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Category: Paganism

Freyja’s Falcon Flight: Make Something

Yesterday was both the full moon and the summer solstice, so this one's just a touch late. I recommend lighting a devotional candle and/or making a small offering to Freyja (perhaps a libation) before you begin, and then prepare yourself however you normally would, to do work at an altar. For my part, that usually means wearing one of my devotional hair ribbons and perhaps donning magical jewelry, and acquiring something to go over my head while I journey.  As usual, feel free to try this one or skip it if it doesn't appeal to you. I've been called to share these with my community, but it is ultimately up to each of you to choose to join in or not. I'm not so self-centered as to think my own personal practice, even if She asked me to share it, is relevant to every devotee!

Falcon Flight: Make Something

Begin in stillness, and quiet, and darkness. Find your center, and align yourself with earth and sky. As you stare at the darkness behind your eyes, feel and see as mist swirls up from the ground, obscuring everything around you. After a moment, it begins to part, leaving you standing on wide plain, and on the horizon in front of you, out of the plain rises the great world tree. If you have any guides or guardians you wish to accompany you, call to them now, before you step through the gate and make your way towards the tree.

As you approach the World Tree, circle around it clockwise, until you see an opening beneath one of the great roots. Duck under this root and enter the tunnel beneath. There is hard dirt packed beneath your feet, and the entire tunnel seems to have been hewn from that same clay-rich dirt and sandstone. Not as many feet come this way — the floor is still rough in places, so watch your step as you continue forward. There are torches set into sconces in the rough hewn walls, and their light looks like fire but you feel no heat as we continue past, and you smell no smoke or pitch.

The tunnel curves gently and then begins to rise in a gradual incline, ending in a doorway, two huge stones on either side and capped with a third. Touch one gently as you step out into the fresh air — these are worn by the elements and smooth to the touch. If you look back to the entrance, you will notice that on this side, the tunnel leads into what looks like a large burial mound, standing alone in a large clearing, though the forest is slowly encroaching from all sides.

Smell the air — the pine sap scent is strong, and your nose can tell there is moving water somewhere nearby, even if your ears cannot yet hear it. Now you should continue, following a clear trail deeper into the forest. Your footfalls are muffled by pine needles, and the air seems still. Then, ahead of you you see a bridge over a nearly-empty gorge, just a trickle of a stream at the bottom, the same as last full moon.

Cross the bridge and continue up the usual trail. After a short time, you arrive at a fork, with three paths to choose from. One path curves to the left, and you can just make out a bridge over a creek in the distance. The one to the right seems to vanish into the trees. Continue down the middle path, which leads straight ahead. After a while, the trees seem to thin a bit, and the underbrush grows less tangled.

As the path reaches the edge of the forest, and the pine needles give way to a large open field, your eyes are drawn to the great hall. It is large, and you know at once to whom it belongs. This is Freyja’s Hall, Sessrumnir, and you are in Folkvangr. Approach the door, and the doorkeeper will hand you something. Take it and go inside.

Enter the hall and stop for a moment to let your eyes adjust. Once they have, look down at the object or objects you have been given.  Is this something you have in your home? An abandoned project perhaps, or one you never started?  Or is it symbolic, of some other work you meant to do, but never finished?

Whatever it is, consider it for a moment. It is the time of year that things are growing, getting leafy and lush, but most of them not yet burdened by fruit. Could you finish this work in time for the harvest season? Would you dedicate the work to Freyja, and imbue it with magic as you work? If you would do so, find a space somewhere in the hall - between others spinning, weaving, whittling - to do a little work on your project, until you think the magic has taken root.

[interlude]

When you are finished, put it into your pocket or bag and go out the door of the hall on the side opposite to where you came in, down the usual the forest path, through the forest, across the bridge again, to the mound, through the mound-tunnel and out from under the root, and begin to cross the plain. Then the mist will swirl up again, and take you back to your body.

