me!

(THE TREE IS CENSED AND SPRINKLED SAYING)…

O Sacred Tree, you span the way

between the worlds.

You are the center support of the sky,

Rooted in the Ancient deep.

Let my spirit be deepened in your depths,

Raised to your heights.

Strengthened in your strength.

Sacred tree grow within me!

(HOLDING YOUR STAFF ALOFT SAY)…

The Fire, the Well, the Sacred Tree

Flow and Flame and Grow in me!

Originally posted 2009-11-14 14:17:12.

This is the meditation I most often use to get into a state of trance.  There are elements here common to most meditations and guided meditations.  I explored this concept in part in a class I teach on Astral Projection.  Here are the common themes that most meditations and guided meditations have in them:

1. Suggestions to relax
2. The feeling of a safe environment around you
3. Lack of distractions from the world
4. A sense of comfort and love
5. Pictures and visualizations of a scene that is pleasant for you
6. A descent of some kind.

You may see these themes as you read through the meditation.

Sit or lay down and become comfortable.  Relax your body completely and start thinking about these scenes.

Find yourself in a wooded area.  The sun is warm on your back and head, and the breeze is cool on your face.  There is just enough of a breeze to disturb your hair, but not enough to make you uncomfortable.

There is a path under your feet.  It leads to a distant place, and you know that at the end of this path, you will find many wondrous things to do and to experience.

As you walk along the path, you hear the birds singing in the distance and hear the crunch of the leaves as you step on them.  You smell the scents of the woods around you, and hear the running water of a nearby stream.

Relax your toes.  Let the toes become heavy and unresponsive.  Feel the light of the Sun entering into the toes on each foot, warming them and making them distant.  Know that as the light of the Sun enters your body, that it will warm and protect you from anything outside of you, keeping you safe for the time you are here.

Feel the warmth of the Sun move up your feet and into the ankles.  These portions of your body are completely relaxed and kind of numb.  There is a distance between you and your feet at this moment.  They are safe and function fully and completely, with no problems.  Anything that is wrong with your body will be corrected once the light of the Sun reaches them and you are relaxed.

Move the sunlight up your legs now, into your knees.  The glow is warm and kind, not harsh or too hot.  The breeze is blowing and you are cooling off even as the sunlight makes you warm.

The light is now in your thighs and your groin area.  From the waist down, there is a warmth and a wellness that is hard to describe.  Everything in your lower regions works perfectly and completely, with no problems or imperfections.  The lower half of your body is safe and warm and comforted, complete and whole, ready to function as you desire it to.

Move the light from the Sun up into your belly region now.  As the light penetrates the lower back and the stomach, see the impurities in your body dump themselves into your colon, and see the intestines work most efficiently to rid the body of that waste.

Now the light moves up your back, across the shoulders and into the chest.  Your heart beats easier and your lungs breathe without restriction.  As you breathe in, the light of the sun flows into your lungs, and with every breath outward, all that is negative and contrary in the universe flows out into the air.  This negativity cannot come back in.  It’s as though you were wearing a filter on your mouth that keeps the bad from coming back into you.

Relax more.  Everything below your neck is now relaxed and working most efficiently.  Your body is whole and perfect, fully functional in every way.

The light now penetrates your arms and hands, illuminating them from the inside.  You can see the bones and the blood vessels in your arms and hands, and you see that there is no restriction of these pipelines and supports.  The blood flows in, is cleansed by the Sun, and it flows away having delivered it’s package of Oxygen to your body.

The back of your neck feels the sunlight now, and it rapidly spreads upwards across your scalp.  Your thinking becomes clear, your thoughts transmitted to your body with the speed of timelessness.  There is no delay in the thought and the action now.  Your brain is illuminated and all those dark shadowed places in your soul are laid bare, showing you what they contain, allowing you to face those negative parts of yourself.

The light continues across your forehead, over your eyes, past your nose and across your mouth.  Now you are the light, the light is in you and around you and part of you.  You open up your hand and pluck the Sun out of the sky and swallow it.  Now that Sunlight is your radiant self shining out of your skin.  You see shadows that are cast by you as you finish your walk through the forest.

At the end of the trail you are on, you find a cave.  You see that it extends deep into the Earth, but you have no fear of the dark since you are light.  You enter this cave, walking carefully to avoid the water puddles you see around you.  But you stop and look into one of those puddles.

You see a scene of your past.  You watch it again and understand what was happening that day that you were not aware of.  You see everything and everyone that was there, clearly and completely.  You see subtitles and you realize that those words are what you were thinking at this time.

You move closer to one of these puddles.  In a second you slip slightly and your foot comes down in the puddle and you find yourself in that scene again, almost as though you were in a three-dimensional fully interactive movie.  You can hear yourself and others, and even hear the conversations you were not able to hear before.

You stand and watch for a bit, and no one sees you or talks to you.  And now you realize what this cave is, it is the Cave of Memory.  Everything you have ever seen or done, every thought, every attitude and event is recorded here in these puddles of water, and you can view them at your pleasure.

You decide to explore your memories another time.

As you walk out of the cave, still shining as the sun, you see the scene different outside.  It is where you decided to go when you started meditating this time.  It can be a problem that you can now look at and interact with, or it can be another place.  Perhaps it is your Temple and the Gods are waiting to teach you again.  It is now up to you to decide what you are going to be doing.

You may wake when you choose to, completely rested, whole and hale, relaxed and de-stressed.  There have been no emergencies while you were gone, and any that come up now you will be able to deal with rationally and calmly.  Everything in your body works perfectly and at peak efficiency.  You are loved.

An audio MP3 of this meditation can be found at http://davensjournal.com/dmed.mp3 Just right-click and go to “Save As”

Stars light your path.

Originally posted 2009-11-03 20:23:23.

(Read this section before you do anything else. Important)

The Rituals in this following section are copied directly out of The Tree by Raymond Buckland. I have taken a few liberties with some of them, but what I have changed is minor.

Generally, the only changes I have made are to replace the Deity names. Buckland suggests that the Deities be called Woden and Freya. Mary and I are more comfortable with Herne and Rhiannon. These two are (in general) gentler than Woden and Freya. The times I have worked with Them, I have found this to be true.

The other major changes I have done are to write some new rituals that do not appear in The Tree. Everything after the Death Rite is my own creation.

The only other major change I have made is to add one line to the initiation rituals. There needs to be some sort of privacy oath in there. Not a secrecy oath, it is only a promise to respect the wishes of others in the coven to not reveal their names unless given permission by that person. Not to unintentionally “out” them as it were.

Please note this statement at the bottom of all pages from “The Tree”:  © Raymond Buckland, 1970, The Tree.  Used by Permission.

These are NOT my rituals, they are Buckland’s.  I have reposted them here in their entirety, and I have noted where I made changes for my personal practice.  DO NOT take these and pass them off as yours. They are not yours.  Each of these rituals that Raymond Buckland wrote are his.  They are His, they are HIS.

The only reason they are here is because these rituals are available to the public.  They are not hidden in esoteric Books of Shadows, they are available to look at.  Note, I say “look at”, not “take and change them and claim they are yours”.  These are used for examples for you to build your rituals around, nothing more.

Please remember that everything in this area can be changed at will. If you don’t like the Clearing of the Temple Ritual as it is written, then change it. Write your own. I have no special lock on the truth, and the ceremonies you use must speak to YOU. If it is not special and has no meaning, you will not get into the “mood” and it will be just another waste of time.

I give more recognition to what feels right instead of what someone else says is right. This approach has given men a lot of comfort over the years and a working knowledge of the whys and wherefores of Magick and Wicca. If it feels right, then nevermind what others will say. It is special to you and your comfort.

