In the previous post, I outlined a model of prestige and stigma which predicts whether a language or religion will grow or wither in a society. Now let’s take the prestige/stigma model and look at Neopaganism today. By these measures, Neopaganism is in trouble.

Stigmatized Neopaganism

Imagine trying to revive the Latin language. Imagine speaking it at home, teaching it to your children, seeking out Latin translations of modern works, and using it instead of English whenever you could. What would your friends and neighbors think? Do you think lots of people would jump on the bandwagon with you? Do you think that the revived Latin movement — “Neolatinism” — would have much of a future in your society? There are no celebrities speaking Latin on TV. There are no government officials speaking Latin in press conferences. Latin is stigmatized as a dead language with no future; why would anyone want to learn it?

If the analogy between religion and language holds, Neopaganism is in exactly the same situation as Neolatinism would be. (more…)

Modern religions that are derived from or inspired by the indigenous polytheistic traditions of Europe (I’ll call them Neopagan) have experienced a great resurgence in the last couple of hundred years, and especially in the last fifty or so. This is surprising, because prior to that, everyone pretty much thought they were gone for good. (more…)

Peter Ó Gamhna first contacted me a few months ago, to share his experiences with the free guided meditation “Meet a Guide”. He found himself talking to an entity that identified himself as Apollo… but who seemed a bit “distant” and definitely did not take on Apollo’s classic appearance! Since then Peter’s journey with meditation has been a remarkable one, and I encouraged him to write it up so that we could share it with you here. Meditation isn’t for everyone, but for myself and many others, it’s been an amazing path!

Hello,

My name is Peter Ó Gamhna. Jeff has given me the wonderful chance to write a guest post for his highly successful blog, one which I have eagerly accepted. I’m going to be discussing visualisation meditations, sharing my experiences and thoughts with you the reader – it is my hope that in doing so I might inspire a few of you to give it a try yourself, or simply satisfy your curiosity about the matter. (more…)

This is the second half of my interview with Esmerelda, a local practitioner of weather witchcraft. You can read the first half here, along with the very lively discussion in the comments. I want to thank everyone who’s contributed their thoughts; there has been a lot of great conversation about the ethics of weather working, its plausibility, and whether it’s actually dangerous. Esmerelda addresses these issues more in depth in this half of the interview.

When did you first think you might have this talent? What finally convinced you that it was real?

I have always been convinced that the weather forecasters didn’t know what they were talking about–after all, in my experience, they are rarely right more than a third of the time. It turns out this is not a common assessment of their competence…

But I didn’t figure out what I could do until the summer of 2006. I was very skeptical; after all, it was just a coincidence that the parched Midwest got rained on right after I was deeply saddened to see the fields of dead corn as we drove there. After much soul-searching, I was open-minded enough to conduct some little tests. I spent that September trying things out, and they worked better than I could have possibly imagined.

Here’s one thing I did: School was going to start in a few days, and I found out that there was going to be an outdoor assembly. But, because of a budget shortfall, the school had not rented a tent. They could have held it inside, but it really would not have been the same, as there would not be enough room for the parents who needed to attend. And it was Pouring! And the forecast called for it to continue pouring for the rest of the week! Six straight days of rain. I tried to change it, but didn’t really know how. So, the night before, I sat and relaxed and pleaded and prayed to the powers that be to bring sunshine to the children for their beautiful assembly. By 7am, the rain had stopped. The clouds slowly but surely started to clear, so that it was sunny at 11am, just in time for the 11:30 assembly. All of the parents were quite surprised, because they were so sure that it was going to keep raining for the rest of the week. It was thrilling! (more…)

One of the things that makes the Druid Journal 2008 Almanac unique is the section on weather magic — theory and practice. I am no weather magician myself; I got my information from Esmerelda, a witch who has had great success with it. In fact, she sometimes finds that she can’t avoid affecting the weather! Esmerelda contributed a large section of the introduction, as well as weather maps and average temperatures and precipitation for the US throughout the year, all of it essential for the responsible practice of weather magic.