Freyja’s Falcon Flight: Keep the Gems

It's almost the full moon again! So here's the next Falcon Flight. I recommend lighting a devotional candle and/or making a small offering to Freyja (perhaps a libation) and to Freyr (if you have a relationship with him) before you begin, and then prepare yourself however you normally would, to do work at an altar. For my part, that usually means wearing one of my devotional hair ribbons and perhaps donning magical jewelry, and acquiring something to go over my head while I journey.  As usual, feel free to try this one or skip it if it doesn't appeal to you. I've been called to share these with my community, but it is ultimately up to each of you to choose to join in or not. I'm not so self-centered as to think my own personal practice, even if She asked me to share it, is relevant to every devotee!

Falcon Flight: Keep the Gems

Begin in stillness, and quiet, and darkness. Find your center, and align yourself with earth and sky. As you stare at the darkness behind your eyes, feel and see as mist swirls up from the ground, obscuring everything around you. After a moment, it begins to part, leaving you standing on wide plain, and on the horizon in front of you, out of the plain rises the great world tree. If you have any guides or guardians you wish to accompany you, call to them now, before you step through the gate and make your way towards the tree.

As you approach the World Tree, circle around it clockwise, until you see an opening beneath one of the great roots. Duck under this root and enter the tunnel beneath. There is hard dirt packed beneath your feet, and the entire tunnel seems to have been hewn from that same clay-rich dirt and sandstone. Not as many feet come this way — the floor is still rough in places, so watch your step as you continue forward. There are torches set into sconces in the rough hewn walls, and their light looks like fire but you feel no heat as we continue past, and you smell no smoke or pitch.

The tunnel curves gently and then begins to rise in a gradual incline, ending in a doorway, two huge stones on either side and capped with a third. Touch one gently as you step out into the fresh air — these are worn by the elements and smooth to the touch. If you look back to the entrance, you will notice that on this side, the tunnel leads into what looks like a large burial mound, standing alone in a large clearing, though the forest is slowly encroaching from all sides.

Smell the air — the pine sap scent is strong, and your nose can tell there is moving water somewhere nearby, even if your ears cannot yet hear it. Now you should continue, following a clear trail deeper into the forest. Your footfalls are muffled by pine needles, and the air seems still. Then, ahead of you you see a bridge over a nearly-empty gorge, just a trickle of a stream at the bottom, the same as last full moon.

Cross the bridge and continue up the usual trail. After a short time, you arrive at a fork, with three paths to choose from. One path curves to the left, and you can just make out a bridge over a creek in the distance. The one to the right seems to vanish into the trees. Continue down the middle path, which leads straight ahead. After a while, the trees seem to thin a bit, and the underbrush grows less tangled.

As the path reaches the edge of the forest, and the pine needles give way to a large open field, your eyes are drawn to the great hall. It is large, and you know at once to whom it belongs. This is Freyja’s Hall, Sessrumnir, and you are in Folkvangr. Approach the door, and go inside.

Enter the hall and stop for a moment to let your eyes adjust. Once they have, you will be able to see both Freyja and Freyr seated on the dais. You may approach either of them to speak to them about what weighs on your heart.

[interlude]

When you have finished speaking, one of them will hand you a small wooden carving. It may be labeled, but in your heart you know what this is: a representation of a relationship that once was meaningful in your life, but is no longer.  Place the carving into the central fire, and watch as it swiftly burns down. As the wood reduces to ash, a central gem is revealed. When it has been freed, reach your hand out to pick it up. It will not burn you.

This is what you should keep from that relationship that is no more: the parts of yourself that were wrapped up inside it.  You need not cut off or abandon any part of your true self to remove the influence of a toxic relationship; these can be cleansed by fire and returned to you for safekeeping and later integration.  For now, put the gem in your pocket or somewhere similar, and then return to thank the one who gave you the carving.

When you are finished, go out the door of the hall on the side opposite to where you came in, down the usual the forest path, through the forest, across the bridge again, to the mound, through the mound-tunnel and out from under the root, and begin to cross the plain. Then the mist will swirl up again, and take you back to your body.