Remember, the only thing I am here to teach is that there is “no one true way.” That which is right is a matter of what you feel is right. You have to find it for yourself. No one else is wrong because they do not participate or worship the same way as you, nor are you wrong because you do not follow their rules. All paths lead to the center.

Some explanation of terms: “Deosil” means clockwise and “widdershins” is counter-clockwise.

Stars light your path.

Originally posted 2009-11-03 20:01:58.

(Daven’s Comments: Please note this carefully; this is NOT my essay. It is one of the classics of NeoPagan Literature, and as such deserves to be out there in the community. Every time, however, I find a copy of it, it somehow disappears off the Internet completely. To prevent this from being lost, I am putting it up here. So I don’t have to be anxious about whether or not it will vanish the next time I need to reference it. If you wish to see a more up to date version, please go to THIS SITE and read. I honestly don’t know the difference between these two, but that one is a higher version number. Sad to say the original site Clannada na Gadelica seems to have disappeared off the Internet completely. I leave this link here out of respect.)

by Iain MacAnTsaoir and Dawn O’Laoghaire

The following is by no means an indictment of the religion called Wicca. Wicca is indeed a valid and powerful path for those who truthfully walk it and understand it. However, there is a body of people who believe that Wicca is the descendant of the religious ways of the Gaelic or other Celtic peoples (or ‘Celts’ as a general nomenclature). This simply is not the case.

The following is a brief comparison of the Wiccan religion and Celtic religion. The purpose of this exercise is to dispel the notion that Wicca is Celtic, or derived from Celtic religion. It is by no means to be taken as an in-depth survey of either religion. There are a great many questions that could be answered for people if they would visit with the elderly people in the rural areas of the Old Countries, or at least read books written by solid academians instead of profit oriented, new age writers. We will place at the end of this article the sources that can be used to substantiate what is said herein. I encourage you to investigate each source given, to check the veracity of the statement for yourselves

When we talk about Celtic religion, we must define what we are talking about. Precisely put, we are talking about religious beliefs, practices and world views that existed in Gaelic and other Celtic cultures, as these developed as natural manifestations within the cultures. While this woudl included Celtic Christianity, for this article we are addressing Classical (pagan) Celtic theology. The pagan methodology and understandings of Gaelic spirituality survived the coming of Christianity and have continued to this day within the ways of people who are by and large nominally Christian. This is however, where Gaelic Traditionalists, both pagan and Christian, look when establishing their beliefs and methodologies.

An example of what existed in Classical times, when compared with what began afterward, is the use of the Maypole. Prior to importation by Germanic invaders, the Maypole was not in use in Gaelic lands. The High Days, which were fire festivals, saw people gather at the local river to make votive offerings, as well as light bonfires on the hill tops. It wasn’t until the coming of the Saxon that the Maypole came to Gaelic lands, and even then the use of the Maypole stayed in the areas where there was a Germanic population, and was not adopted by the indigenous Gaels.

The spirituality of the various Celtic peoples has not changed. The Gaelic peoples still recognize that there are spirits of the Sky, the Sea and the Land (X). It is only in their official methodologies concerning the Upper Realm, that concepts and methodologies have changed. The Three of Power can still be found in prayers and incantations such as recorded by Alexander Carmichael at the early part of the 20th century. Yet there are a great many who claim that things that have never been a part of the Celtic paradigm are Celtic. Wicca seems to be a religion that is particularly prone to this. The people who make the statement that Wicca is Celtic are usually of two sorts. These are the new people who either for their own reasons truly believe this to be the case, or they have fallen prey to some unscrupulous teacher who uses the allure of things “Celtic” to draw in new students or ensure profits. In both cases the problem is exacerbated by the fact that solid information is not easily accessible to the general public. The people who fall for the antics of the unscrupulous teacher usually do not have access to the information it takes to refute the falsehood. All religions have these types, and the fact that these will also exist within Wicca should not serve as a reason to condemn that path.

People who, with utter conviction, state that Wicca is a Celtic path usually have derived this idea by one of two common arguments (taking for granted that they haven’t been misinformed). The first is conveyed by the person stating something to the effect of, “… _____ (usually Gardner is named) drew upon Celtic lore when putting it together… .” The second statement used is, “…it just *is* Celtic, it’ always been Celtic, its always been in places like Ireland and Scotland.” Both of these arguments are easily disproven. The following shall go toward that end.

Traditional Celtic religions, as is the case with all religions, are cultural manifestations. In tribal cultures the people’s spirituality is part of their identity and world view. Gaelic Traditionalism, for example, holds within the Gaelic culture. This just as a Traditionalist Lakota would remain faithful to their culture. In the Gaelic experience, though regional variants of the name would exist, the Mother of the Gods is Danu, and her mate is Bile. From that union came Dagda and Bride, who are described in some articles of lore as mates themselves. From texts and folklore we see that the Gods were born of that union. The Gods are the First Ancestors of the people, and are individuals. Scholars have noted that when Celtic culture entered an area, the Celtic gods of the Upper Realm went in with them. These then intermarried with the local goddesses of the land (the goddesses of sovereignty). Extant geneological texts chart how the ancient Gael believed that they originated with those unions. Hence the very Gods of the people are their First Ancestors.

The various ideas surrounding the ancestors manifest in a host of customs, such as the Feast of the Dead. Also, such concepts as that of the dead reincarnating through blood lines, in conjunction with the customs of the Gaelic peoples, provides a sense of continuity and identity that cannot be missed.

Just as Traditionalists hold steadfastly to their own culture, Wicca tends to draw from various cultures and ideologies. What allows the practicioners of Wicca to put elements from various religions together is the modernist ideology that has at it’s root the Jungian concept of archetypes. Wiccans tend to work heavily in the idea of archetypes — “All goddesses are the face of the Goddess”. They focus on the traits which various deities share, much the same way a Jungian would focus on the shared traits of heros in a Jungian analysis. Wiccans also speak heavily on the subject of masculine and feminine dualities (anima andÊ animus), which are central to Jungian theories of personality. Some Wiccans focus on claiming the shadow side, or “dark” side of individuals, which is a straight lift from Jungian theory.

The concepts that are traditionallay part of Celtic religions reject this type of analysis and state that the Gods are individuals. Furthermore, as stated, traditional Celtic beliefs hold that the Gods are tied to the people by a familial links. As an example, while a Gaelic Traditionalist might agree that your mom and their mom (or your tribe’s Mother Goddess and their tribe’s Mother Goddess) share some traits by virtue of both people being moms, it is a mistake to say that just because both people are moms, they are interchangeable. To the perspective of a Gael, the basic fallacy of extending Jungian analysis to far is this your mom isn’t their mom, no matter how mom-like both people are. Needless to say, one can’t hold an archetype relationship to either the God or the Goddess and a direct and intimate personal relationship to your people’s gods at the same time. The two ideas contradict each other.

Another of the signs telling of the Jungian foundation in Wicca is the propensity to constantly ‘borrow’ of concepts, icons and sacred relics from other cultures and their religions. This causes a great deal of friction to exist between people of other cultures and Wiccans. This friction manifests itself in such passive things as traditional peoples separating themselves and establishing communities aside from the general pagan one. It also manifests in such things as the literal Lakota Declaration of War against those who “steal” (words the spiritual leaders of that People used) that cultures spirituality. The unanimous opinion of the people in the various traditional forms of spirituality is that Wicca and Wiccans spend too much time “borrowing” everything under the sun and throwing it all together. Yet, to be fair, from Wicca’s arcehtypal-based viewpoint, that’s both okay and logical.