This is the first of a two-part interview with Esmerelda. In this part, she discusses what weather magic is, how you know you might have a talent for it, and the limits of its influence. In the second part, she’ll go over her personal history with it, its ethical considerations (which are very important, as you can imagine), including its potential to influence global warming, and other tips on effective practice.

What is Weather Witchcraft?

In general, weather witching is the practice of changing the weather for a specific place and time. Once you are good at it, the only limit you have is your own imagination. It’s a lot like what Yoda said about the Force: “Size matters not.” Making a strengthening hurricane 1000 miles away fall apart is no more difficult than making the local temperature drop 3 degrees.

If I am relaxed and centered, and make a positive, well-formed request, I generally see results within 48 hours. How do I reach my relaxed state? Rolling my shoulders and closing my eyes, then taking a deep breath, can work just about anywhere. But more effective for me is a nice hot shower (with more shoulder-rolling and deep breathing). Or a candle and a cup of herbal tea.

Let me give an example. (more…)

I’ve been thinking a lot about the nature of truth this holiday season. My oldest daughter is nine, and she still believes in Santa, bless her heart. The question is, do I?

I mean, think about it. I’m a pagan. I believe in, and have personal experience with, Apollo, Athena, Belanus, Cernunnos, Bridget, and various lesser spirit guides. Why not Santa?

Well, one reason is that I know quite well who puts those presents under the Solstice tree; our credit cards have the scars to prove it. On the other hand, where does the magic of the season come from — the magic in the children’s hearts and in our own — if not from Spirit? And why not call that Spirit Santa Claus? (Have any mediums out there tried to contact him? I’m asking this seriously!)

Take another example: my second daughter, who is 7, believes quite firmly that Thor causes lightning. (I’m not sure what my 9-year-old thinks — she may be agnostic on the point.) I personally believe in Thor. But as for whether he’s out there with his hammer when lightning strikes — well, I’ve never seen him, and there seems to be quite a bit of meteorological evidence that it has something to do with charged particles in the ground and the atmosphere.

Nastier questions arise when you start mixing up pantheons like I have (e.g., do I believe in Zeus? If so, who’s really in charge of lightning here?). Then there’s the issue of angelic visitations, “aspects” of the God and Goddess of Wicca, Christians with powerful religious experiences, and all that. I mean, it can’t all be true, can it?? How do you decide? (more…)

What does a druid do on the winter solstice? That depends on the druid.

If you’re a Reconstructionist, you don’t do much. There isn’t a whole lot of evidence that the ancient druids did anything to celebrate the two solstices and equinoxes; their high holy days were the four cross-quarter holidays (Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain). The solstices and equinoxes aren’t even marked in the Coligny calendar, for example, while there is evidence there for Samhain, Lughnasadh, and Beltane.

If you’re a Revivalist, you celebrate Alban Arthuan, the festival to honor King Arthur and the return of the light. Druids commonly gather in a sacred space and watch for the sun to rise, greeting it with the powerful “Awen” chant, and honoring it with ceremony. However, the Revivalists are not dogmatic, and traditions vary widely among them.

I have called myself Reconstructionist on this site several times, but honestly I’m not quite sure about that. (more…)

This Lughnasadh has been a quiet one for our family, but one with some very interesting revelations for me personally.

Our Family’s Lughnasadh

Our usual mentor, Ellen Hopman, was away in Tennessee leading a large gathering, so the six of us tramped into the woods to do our own little thing. It turns out that back behind the farm where we get our summer vegetables is a stand of woods with a network of crisscrossing paths, and a lovely little brook with bridges scattered here and there along it. It was amazing to us what a sense of peace and reverence permeated these quiet woods, even though they are almost completely surrounded by developments now. At one of these bridges we sang “We are Children of the Earth” and silvered the water; then we went to the top of a hill and gave our offerings to the trees and to fire. I read a selection from the life of Lugh — the part where he’s taken from his home on earth and raised up to be a man by the King of the Sea, and how he decides to return to Ireland and free it from the yoke of the Fomorian invaders. Then we did a brief divination using Druid Animal Oracle cards, asking for guidance in our search for a home closer to the land. The general indication was that the search will take considerable cleverness and a strong warrior spirit, but that we will have help.