 

Nota bene: Astute readers will have noticed that this time the mist deposits you on the plain instead of the meadow and continuing through the tunnel of trees.  When I did the journey this week, that is what happened to me. Whether that is a permanent change or not I am not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if the removal of a section heavily associated with Hrafnar practice isn't my own subconscious reaction to the discussion of Diana Paxson, pedestals, and problematic elders our community has been having over the past few weeks.  I am not yet as well informed on the topic as I would like to be, because personal life and health have kept me from deeply engaging, but what I have seen is enough to make me pause and consider parts of my personal practice that are based on her writings.

Freyja’s Falcon Flight: New Shapes

Well, I meant to do twice a month but at least I'm back with this on time again.  Spring weather changes and some mundane life stuff have left me still a little overloaded, but I'm working on getting back into the swing of things, and the abundance of sunlight is definitely helping!

I recommend lighting a devotional candle and/or making a small offering to Freyja (perhaps a libation) before you begin, and then prepare yourself however you normally would, to do work at an altar. For my part, that usually means wearing one of my devotional hair ribbons and perhaps donning magical jewelry, and acquiring something to go over my head while I journey.  As usual, feel free to try this one or skip it if it doesn't appeal to you. I've been called to share these with my community, but it is ultimately up to each of you to choose to join in or not. I'm not so self-centered as to think my own personal practice, even if She asked me to share it, is relevant to every devotee!

Falcon Flight: New Shapes

Begin in stillness, and quiet, and darkness. Find your center, and align yourself with earth and sky. As you stare at the darkness behind your eyes, feel and see as mist swirls up from the ground, obscuring everything around you. After a moment, it begins to part, leaving you standing in a flowery meadow.

When you arrive in the meadow, take a moment to observe around you, turning until you see a path. At the entrance to the path are two shrubs, and as you move on that direction, you see trees as well. Shrubs give way to trees and undergrowth on either side of the path, getting taller and denser as you move onward, until they join overhead into an arch, forming a tunnel of trees that slopes downward, getting denser and darker.

Eventually, you notice that the path has become flat, and then it begins to rise. Now the trees are thinning again, branches giving way to brightness, and as the trees again give way to shrubs, you see a gate in front of a wide plain and beyond it, the great world tree. If you have any guides or guardians you wish to accompany you, ones who can join you in flight, call to them now, before you step through the gate and make your way towards the tree.

As you approach the World Tree, circle around it clockwise, until you see an opening beneath one of the great roots. Duck under this root and enter the tunnel beneath. There is hard dirt packed beneath your feet, and the entire tunnel seems to have been hewn from that same clay-rich dirt and sandstone. Not as many feet come this way — the floor is still rough in places, so watch your step as you continue forward. There are torches set into sconces in the rough hewn walls, and their light looks like fire but you feel no heat as we continue past, and you smell no smoke or pitch.

The tunnel curves gently and then begins to rise in a gradual incline, ending in a doorway, two huge stones on either side and capped with a third. Touch one gently as you step out into the fresh air — these are worn by the elements and smooth to the touch. If you look back to the entrance, you will notice that on this side, the tunnel leads into what looks like a large burial mound, standing alone in a large clearing, though the forest is slowly encroaching from all sides.

Smell the air — the pine sap scent is strong, and your nose can tell there is moving water somewhere nearby, even if your ears cannot yet hear it. Now you should continue, following a clear trail deeper into the forest. Your footfalls are muffled by pine needles, and the air seems still. Then, ahead of you you see a bridge over a nearly-empty gorge, just a trickle of a stream at the bottom, the same as last full moon.

This time, cross the bridge and continue up the usual trail, towards the field and the great hall, and fter a short time, you arrive at a fork, with three paths to choose from. One path curves to the left, and you can just make out a bridge over a creek in the distance. The one to the right seems to vanish into the trees. Continue down the middle path, which leads straight ahead. After a while, the trees seem to thin a bit, and the underbrush grows less tangled.

As the path reaches the edge of the forest, and the pine needles give way to a large open field, your eyes are drawn to the great hall. It is large, and you know at once to whom it belongs. This is Freyja’s Hall, Sessrumnir, and you are in Folkvangr. Approach the door, and go inside.