From a traditional Gaelic view point, and traditionalists of other cultures say the same things, these practices dishonor the ancestors, distort the fundamental truth (your mom ain’t my mom), and interfere with the duty that traditional people generally feel to preserve and restore traditional cultures. This is because, to them, Wicca creates a distraction that sidetracks people looking for the traditional ways, as well as sucks up the time, interest and energy of people who might otherwise be helping to find ways to preserve their culture. Wiccans also often present themselves as the “true” Celtic religion which prevents some people from ever finding their way back to the path of the ancestors, which would, in the view of a traditional person, honor the gods properly. Meaning, as individuals and as the ‘First Ancestors’. What most traditionalists find deplorable is that many Wiccans embrace the misinformation regardless of fact and refuse to deal with conflicting ideas or views when faced with facts.

Having established the Jungian foundation that allows for misinformation to remain unchecked in the Wiccan community lets start dispelling some of the fallacious notions that exist. The first notion to be addressed is, ‘Wicca is what the Celts of old practiced.’ Toward dispelling this idea, let’s state some things that are faily well established as fact because of the preponderance of evidence,

The first is that modern neo-paganism is highly impacted by, and reflective of, Gardnerian Wicca and its derivatives. The second is that, when Gardner was putting his creation together he drew upon Eastern philosophies, Egyptian ideologies and Judaic ceremonialism, in addition to Celtic lore.

This easily becomes confusing, but when something is made up of components, the whole mechanism is not solely of any one of those components. To state such denotes a severely faulty argument. Let me demonstrate this. For a great many years American Motors Corporartion (AMC) put out a whole line of automobiles. These automobiles very often had Chrysler engines, Ford transmissions, Chrysler brakes, Ford seats and, I believe in one instance, even General Motors instrumentation. All of those components, motors, transmissions, seats, etc, were fixed into a body made by AMC. Yet the complete car wasn’t a Ford because it had a Ford engine, nor was it a Chrysler because it had their transmission. It was an AMC, a creature all its own. The same is true about Wicca. It has a Hindu engine, an Egyption torque converter and a Celtic transmission. These things were set in a ceremonial body that, while reflective of the bodies used by the Hermetic Orders, is Wiccan alone. It is a creature unto itself.

Concerning the second argument they use, I direct your attention at two areas. These two areas will suffice nicely in dispelling the false notion that Wicca just *IS* Celtic. The first area is the theologies of the two systems

The two systems, Wicca and Celtic, and in particular Gaelic, contradict each other on several points. These conradictions are enough to, as a whole, form a severe dissonance between the two religions. In Celtic religion, there are three basic spheres. These are the Sky, the Sea and the Land. Each of these has a ruling body. For the Sky the sun, for the Sea the Moon and for the Land the Earth.

By careful study of the ancient texts, as well as the language itself, we see that the Sun and the Moon are feminine. They are sisters to each other. Though in some lore there is traces of evidence that some believed that while the Sun was feminine, the Moon was masculine. In Gaidhlig the names of both luminaries are feminine, and in invocations and spells they are both addressed as feminine beings. Yet they can change gender according to which of their attributes is brought to the fore. The nurturing, warm Sun who promotes growth is feminine, the light, as personified by Lugh, is masculine, and the scorching Sun just before Harvest is represented by Balor. This contrasts sharply with Wicca which is based wholly on a Feminine Moon and Masculine Sun.

Wicca is a religion whose philosophical foundation is Neo-Platonic dualism with a Goddess and a God as archetypes. Not only is Celtic religion vastly different in that it is truely polytheistic, totemistic, animistic, and zoomorphic but the very processes of reason upon which the whole of the Celtic worldview is based is founded on a tripartite cosmology. In Celtic understanding the world has three independent and free sphere, Sky, Land and Sea. The three realms are both the legs of the cauldron of the world, as well as the three parts of the Tree of the World

The next area of difference regards ethics. The basic ethical statement of Wicca is called ‘the Rede.’ The Wiccan rede states, “An It Harm None, Do As Ye Wilt.” The nature of the Rede is untenable to Celts. The whole morality of Wicca is “harm none”. While it is a theoretical statement, it is one with little real life practice. This is because it’s a rule that must be broken just to survive and as a result leaves interpretation and application to individuals, and common sense, isn’t

Such statments as are typical of the Rede are not a part of the Celtic paradigm, in which we find a heroic morality. In real life, the term “harm none” is typified by the moralities of Wicca, Christianity, and others where the primary imperative is to not hurt others. Heroic is typified by Celtic and Norse religions primarily, though other examples exist. Heroic morality is summed up by the Gaelic hero Caelte as, “truth in our hearts, strength in our arms and fulfillment in our tongues”. Heroic morality is rooted in concepts of personal honor, responsibility and fulfilment of duty. These are all traits of the Heroic morality, but like the Tao, it is an intangible concept that cannot truly be adequately defined

Because Wicca and traditional Gaelic spirituality arise out of different analyticalÊ perspectives, their moralities — the “scripts” they create for their adherents — are radically different. Wicca is a religion that is based on a logical extension of Jungian analysis (and yes, Jung was big into religion) — thus it’s sole ethic “Harm none and do what thou wilt” tends to reflect a personal, individualistic practice. Traditionalist Celts living a “heroic” morality focus on heroism, personal honor, tribal honor and duty to the tribe and “Do what you wilt” is the last thing on their mind. What honor and duty calls for are at the opposite end of the spectrum from what the individualistic bent of Wicca would call for.

The vision conceived and portrayed by Wicca, of what comes after this life, is limited and vague. Celtic religion, on the otherhand, has a complex and intricate conceptualization of the otherworld. In fact, OtherWorld’s interaction in this world is, in many ways, the pivot point of Celtic religion.

Wicca is primarily an invocatory/ecstatic religion which revolves around special rituals. The ‘formularies’ used by Wicca can be traced back through the lodges of ceremonial magic, and especially the work of Alister Crowley. In Celtic religion, the tenets are votive in nature and stress ethics and morality, only secondary importance is placed on ritual. To Celts, life itself is ceremony, with every thought, word and deed being spiritually significant and magical

The very foundation of Gaelic culture was the home. The hearth was the cornerstone of the spirituality of the people. In Gaelic religions great emphasis is placed on the sanctity of the home, and strength of the family. Families, to traditional celtic peoples, include people who have adopted each other. The individuals are encouraged to walk in strength and to fulfill their responsibilities to their families. These components are not found in Wicca

In Wicca, sacred space is ritually ‘created.’ To traditional Celtic sensibilities, both blessing the salt and not blessing the salt are superfluous arguments. This because to the Celtic mind, human kind can make neither the Gods, nor Their creations, any more or less perfect than they already are.

In traditionally based Celtic religions all all space is sacred. The Land is the Goddess of Sovereignty, the Mother of the peoples living there, and holy unto Herself. Sacred space is omnipresent, it is the history of a place or some other distinguishing thing that causes certain places to see different religious usages. What is done at a site depends on the natural predisposition of an area or its history. That the ancestors saw things in this way is established through such literary evidence as the Dindsenchas (a book of place histories).

Related to the concepts of the land is that, the Gods that Celts took with them into a new land (Sky Gods/ Gods of the People), mated with the Land Gods already in that land. Out of those unions came the oldest Gaelic families, out of which came later Gaelic families. What this means is that the Celts saw the Gods as their relatives. Hence we see one of several manifestations of ancestor veneration. Wicca has no component for venerating or developing a relationship with the ancestors, or the Goddess of the land or other land spirits of the lands that a people live in. These are big items in traditional Celtic religions.

