December 28th, 2007
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. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Alban Arthuan, American Indians, Christmas, Druidry, Reconstructionist, Druidry, Revival, Heathenism, Imbolc, Lughnasadh, Norse theology, Samhain, Santa Claus, Voluspa, Winter Solstice, calendar, Celtic, child raising, children as natural pagans, holidays, my children, paganism, religion, ritual | 11 Comments »
January 9th, 2007
This past Samhain, my family and I went up to New Hampshire to attend a festival thrown by the Spiral Scouts of Peterborough. The Spiral Scouts are a sort of Boy/Girl Scout group for non-monotheistic children, and the event, to be held in the Unitarian Church, was geared toward all ages, with crafts, music, drumming, a costume contest, storytelling, and ritual. We figured it was the perfect opportunity to plug into the local Pagan community and meet some other families with children that we can build relationships with.
We succeeded; but I have to say we were also a little disappointed. There were clearly over a hundred people in attendance, but only a dozen of them were children. Four of those were mine. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Christianity, Pagan Sojourn, Samhain, Santa Claus, Spiral Scouts, Unitarian Church, Zen, agnosticism, atheism, children as natural pagans, holidays, my children, paganism, polytheism, ritual, sidhe | 4 Comments »
November 13th, 2006
Samhain, the old Celtic pagan holiday underlying Halloween, has recently passed. It’s the old New Year, and it’s a time of endings and beginnings. It’s also a time when the residents of the other world — gods, sidhe, and the dead — are more able to reach out of their realm into ours. For most modern pagans, Samhain is a time to honor ancestors and teachers who have passed away.
We took our children to Celebrate Samhain, a gathering hosted by the Spiral Scouts in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in ApTower, Lyrion and Raven, Greenblatt, Tara, Halloween, Hopman, Ellen, Samhain, Spiral Scouts, Wicca, holidays, my children | 1 Comment »