When you enter the hall and stop for a moment to let your eyes adjust, you notice revelers gathered and dancing, all wearing dark cloaks and animal masks. You have worn your own dark cloak for this gathering, but the animal masks confuse you for a moment, and you stand still and stare.

Then, suddenly, Freyja is before you, and she reaches out to touch you, and the entire scene disappears...

You open your eyes in another body, outside, at dusk.  Do you have paws now? Wings? Fins? Some sort of tail?  Move experimentally and try to get a feel for this new shape, and a good look at yourself.  When you recognize what you have become, take a moment to test the limits of this new form, and to move for the sheer joy of movement!

[interlude #1]

At long last, you begin to tire, and begin the search for a place to rest. You relax, and your eyes close...

Only to open again, inside the hall once more, with Freyja smiling at you and holding out a mask. Was it a dream? Did you share a few hours of the life of another being, or was your spirit transformed? You may have questions, but they fade as you put on the mask, and join the other revelers in their wild dance, expressing what this transformative experience has taught you about yourselves.

[interlude #2]

When you feel settled and ready to leave, go out the door of the hall on the side opposite to where you came in, down the usual the forest path, through the forest, across the bridge again, to the mound, through the mound-tunnel and out from under the root, across the plain, and back to the gate, through the tunnel of trees, and back to the meadow. Then the mist will swirl up again, and take you back to your body.

Freyja’s Falcon Flight: Purifying Waters

Spring is back, and so are these Falcon Flights - on the full moon now, to help me keep my plan to blog every other week. As before, this journey is based on my experience, and I’m offering it to the community in case it’s helpful or resonates with some of you. If you’re used to doing journeys from a script, great! Otherwise feel free to have some one read it to you, or record yourself reading it. Edit the intro and expand the outro if you need to, but please leave the middle intact, and don’t share the recording without telling them where to find my original post!

I recommend lighting a devotional candle and/or making a small offering to Freyja (perhaps a libation) before you begin.  Please note: if you have a phobia of caves or drowning, this may not be a good meditation for you.  Otherwise, prepare yourself however you normally would, to do work at an altar. For my part, that usually means wearing one of my devotional hair ribbons and perhaps donning magical jewelry, and acquiring something to go over my head while I journey.

Falcon Flight: Purifying Waters

Begin in stillness, and quiet, and darkness. Find your center, and align yourself with earth and sky. As you stare at the darkness behind your eyes, feel and see as mist swirls up from the ground, obscuring everything around you. After a moment, it begins to part, leaving you standing in a flowery meadow.

When you arrive in the meadow, take a moment to observe around you, turning until you see a path. At the entrance to the path are two shrubs, and as you move on that direction, you see trees as well. Shrubs give way to trees and undergrowth on either side of the path, getting taller and denser as you move onward, until they join overhead into an arch, forming a tunnel of trees that slopes downward, getting denser and darker.

Eventually, you notice that the path has become flat, and then it begins to rise. Now the trees are thinning again, branches giving way to brightness, and as the trees again give way to shrubs, you see a gate in front of a wide plain and beyond it, the great world tree. If you have any guides or guardians you wish to accompany you, ones who can join you in flight, call to them now, before you step through the gate and make your way towards the tree.

As you approach the World Tree, circle around it clockwise, until you see an opening beneath one of the great roots. Duck under this root and enter the tunnel beneath. There is hard dirt packed beneath your feet, and the entire tunnel seems to have been hewn from that same clay-rich dirt and sandstone. Not as many feet come this way — the floor is still rough in places, so watch your step as you continue forward. There are torches set into sconces in the rough hewn walls, and their light looks like fire but you feel no heat as we continue past, and you smell no smoke or pitch.

The tunnel curves gently and then begins to rise in a gradual incline, ending in a doorway, two huge stones on either side and capped with a third. Touch one gently as you step out into the fresh air — these are worn by the elements and smooth to the touch. If you look back to the entrance, you will notice that on this side, the tunnel leads into what looks like a large burial mound, standing alone in a large clearing, though the forest is slowly encroaching from all sides.