Wicca is an initiatory mystery religion. Gaelic and other traditional Celtic religions are inclusive, with very few initiatory elements. Within Wicca there are various degrees and levels, each having its own mystery, each mystery being revealed by someone in authority. While the scope of this article is not designed to explore religious functionaries in pre-Christian Celtic cultures, in Celtic religion, the declarations of the Gods are found in the Order of Nature. The revelations are from the Gods themselves, and in general each person with sincerity seeks to understand the natural world (which includes the “supernatural” world) around them and their place in it. There also the concept of interacting with the natural world as co-inhabitors of the world

As briefly touched on earlier, Wicca uses the classical elements as a fundamental concept. Celtic religions traditionally do not use the classical elements (air, fire, water and earth) in any way. Some point to the inclusions of the four mythical cities of the Tuatha De Danaan, as recounted in the Lebhar Gebhala Erenn as proof of, or a model of, the use of the elements of the later Greek elements. These folk attribute the four treasures that came from those cities as symbols for those elements. However, scholars tend to think that these may have been included as they were by Christian monks to bring things more into line with the Roman concepts as typified by the Roman Vulgate.

Some will argue that the floor plans of sacred sites support the concept of the use of directions in conjunction with the four elements. First, such associations would be speculation only. Secondly, these floor plans are of the square temples that are found primarily on the continent. This floor plan was carried over to the isles with the Romans, and is found as a part of Romano-Celtic culture. The majority of insular temples were round. Typical of this genre is the important ritual structure at Emain Macha which was itself round. Archaeological diggings has shown that the site was based on five concentric rings (perhaps associated with the same five circles placed around a new born) of oak posts, with an opening to the west. Circular sites aren’t plagued with such concerns as which side faces which direction. Indeed, the sitting arrangement of the five kings at Tara, indicate an association with the directions, but these need to be addressed within the framework of the culture. This framwork would be winds, or ‘airts’, not the four Greek elements. The airts are still to this day what are associated with the dircetions, as shown by some of the incantations recorded in the Highlands by Carmichael. The Greek elements were only associated with the Four Treasures in the late 1800′s, by the work of the Golden Dawn, of which Yeates was a member.

If we want to address the Four Treasures, we must recognize exactly what is being stated in the texts. Of those treasures, one was the Sword of Nuada and the other the Spear of Lugh. Lugh did not come with the Tuatha De Danann when They came into Ireland. Lugh showed up later on, just prior to the second battle of Maig Tuired. According to the lore, Lugh’s Spear was forged by Goibiu. In that battle Nuadh was killed, and it was after the battle that Lugh took the kingship. Hence, by seeing that Nuadh was gone, and Lugh ascended, Nuadh’s solar symbol (the sword) was replaced by Lughs solar symbol (the spear). This helps us to see that the significant number involved is ‘three’

Also as stated, in Celtic culture there are the basic spheres of Sky, Sea and Land. These three realms are three parts of the cosmology of most Indo-European peoples, and are not the equivalents of “earth, wind, fire and water” of the Hellenistic Greek world that has filtered down to the modern era through the ceremonial magical lodges.

The Sky, which is related to Fire, is the realm of the gods of culture, light/enlightenment, order, permanence, purity, and the skills (The Tuatha De Danann). The Sea, which is the realm of the watery Underworld is associated with chaos, decay, and death through which comes renewal and rebirth (the Fomorri). Regarding water proper, it is through the sacred wells (direct conduits to OtherWorld), from the Waters of Heaven (which maintains during the rule of the truthful king), that the waters which encircles the Earth, sustains and maintains the people of the Land. It is here on the Land where humans physically exist, living in contentions on the ‘plain of sorrow’, caught betwixt the above and the below.

The closest thing to an elemental system amongst the Gaelic Celts is what are called the dhuile, as such is defined as ‘elements’ in Gaidhlig. These are anywhere from seven to eleven, usually nine, items. These range from sun to lightning to rock. The duile are a way of understanding the relationship of the person to the cosmos, with each item found in the cosmos relating to a part of the person.Wicca has nothing along these lines. In addition, the fertility nature of Wicca addresses the land Gods almost exclusively. When Gods of the other realms are named, they are usually outside of the place held for them in their traditional pantheons. In Celtic theology each is held and venerated in their traditional capacities. As far as the directions are concerned, the overwhelming evidence shows that in tradiional celtic religion, the directions have always been associated with the winds. Not only is evidence found in texts which record folklore and custom, such as the Carmina Gadleica, but also in texts far more ancient such as the Senchus Mor , the Saltair Na Ran, and the Hibernica Minora.(X)

Wicca places little emphasis on mythology. Yet in Celtic religion, mythological stories are a central feature. These, in fact, form the core of magical practice, teaching and what ritual exists (manifested commonly in ‘passion plays’). In Wicca there is no clear teaching of what is required to break past the cycles of rebirth. Yet in Celtic religion, the requirement can be clearly and concisely stated. That being to fullfill one’s duty, to always be honorable and to stand for the truth come what may, while understanding *why* what is honorable is considered so.

Wicca is a relatively recent addition to the religious paths of humanity. There is a lot of mis-information bandied about regarding it. It is sad that a great many of its followers have to do the religion such a dis-service by claiming lineages that don’t exist. I would point out the now tired joke about Wiccan grand mums. Celts tend to discount initiation, or any other device through which validity is gained through some person or agency. To a Celt, that one exists is proof of their validty. The only generally recognized ‘initiations’ are those afforded by the process of life itself, with the two most important being birth and death, with marriage, parenthood and grand-parenthood coming along in a close second place.

Some well known writers have claimed a great antiquity for Wicca. Yet, if it has any age to it at all, then it is through the Wicce which were Saxon in origin, and patriarchal from the start. These are thought to have been members of the Lodges of Cunning Men. They have nothing to do with the mythological Druids (a product of the British Revival effort of the 18th cenutry). The Wicce have even less to do with the historical Draoi. Such histories, as have connected the two groups of people, are in fact pseudo-histories, or as Margot Adler calls such ideas in her book, Drawing Down The Moon , “myths”.

These same writters state that the word Wicca, derives from the Saxon word, Witan. However, the Witan was the proto-parliament of old Saxon England. If one wishes to twist etymology in this way, it would be more correct to trace the word witch, back to the word ‘wicga’, which is Old English for the insect known as the earwig, and which literally means “creepy-crawly”.

These same writers state that Wicca was practiced in the Celtic lands, and specifically name Gaelic lands, where these practices were supposedly called “Witta”. Yet, from the Gaelic language itself we can see the truth that Wicca is not descended from the Gaelic Celts, nor, because of the similarities in language, even the Cymru (those known to the Anglo tongue as the Welsh). The simplicity of this fact is seen in that that there isn’t even a ‘W ‘ in the Gaelic language, so niether Wicca nor Witta as a derivation could be Gaelic. As concerns the Gaelic language, the sound [w] does exist in Gaelic, or at least in Old Irish, as a lenited /m/ or /b/, like the [w] in the current pronunciation of Samhain [sawhIn - thats a capital I]. But that never occurs at the begining of a word.

In technical speak the ‘w’ does not exist in the language, nor is [w] ever its own phoneme, just an allophone of /m/ or /b/ (depending on the word). Since lenition is rare at the beginning of a word though, it is extraordinarily unlikely that any native Gaelic word would have a [w] at the beginning, and thus ‘Wicca’ is practically impossible in Gaelic even transliterated into the Roman alphabet.

The truth is that modern Wicca, as it is most commonly practiced, is a fairly modern construction, dating from the middle part of this century. This was best summed up by one Dr. Marilyn Wells PhD, anthropology Department at Middle Tennessee State University, who has referred to modern Wiccans as Neo-Wiccans. In other words, there is little to no connection between Gardners creation and the Wicce of the middle ages, and no connection to the Celts; except for what modern Wiccans have borrowed and incorporated. As a matter of fact, if the veracity of The Pickengill Papers is complete, as many Gardnerians have vouched, then the Lodges of Saxon Cunning Men stood in the place of adversary to the Celtic Wise Women , which also goes to support this essay.