Then we tramped back to the farm proper and had a feast of whole wheat and oat rolls and salad. We placed a roll at the base of a birch for the local fairies, as well. Afterwards, most of the kids headed for the sandbox, but our 6-year-old second daughter, who I sometimes think has more intuition about people and relationships than the whole rest of the family put together, sought out the farmers, buttered them up properly, and secured a free cantaloupe and other random fruit. We had a lovely time.

Lugh: The Embodiment of Sunfire

I recently did a piece on Lughnasadh, Lunasa, and Lammas for the Druid Journal Word of the Day. Lughnasadh is Old Irish for “Lugh Gathering”, and it was a fire festival celebrated midway between the summer solstice and the fall equinox — a time of gathering together for trade and exchange of goods and ideas. As such, it wasn’t primarily a harvest festival, though according to legend it was established by Lugh, king of the gods, in tribute to his mother Tailtiu, who died readying the fields of Ireland for agriculture.

At the Word of the Day, I go a step beyond the history of a word and look at its spiritual significance based on an analysis of its sounds. Lugh is the primary syllable of Lughnasadh, and it is similar to the name Luke and Latin lux in sound and meaning: a light, volume-filling energy is gathered with speedy, fluid motion into a grounded container — or, put more simply, embodied, flowing light.

It appears that some of my guides arranged matters so that they would be “revealed” at this time of year, when the energy of the sun is made manifest, because they are so closely tied to solar energy. (more…)

If you’re a regular reader, you know that Apollo is one of my primary guides, and was the original inspiration for this blog. Over the past year, I’ve worked at improving my connection with him, to become a clearer conduit for solar energy. It’s been an amazing ride…

Midsummer is the point of Apollo’s maximum power, and it’s also the first anniversary of this blog. There seemed to be no better time to share some of Apollo’s thoughts and reflections. This interview was gathered together from a number of separate meditation sessions as well as automatic writing.

The setting is a grassy, windy hilltop in the sun. We are sitting on a stone bench just outside Apollo’s temple — a small Greek affair, little more than a dome supported by columns, covering a small pool with water rippled by the breeze and dappled by sunlight through nearby trees. The temple is at the edge of a dark green wood, but we are facing away from that, watching the wind play in the tall grass, and the sunlight glittering on the sea beyond the hills.

Like many famous people, Apollo is not as tall as you might have expected. He is muscular, but certainly not overbuilt, and he rarely wears anything. His skin at this time is bronzed, glowing as though with a recent tan; earlier in the spring, when he was as new-born, his skin was actually flowing molten gold. His hair is brown and curly, short-cropped; and his eyes are black as night, studded with swirls of stars.

DJ: Good morning! Thanks for coming by today.Apollo: Thank you! My pleasure.DJ: First off, let me ask you this: was this interview your idea, or mine? Apollo: The very fact that you’re asking that question means that you’re making a lot of progress in aligning your energy with mine. Congratulations! The answer is: it was my idea. And it was also your idea. As you open yourself up more and more, you will find it harder to distinguish your thoughts from mine.

DJ: That seems a little… uh… creepy. (more…)

In 1937, E. E. Evans Pritchard published a seminal work of anthropology entitled Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande. Pritchard had been studying the Azande, a people living along the upper Nile, for eleven years. In it, he recorded the interesting case of someone who cast a death spell on another member of the tribe. The victim died soon afterwards, killed without warning by a collapsing roof.

The curious Pritchard soon discovered that this roof had been riddled with termites. When he brought this to the attention of the tribe, and asked whether they still believed the spell had worked, they replied, well, of course.

“But it wasn’t the spell that collapsed the roof!” said Pritchard. “It was termites!”

“Yes,” said the people of the tribe. “But how did it just happen to fall at that time, when the victim was under it?” (more…)