Smell the air — the pine sap scent is strong, and your nose can tell there is moving water somewhere nearby, even if your ears cannot yet hear it. Now you should continue, following a clear trail deeper into the forest. Your footfalls are muffled by pine needles, and the air seems still. Then, suddenly, ahead of you there is a bridge over a nearly-empty gorge, just a trickle of a stream at the bottom, and one you have never seen before, though you have traveled this way many times before.

As you cross the bridge, look to your right, and there in the cliff wall on the other side, you will see crudely cut stairs. Cross the bridge and walk to them, and carefully descend.  They seem more inviting from this side, though, and your feet are sure in their steps.  As you come to the bottom, follow the trickle of water downstream. It gets a bit wider as you continue, until ahead of you there is a wide, deep, pool.

Wade in to the pool, and when it is chest-deep, take a deep breath and plunge in, submerging yourself fully... and letting the water drag you under.  Let it pull you through the underground passageway, and then when you think you can't hold your breath any longer, you'll feel yourself bob to the surface, inside another deep pool - this one in a cave.  The ceiling is full of shimmering stalactites, and there is a dry portion, where a small fire is lit.  There is a hole in the roof above the fire, letting the smoke out, but you see no other way out of this chamber.

Climb up the bank and move closer to the fire.  Here is some more wood piled up, though it is unclear how it got here, and hanging over it is a large ragged towel or blanket. Next to it, folded, is some kind of garment.  Remove your wet clothes and dry off on the towel, and then unfold the garment - it is a feathered cloak.

Toss the cloak around your shoulders, and feel yourself transform into a falcon.  You know this form, and you can easily launch yourself into the air, and fly out through the hole in the roof.

You'll emerge on the far side of Folkvangr. Land and transform back, and you'll see a veiled priestess at the door. Take new clothing from her, and hand her the cloak - once you are dressed, your purification is complete, and you may enter.

Once inside, you will find Freyja seated on the dais.  Ask her the question that weighs heaviest on your heart.

[interlude]

When you are finished speaking with Freyja, go out the door of the hall on the side opposite to where you came in, down the usual the forest path, through the forest, across the bridge again, to the mound, through the mound-tunnel and out from under the root, across the plain, and back to the gate, through the tunnel of trees, and back to the meadow. Then the mist will swirl up again, and take you back to your body.

Ogham Transpositions: Trees

First, before I say anything else:

THE OGHAM IS NOT A TREE CALENDAR OR A TREE ALPHABET

Right?  Okay, got that?  I'm here to talk about a tree list, which is one of many many types of ogham lists (including lists for things like hunting dogs and sows and other livestock).  It's just a list.  Some of the letter names are trees yes but they aren't all trees.  And on the tree list they are a few things we might not we'd normally consider trees - there are shrubs and vines and things too, okay.  But since part of what I'm doing in my work with ogham is integrating it into my larger practice, which is very tied to the land in which I live (the Chesapeake Bay Watershed), I would be remiss if I didn't explain my own list of trees (and shrubs and vines) that are native to my own region.  But pleasepleaseplease pay more attention to the Bríatharogaim (the "word oghams", or kennings, which you can find translated elsewhere online, promise) instead of just going off of "tree vibes", yeah?  These are supplemental.

Okay, now that you've all read my disclaimer and agreed (haha), a little backstory.  Some of the ogham feda have more than one tree in the surviving sources, so I'll list out both where I'm aware of that, and I'll indicate which one I "picked" or was guided to by my interactions with the spirit of that fid, by underlining it below.  But as I built my list it became obvious to me early on that I wasn't building out a single tree list but rather a list of tree triads.  In some cases, one of the trees will be native to only the Great Lakes region (where I was born) and one will be native to the Chesapeake Bay region (where I now reside) and one will be native to both.  Where possible, all three are native to my current region. But this is an ongoing process, and this blog will be a sort of time capsule: this is a snapshot of my relationship with trees and with land and with the ogham Today. But rivers keep flowing and slowly changing the landscape.  Also, I'm going to give the latin names (as best as I can manage) of the trees for clarity, and I'll add in my personal kennings again just for reference (mostly my own reference, but maybe it will help explain why I picked some of the trees I picked, since I'm otherwise not really getting into the very personal Whys).