More evidence supporting this, can be found in a body of religious laws called the “Law of the Craft”. While there are a great number of groups operating who do not use the set of laws that Gardner wrote, these do, however, usually use some derivation. “The Law of the Craft” as it was created by Gardner, and forwarded by a great many people who recieved it from their grandmothers (a bit of humour), at the least shows the attitude present in the creators of this religion. The undertones still reverberate. There are printed copies of this body to be found in the public domain, in such books as Lady Sheba’s Grimoire, and The King of the Witches by June Johns. There is also to be found on the Internet, a work comparing several versions of that body of law. There are three items of note, where that law is concerned. They are:

1. The uniform appellation given to modern Wicca, as a “brotherhood.”
2. The quote,”… as a man loveth a woman by mastering her…”
3. The quote,”…let her (the high priestess) ever mind that all power is lent…from him (the priest)…” (Her power is absolute in Circle only, and even then lent from the Him [the priest figure])

parentheses added by author-

All three of these items fly in the face of how women were viewed by pre-Roman Gaelic people. Our people viewed women as equals to men, and this through the Brehon Laws which governed the society. Women had the right to possess and disburse property. They possessed the right to inheritance. They possessed ascendency to the throne; in many places above the right of men to do so. They possessed the right to keep and bear weapons, and be it noted that subjegating an armed populace is indeed a difficult thing to do. It was not until Christianity was firmly implanted that women lost these rights, and the equality of the law concerning women came into question.

Other corollary evidence comes from Wiccan statements about themselves. Of the Druids, all that can be agreed upon, based on evidence, was that they were intimately involved in sacrifices. Yet, many Wiccan state that they “..are the priestcraft for the pagan people…”. They are even “training clergy”. Yet, within Gaelic/Celtic culture all people were considered capable of, and responsible for, the mediation of the Gods on their own behalf. Celtic regard for personal responsibility is amply abundant. This is particularly true as regards to mediating the Gods on ones own behalf, and is so obvious and well known that even pop culture books such as The Celtic Tradition by Caitlin Matthews tell of this truth. This has even been commented on by respected celtophiles such as Peter Berresford-Ellis as being a part of the mindset of the Gaels unto this day.

Even the Triads of our people show where the redactors hands slipped on occasion, and let go expressions of the feeling among our forebearers, that kept priests were an abomination. The idea evidently being that the first place we give up our personal power over our lives is to priestcrafts. From there on out, it is one piece of our lives at a time, until we are veritable slaves. Slavery is not a position taken with grace by our people.

This is not to deny the fact that certainly after the coming of Christianity, and probably before, that there were probably orders of Monks dedicated to the service of one or a number of deities. This is only to say that just as there were not temples of the Greek and Roman type, neither were there sacredotes or “clergy”, whose functions were to mediate and or intercede the Gods on the behalf of other people. The sacrifices that these officiated over were not to appease angry dieties. Indo-European sacrifices were for the renewal of the world, which itself according to Indo-European thought was created from the primordial sacrifice of a diety.

In fact traditional celtic religions was votive/sacrificial in nature. Concepts of votive oferings and world renewing sacrifice, though central to Celtic religion, has no position in Wicca.

When I was asked to write this essay, I was also asked to keep it as short as possible, yet not neglecting thoroughness. This should be enough though, to establish the premise quite securely, that Wicca is not descended form our Gaelic/Celtic ancestors.

Sources:

• Popular Superstitions, Sir William R. Wilde, Sterling Publishing, c. 1995
• The Druids, Peter Berresford Ellis, Eerdmans Books
• Death, War and Sacrifice, Dr. Bruce Lincoln, University of Chicago
• Warriors, Priests and Cattle, Dr. Bruce Lincoln, University of Chicago
• Myths and Symbols of Pagan Europe, H.R. Ellis-Davidson, Syracuse University
• Myth, Legend and Romance – An Enclycopedia Of The Irish Folk Tradition, Dr. Daithi OhOgain, Prentice Hall
• A History of Pagan Europe, Prudence Jones and Nigel Pennick
• Celtic Goddesses, Miranda Green, Braziller
• The Silver Bough Vols 1-4, F. Marion MacNeill, Maclellan
• The Folklore of the Scottish Highlands, Dr. Anne Ross, Barnes & Nobles
• The Celtic Consciousness, edited by Robert Driscoll, Braziller
• The Carmina Gadelica, Alexander Carmichael, Lindisfarne Press
• Celtic Heritage, Alwyn and Brinley Rees, Thames & Hudson
• The Tain, Thomas Kinsella, Oxford
• The World of the Druids, Miranda Green, Thames & Hudson
• Twilight of the Celtic Gods, David Clarke with Andy Roberts, Blandford
• Lebor Gebala Erenn Parts 1-5, trans. R.A.S.MacAlistair, Irish Texts Society
• Clannada na Gadelica, “A Tripartite World and Triune Logic”;, Iain MacAnTsaoir, 1997
• The Pickengill Papers-The Origin of the Gardnerian Craft, W.E. Liddell, Capall Bann pub. Oxford
• History Of Britain, Oxford University Press
• Dictionary of Word Origins, John Ayto, Arcade, c. 1990
• Celtic Women, Peter Berresford Ellis, Eerdmans Pub, c. 1995,
• The Women of the Celts, Jean Markale, Gordon Cremonesi, c. 1975
• A HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT-Sorcerers, Heretics and Pagans, Jeffrey B. Russell, Thames and Hudson
• Drawing Down The Moon, Margot Adler
• The Pickengill Papers, W.E. Liddell
• The Celtic Tradition, Caitlin Matthews, Element Books
• The Celtic World, Miranda Green
• Merlin : Priest of Nature, Jean Markale

Some parts of this essay were based on an article by Lughaid MacRoberts, who encouraged the author of this article to utilize his paper which was copyrighted in 1988.

Prepared by Iain MacAnTsaoir

copyright 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 Clannada na Gadelica – all rights reserved.

Originally posted 2009-10-27 19:43:01.

(Note from Daven:  This is an outstanding article, and I think everyone should read this.  As I say in the next part, When I first read it, I got chills.  You can find Wren’s site at http://www.witchvox.com on the net.  Check them out, The Witch’s Voice is one of the most important sites on the net, and a real boon for those of us in the Craft. This article is used by permission.)

Neo-Pagans and Self Actualization
(February, 21st., 1999)
-by Wren Walker

College students and business managers are familiar with the works of Abraham Harold Maslow. Psychology professors often include Maslow in their classroom course of study for the same reason that corporate trainers may implant some of his material buried within their orientation or management skills workshops. Maslow had an interesting theory.

Building A Pyramid

Abe Maslow earned his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Wisconsin in 1934. Early in his career, he conducted extensive research into the behavior of monkeys-more specifically into the needs of monkeys and which of those needs was fulfilled in what order. From this research came his now famous “hierarchy of needs” theory. This “need scale’ is often shown as a visual graph in the shape of a pyramid. From the bottom to the top, the basic needs are:

1. The physiological needs. These are the basics of maintaining life and good health: Water, food, certain vitamins and minerals, temperature, oxygen, etc. Also included in this category are the needs to be active, to rest, to reproduce, to avoid pain and to sleep. (If you have ever had that ‘need’ for chocolate, then you know how REALLY important these needs can be!)

2. The safety and security needs. After people have satisfied the needs in the first set -and devoured that chocolate bar-the next need that they turn to is the establishment of a safe and secure environment. Shelter, structure, order and some limitations to the influence of outside forces manifest in the search for that “safe neighborhood”, a good job, a little nest egg for emergencies and some good hiding places for those chocolate bars. A system of law and justice becomes an important factor for consideration on this level. If someone steals your candy bar, dammit, you want to know that they are either going to buy you a new one or pay the consequences…

3. The love and belonging needs. After people are fed and secure, a third factor begins to emerge: the need to establish relationships through friends, lovers and family. In time, this need to be with others of our own kind will extend outward into a community setting. We date, marry, have families, go on trips, join clubs, and celebrate all the highs and lows of life within these circles. We want our friends and families to share our joys and be with us in our sorrows. Some of our favorite folks become our favorite folks when they offer to share their chocolate bar with us.

4. The esteem needs. Maslow splits the esteem needs into two groups-the higher and the lower. The lower one is the need for the respect of others, the need for status and glory, recognition, fame, attention and even dominance. Lower esteem needs may come and go with the outside forces and people who are providing them.

The higher esteem needs are met within ourselves and so, while they are harder to establish perhaps, they also harder to lose once attained. You don’t have to please “mommy’ in order to get that chocolate bar anymore. You’ve earned your own money and now you can buy your own candy whenever you want to. Maybe even start your own candy bar company…

Obviously, this is a very simplistic version of the first four hierarchies. But even in this short description, we can see where some of these needs would overlap and shift depending on our circumstances. If we get fired from our jobs or get a failing grade in a class (level 4 needs), then our needs move back a bit and we may compensate by seeking more love and acceptance (level 3 needs) from our family and friends until we regain our emotional footing. We may even go to our rooms, shut the door and not come out for a while (level 2). Please slip the chocolate bar under the door.

Your life experiences may also color how you view these basic needs. If you were always hungry as a child, food may be important to you throughout your life. If you were rejected or abused, you’ll focus on love and acceptance needs. If your parents were “overachievers”, then you may always feel that you have to measure up to the same standard or be considered a failure.

O.K. Wren , this is all very interesting stuff, but what does it have to do with Neo-paganism?

Maybe nothing. Maybe a lot. Maybe a look at the top of the pyramid is in order.

The Top Of The Pyramid

5. The growth -or self actualization -needs. These needs are what drives people-motivates people-to keep seeking, keep trying, keep looking for something more. If all the needs of humanity could be truly satisfied with simply meeting the needs in the first four categories, the world would have long since fallen into decay and stagnation. Something else drives some people to look for…well, something else.

Maslow, as he formulated his theory, expressed his opinion that only 2% of people were what he called, ‘self-actualizing’ personalities. That is a very small number indeed. But when you consider that most of the world’s populations are still struggling with famines, droughts, wars, poverty, economic unease and ethnic unrest, this is not really that surprising. The first four needs have not been met there.

Who are the self actualizers? Maslow took a group of people that he considered to be self actualizing personalities and studied their lives, their writings and their achievements. From this study, he came up with certain traits that may identify such personalities. In this group, he included people like Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, William James, Eleanor Roosevelt and others. To Maslow, these self actualizing people had much in common.

Self actualizers are reality centered. They can tell what is fake and what is real, what is dishonest from what is genuine. They are problem-solvers-which means that they approach life’s difficulties as problems demanding solutions, not as personal disasters to be avoided or blamed on someone or something else. They also do not believe the ends justify the means, but rather that the means could actually be ends in themselves. In other words, they held the maxim that “the journey is its own reward”.

Here is where you may begin to recognize yourself or some other pagans that you may know. Here is where many of the tenets-or even goals- of Neo-paganism can be seen. Perhaps here too is where you will find a description of who you -without even knowing anything about Maslow or his theories-may be striving to become.

Neo-Paganism May Be A Good Breeding Place For Self Actualizers

Self actualizers relate to others in ways that other personality types do not. They are very private people and are quite comfortable being alone. Talking to a few people that I consider to be self actualizers, they all stress that they have a very strong NEED (emphasis theirs) to be alone sometimes. They simply have to have this private interlude in order to be happy.

Self actualizers are fairly independent of current cultural trends. They pick what they want to adopt -only for those reasons important to themselves- and disregard the rest. They tend to rely on their own experiences and make their own judgments. They do not bow to public pressure or change their core beliefs and values when the rest of society decides that this or that is the latest cool fad. They are non-conformists, but in a totally positive way. They don’t try to change other people’s views, but are simply comfortable with their own and don’t really care if other people are not.

Self actualizers believe in democracy. (Thomas Jefferson, you could say, would be the prime example of this type of belief.) They are open to the diversity and variety of independent thinkers to the point of celebration. They find different points of view to be challenging rather than threatening, stimulating rather than crushing, to be encouraged rather than to be avoided.

They also tend to develop very close friendships with only a few select people-often other self actualizers-who may hold different views on subjects, but similarly embrace the love of diversity. They find relationships with many other people outside this group to be both shallow and somewhat exhausting.

Other traits of self actualizers include:

A sense of humor that is most often directed at themselves and at the foibles of society rather than used as a weapon against others.

A readiness to accept people as they find them rather than try to change them. (They themselves change only to suit themselves, so in fact here they are just returning the favor.) Self actualizers tend to have some traits that they consider “quirks” and accept that same “quirkiness” in others as a unique and interesting twist. Yet for all this, they are often very conventional in speech and appearance as they have no “need’ to draw attention to themselves. (as in level 4).

Self actualizers can look at old things in the same way that a child looks at a kitten for the first time. Every day is new and fresh and exciting. This also explains their ability to come up with innovative ideas seemingly from “out of the blue.”

They have their faults, of course. They can suffer anxiety over the state of the world, over evil, over those who just don’t seem to “get it.” They can be absent-minded as they muse away. lost in their own thoughts. And if their need for privacy is not met, they can become cold, withdrawn, humorless and be quite scathing and cynical.

Sure sounds like a lot of pagans that I know…

The Road To Self Actualization Is Not A Free Ride!

Looking back at the traits of self actualizers, we also can see many of these traits reflected in the basic beliefs of many Neo-pagan practitioners. Maybe even in ourselves.

Neo-paganism is, if nothing else, a spiritual journey, a search as it were both for self and for…that something else.

Let’s take a look at some of things that self actualizers and many Neo-pagan belief systems and their practitioners have in common. While your mileage may vary, and not all groups or individuals may believe or strive toward all of these traits, at least to me, some of these traits look an awful lot like what we believe in-or profess to believe in- and strive to emulate.

These are the “must haves” for self actualizers. These are the things that they say that they need in order to be happy.

1. Truth. Neo-paganism is not a fantasy world of made-up characters. It is not a role-playing game. It is a real and growing group of diverse individuals on a spiritual search to both recapture and rekindle lost earth-based religious practices and beliefs and to develop new theological paradigms. Where this will ultimately take us, we are not sure. There may never be an ultimate truth. But for us, the “journey is the reward.” Neo-paganism is not escapism from the “real world”, but a desire to return to earth-based religions in order to understand, embrace and appreciate real life at it fullest. In order to do that, Neo-pagans realize-as do self actualizers-that they are comfortable only when they are truly being themselves.

Anyone who feels the need to put on a false face is not yet self actualized. Such can be found within the Neo-pagan community, of course, as in all walks of life and society. These people are probably still working on level 3 or 4 needs. In time, tiring of the energy expended in maintaining such a facade, they may find ways to meet these lower needs in more constructive ways and eventually come to self actualization.

2. Beauty. The glory of the sunset, the gentle glow of the moon, the softness of a child’s cheek and the crashing of coming thunder-all these things have meaning and beauty to us. This is not a denial that life has its ugly moments, that people can act in selfish ways (What needs have not been met there?) or that vulgarity is often a part of mainstream humor. It is simply that when we meditate, we tend to choose those symbols that radiate beauty of some kind. Why? Because beauty raises us up to a higher level. We’ll examine this experience of the ‘higher level” a bit later.

3. Goodness. Yes, I know that we “all have our dark side.” But self actualizers have already met this part of themselves. struggled with it, embraced it, integrated it and still believe that not only are they themselves basically “good”, but that almost everyone else is as well. That “humans are sinful creatures by nature” thing is a concept that most Neo-pagans reject.

Another trait of self actualized personalities is that they have developed their own sense of morality. This would be scary in a less developed personality-and we have seen the effects of such certainly within the pagan community-yet because of the spiritual balance and equilibrium that has been achieved, self actualizers rarely do anything that hurts another–not because of fear of punishment or the breaking of an outside moral code (to some, their mores may actually seem amoral), but because they feel it would be an affront to beauty, to vitality, to truth.

4. Unity. Not as in “we must all believe exactly the same thing in the same way”. In fact, as we have seen, the love of diversity and variety is one of the strongest traits in self actualized people. (This trait which runs so very strongly throughout Neo-pagan thought was actually what got me interested in writing this article.) No, what is meant here by unity is “wholeness”. Self actualizers need to feel whole within themselves and integrated within their spirit. While some Neo-pagans have done this-and many others are striving to do so-it is also already very much part of what we both believe in and embrace. One of the basics of pagan belief systems has always been a desire to reconnect- reintegrate- with the earth and the Old Ways. We are seeking wholeness.

5. Vitality. Repeating lessons or rituals by rote is not enough for self actualizers. They were probably bored to the verge of tears and doodling pentacles in their notebooks. The history lesson must be more than names and dates. The ritual must be more than atmosphere and gestures. Dead religious forms, non-viable religious tenets, have no appeal to self actualizers. They don’t appeal to most pagans either. The religion-by-rote model is what many discarded on the road to Neo-paganism and they won’t settle for it here either.

6. Self-sufficiency. Self actualizers find meaningfulness in their own way and realize that each person must do the same. The work is personal. It can never be anything else. You have to want it and you have to want it bad. So badly, that nothing will deter you from the quest for very long. You keep coming back to it. You can’t explain what it is that you are looking for any better than self actualizers can tell you how they themselves found it. (Note 1)

Each person-led on by the need to attain self actualization-finds his or her own way there. It cannot be transferred by a touch or learned from books. In fact, if you ask self actualizers how they got there, they have a difficult time trying to explain it. Words cannot convey anything more than hints as to where to look and what may be helpful.

Which in fact brings us now to that trait that I believe to be the most compelling evidence that, within the scope of Neo-paganism, self actualization may be taking place on a large scale.

Peak Experiences

I talk with a lot of pagans every day. I have probably talked with thousands over the last three years. There is no doubt in my mind that many, many of these people have experienced what Maslow called “peak experiences.” Self actualizers, he found, tend to have more peak experiences than the average person.

A peak experience is one that takes you out of yourself, beyond yourself. It can make you feel very large or very small. It gives you the feeling of being a part of the eternal, the whole, the infinite. During these episodes, things become very clear. Mystics call this a state of “illumination” for that reason. A large pattern or plan becomes evident and your part in it comes into focus.

This is where you walk with the Gods as an equal. Where every separate thing finds its place in the whole. This is the place from whence you leave as having been changed forever.

“Feelings of limitless horizons opening up to the vision, the feeling of being simultaneously more powerful and also more helpless than one ever was before, the feeling of ecstasy and wonder and awe, the loss of placement in time and space with, finally, the conviction that something extremely important and valuable had happened, so that the subject was to some extent transformed and strengthened even in his daily life by such experiences.”–Abraham Maslow.

These states can come at any time and at any stage of life. In fact, many people who still have a long way to go toward self actualization have peak experiences too. The artist, the musician, the poet, the writer, the diver, the skier, the engineer, the saint, the prisoner, the inventor and many other types have experienced this as a fleeting moment which occurs while they are pursuing their work or in deep thought. The difference with actual self actualizers is that they tend to have these peak experiences more often and that the experiences may last for a longer time when they do.

This would indicate that self actualization itself is more a matter of degree, or familiarity of the process if you will, than an ultimate one time, one-shot goal. It is not something that is sought out for the experience itself. Some Buddhist masters teach that psychic gifts and certain powers are not to be sought as gifts and powers in themselves. They will develop as the individual develops. At that point, they are accepted without egotism. When they no longer are sought in an attempt to fulfill a level 3 or 4 need, they simply are there.

Self actualized people have more peak experiences- and they have more peak experiences because they are self actualized. Like in the Buddhist philosophy, a peak experience can not be achieved as the result of a wish fulfillment for a lower hierarchy need. There are no shortcuts and, as a general rule, none of the other need levels can be circumvented to reach this one. (note 2)

Are Neo-Pagans REALLY More Self Actualized?

Some days, I really wonder. There are the flame wars, the Witch wars and the backstabbing. There are self appointed gurus, power seekers, money grabbers and abusers of all kinds.

But then, there are also all those people that I have talked with. They have told me their stories in the halting and uncertain words that leads me to believe that they truly are attempting to describe a very real experience that goes beyond what words have the capacity to contain. They know that they have been changed by this experience.

Is there something-some formula- within paganism that may offer a springboard toward self actualization? (note 3)

I doubt that we shall ever find a set formula-in fact, we cannot because as we have seen, peak experiences are not achieved through the practice of a mere technique. It may actually be dangerous to do so because unless the other lower needs have been met and those experiences integrated into the personality, mental or emotional unbalance or even illness may occur.

But there are some practices that regularly take place within paganism that may help to meet the lower needs, integrate personality imbalances and bring about the changes that allow for self actualization to occur. They are:

1. Connection to the divine within and the divine-by whatever name-without. With this comes the realization of integration of the parts into a whole. This is exceptionally good therapy for fragmented personalities. It also builds self esteem. (level 4).

2. Acceptance. Many pagans have that “coming home” feeling when they first begin their journey on a pagan path (level three) and because they may have fears of being discriminated against because of their beliefs, they also find safety and security in interacting with other pagans, (level 2).

3. Respect. Most pagans are quite tolerant of alternative viewpoints. (level 3 and 4) Of course, this depends on the other individual’s higher needs at level 4 being met. If a person is still working out his/her own esteem needs by utilizing the lower level 4 version- through seeking glory, attention, fame or status-it is less likely that they will be able to give to anyone else what they themselves feel that they do not have yet. Happily, the pagan community seems to have sufficient numbers of pagans who are confident in who they are and are free to engage in debates and discussions without the need (lower level 4) to win at another’s expense or at any cost. That’s respect.(higher level 4)

4. Shamanic journeying. meditations, guided imagery, altered states of consciousness. Many pagan paths embrace some or all of these practices. While caution is advised when undertaking any of these practices under the guidance of someone that you may not know well enough to have formed an opinion of his/her motivations, these techniques offer many therapeutic benefits. Under the loving care of a truly gifted, knowledgeable and sincere guide, these practices can heal broken emotions and offer insights into deep-seated problems that the conscious mind often blocks out to the detriment of further growth. Many therapists use some form of imagery work in their practice.(level 2,3, 4)

“This ability of healthier people to dip into the unconscious and preconscious, to use and value their primary processes instead of fearing them, to accept their impulses instead of always controlling them, to be able to regress voluntarily without fear, turns out to be one of the main conditions of creativity.” –Maslow.

5. Neo-pagans tend to embrace and value the same traits that self actualized people possess: truth and personal authenticity, beauty, goodness, unity or wholeness, self-sufficiency and vitality. These ‘values’ provide support and encouragement for those who are seeking to develop these traits within themselves. This may eventually lead to meeting those lower level needs and to providing a background from which peak experiences are more likely to occur.

Many of us may have already met pagans who have had peak experiences or who are self actualizers. You may be one yourself. There seems to be a large number of them throughout the Neo-pagan community. They tend to be rather private about personal matters-a trait of self actualizers, as we know- but since other self actualizers are probably the only ones who can understand what this experience is all about, they do tend to find one another. A few words and a nod usually says it all. They understand. They’ve been there. They may not have a tangible t-shirt, but they do have “something.” And yet as they will quite freely admit, they too have only just begun the journey.

Neo-paganism has been on its own journey to rediscover its past. What needs have already been met along the way?

Then comes the even bigger question: What needs still have to be met in order to move Neo-paganism on up to the next level? Will the need for self actualization continue to be- if not actually promised-at least very possible within the perimeters of Neo-paganism? Or will we remain at some lower level-struggling with self esteem needs and with safety needs- for a long time to come yet?

Maslow listed some of what he considered to be the effects that self actualizing personalities report from peak experiences:

The removal of neurotic symptoms

A tendency to view oneself in a more healthy way

Change in one’s view of other people and of one’s relations with them

Change in one’s view of the world

The release of creativity, spontaneity and expressiveness

A tendency to remember the experience and to try to duplicate it

A tendency to view life in general as more worthwhile.

Our society suffers from disengagement, disillusionment and disassociation disorders. Contrary to what some religious doomsayers would have us believe, society is not so much ‘un-holy’ as it is “un-whole-ly.” Paganism addresses this fragmented sense of self in unique and innovative ways.

In my more cynical moments, I have sometimes been heard to say that the Neo-pagan community needs therapy. As I write this article, it occurred to me that perhaps the Neo-pagan community IS the therapy. Perhaps that is one reason why Neo-paganism is on the rise and that so many self actualizers can be found within its ranks. (note 4) The world needs to experience wholeness and, at least here in the Neo-pagan community, people seem to be finding it at some level.

In the decades ahead, this formation of a new pathway into wholeness may be written into the annals of psychology journals and religious history as our ultimate gift to humanity.

Walk in Light and Love,

February 21st, 1999
The Witches’ Voice
Clearwater, Florida

(Note from Daven:  If you want to go directly to the next installment, click this link.)

Footnotes:

Note 1: I have selected only a few of the traits that Maslow attributed to self actualizers. A full list may be found in the references listed below.

Note 2: I mention that this is usually the case because there are reported instances of peak experiences from people who seem not to have had level one needs met. Rembrandt was poor most of his life, vanGogh was probably psychotic and imprisoned men and women-some suffering under extremely cruel conditions-have written soaring poetry, painted masterpieces or developed inventions. Perhaps the development of personal ingenuity in meeting the other need levels in some way compensated for lack in the basics.

Note 3: Maslow himself realized that this theory was not a final answer, but perhaps could be viewed as just the first step in a new way of thinking about motivation. Critics have pointed out that communication seems to be lacking from the list. I would also point out that while communication may indeed be important on the lower levels of the pyramid, words fail when it comes to the self actualization experience itself. Transpersonal psychology is an outgrowth of Maslow’s work.

Others accuse Maslow of being “too good”-of having too much faith in the inherent goodness of mankind. Some days, I tend to agree with them.

Note 4: The old ‘wise ones’ were the original therapists. They realized that hostile feelings could not-should not for mental health reasons- be repressed, but that the murdering of an ‘enemy’ was not really good for the community. Sticking pins in a image could offer a place to release these negative feelings without the shedding of blood. I can think of many other examples of how the old ‘wise ones’ used what have become modern day psychological therapies. Therapists still use similar ‘acting out’ techniques with their clients. As far as I know, they don’t call it witchcraft.

Main References:

Toward A Psychology of Being-A. H. Malsow, 1968

Motivation and Personality-A. H. Maslow, sec.ed. 1970

The Further Reaches of Human Nature-A. H. Maslow, 1971

On The Web:

ABRAHAM MASLOW

SELF ACTUALIZATION

Secondary Resources:

CLASSIC ADLERIAN PSYCHOLOGY. Adler’s personality theories had an influence on Maslow’s work.

WILLIAM JAMES-THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE The classic William James work.

WORKS OF GEORGE HERBERT MEAD. Links to Mead’s various writings on the psychology of religion.

THE MOO PROJECT-COLLEGE CASE STUDIES ON MASLOW. Four students’ personal evaluations. Nice little color treat included on this page, too.

Originally posted 2009-11-15 00:47:01.

Okay, given the whole kerfluffle over Z Budapesht’s transphobia and the similar blow up with the Temple of the Goddess I’ve come to a decision.

I’m going to start a new Temple that is trans-inclusive. One that not only welcomes Trans women and Trans men, but one that works with them to celebrate their new sex and their needs in a spiritual sense. This group won’t ignore the Intersexed, the Genderfluid or the Asexual person either, I just need to figure out ways to incorporate their unique energies into the overall format.

Now, this is going to be a hell of a task. I’m going to need everyone who is a reader of this website to help.

1. I’m going to need publicity.
2. I’m going to need rituals.
3. I’m going to need those who want to head up local chapters to come forward.
4. I’m going to be doing ceremonies to advance this idea and temple in the Astral world, and I need energies to do so
5. I’m going to need your ideas for things that would bring on inclusiveness.

While there are many out there who don’t need another group “helping” them in their self discovery, or in the spiritual implications of that discovery, there are MANY who will need it. Not the least of which is the people who have already been traumatized by those groups named above, the ones who have shunned and humiliated the QUILTBAG of sexes because the equipment is missing or they don’t bleed.

Now, please say you are with me on this? And let me know if this is something that would be of use to you and the people you know in your circle?

By Eoghan Odinsson
Asgard Studios, 2012  $17.95 US
ISBN 978-0-9878394-0-4
Review by Erin

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

I’m not going to address the Hávamál directly since I don’t study, it in a scholarly manner. It takes the archaic language in many sections of the poem and reconstructs it in such a way that it’s easier to understand.

The author did not do this alone however, he had help of others in this rewriting.  He acknowledges the “crowd-sourcing” as part of the overall contribution to the book.

Some of it does strike me as somewhat, interesting.  For instance, substituting a car and the tires on the car for a reindeer when talking about moving over ice, is an interesting choice, and a relevant one.  Many readers will relate more easily to a car with snow tires than a reindeer with unshod hooves.  So that advice is more accessible to someone from the 21st century.

I am glad the author kept the translation with the modernized verse as it gives a more accurate “flavor” to the poems.  Those of us who are used to archaic verse are able to actually go to the source and see how the modern verse would read when it was written.

Each verse is given its own page, and all commentary relating to that verse is on that page along with keywords to make it easy to search.  For instance:

Modernized Verse 44
If you have a friend,
and know her to be loyal,
share your thoughts with her.
Exchange gifts and visit her often.

Keywords:  Friendship, Confidante

Old Verse 44
If a friend thou hast whom thou fully wilt trust,
And good from him wouldst get,
Thy thoughts with his mingle,
and gifts shalt thou make,
And fare to find him oft.

Pg 73, Northern Wisdom

All the meaning is there in the modernized verse, and the language is clearer for modern vernacular, but you can see what the original verses had to say in the new.  This is a massive step forward in my opinion.

That said, there is a long essay included in the front which presents the Hávamál to a group of Japanese. It was presented as a scholarly work in a class (all of which is explained in the introduction to the chapter).  The explanation is that this is an immortal document and still relevant to now and how certain sections should not be taken seriously.  But the essay draws many parallels between the Tao and the Hávamál

To put into context of the presentation, the contents are true and presented as fact, but as I read it, the content of the essay is made up of opinions, and that offends me.  I always try to present facts as facts and note where I have opinions in my presentation.  I probably would have moved this essay to the end of the book, rather than presenting it as the first thing read.

Also the title of the book changes.  On the cover it states that the Hávamál is the Tao of the Vikings, but all internal references state that this is the Tao of the North.  The north covers a lot more territory than Norway and Sweeden. I think the author needs to make up his mind, although I think it is too late to change the internal references.

All in all, a very good reference book for anyone who is wanting to understand more about the Northern Religions.  It reads like the Colloquy of Two Sages from the Celtic revivals, and it is full of good advice for all.  All in all, 4 stars out of 5