Ogham Tree Lists

Beith - Beginning Healing

Traditional: birch (silver birch, Betula pendula)

My Triad: paper birch (B. papyrifera), sweet birch (B. lenta), sugar maple (Acer saccharum)

 

Luis - Lush Vibrancy

Traditional: rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), or elm

My Triad: mountain ash (S. americana), silky dogwood (Cornus amomum), flowering dogwood (C. florida)

 

Fearn - Fierce Protection

Traditional: alder (Alnus glutinosa)

My Triad: speckled alder (A. incana), smooth alder (A. serrulata), american elm (Ulmus americana)

 

Saille - Cyclical Currents

Traditional: willow (white wilow, Salix alba)

My Triad: black willow (S. nigra), silver maple (Acer saccharinum), eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides)

 

Nin - Knotted Weaving

Traditional: ash, or nettle
[Note: after guidance from the spirit I settled on a nontraditional: spindle tree, Euonymus europaeus; see Onn. I retained nettle in my herb list, however.]

My Triad: strawberry bush (E. americanus), eastern wahoo (E. atropurpureus), blue ash (Fraxinus quadrangulata)

 

hÚath - Humanity's Hedge

Traditional: hawthorn/whitethorn (Crataegus monogyna)

My Triad: mayhaw (C. aestivalis or possibly an indigenous form of C. monogyna... they hybridize easily and how many species there are is in fact hotly contested as far as I can tell!), honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), common prickly-ash (Zanthoxylum americanum)

 

Dair - Dignified Steadyness

Traditional: oak (common european oak, Quercus robur)

My Triad: white oak (Q. alba), red oak, (Q. rubra), shagbark hickory (Carya ovata)

 

Tinne - Tested Resolve

Traditional: holly (common holly, Ilex aquifolium), or elder

My Triad: american holly (Ilex opaca), mountain holly (I. mucronata), american barberry (Berberis canadensis)

 

Coll - Canny Guidance

Traditional: hazel (Corylus avellana)

My Triad: american hazel (C. americana), american black walnut (Juglans nigra), pecan (Carya illinoinensis)

 

Ceirt - Queer Wit

Traditional: apple (Malus sylvestris, the wild european apple); also sometimes holly, rowan, aspen

My Triad: american crabapple (M. coronaria), common persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), american pawpaw (Asimina triloba)

 

Muin - Madly Intoxicated

Traditional: grapevine, or bramble (Rubus fruticosus)

My Triad: northern dewberry (R. flagellaris), american red raspberry (R. strigosus), american wild grape (Vitis riparia)

 

Gort - Growing Continually

Traditional: ivy (Hedera hibernica)

My Triad: woodvamp (Decumaria barbara), cross-vine (Bignonia capreolata), virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)

 

nGétal - Yesterday's Wounds

Traditional: broom (Cytisus scoparius); also reed or fern

My Triad: cattail (Typha latifolia), broomsedge (Andropogon virginicus), pointed broomsedge (Carex scoparia)

 

Straif - Strengthening Changes

Traditional: blackthorn (Prunus spinosa), or willowbrake

My Triad: canadian plum (P. nigra), osage orange (Maclura pomifera), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)

 

Ruis - Raging Fires

Traditional: elderberry (Sambucus nigra), or bogberry, fern

My Triad: american black elderberry (S. canadensis), red mulberry (Morus rubra), wild raisin (Viburnum cassinoides)

 

Ailm - All Timeliness

Traditional: pine (scots pine, Pinus sylvestris) or fir

My Triad: longleaf pine (P. palustris), red pine (P. resinosa), eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)

 

Onn - Onward Momentum

Traditional: gorse, furze, or ash (Fraxinus excelsior)
[Note: since this spirit was very clear they should be ash, and I didn't want ash twice, I went back after to talk to Nin and we settled on spindle]

My Triad: white ash (F. americana), green ash (F. pennsylvanica), american basswood (Tilia americana)

 

Uir - Unending Cycles

Traditional: heather (Culluna vulgaris) or whitethorn

My Triad: wild blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium), virginia mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum), wintergreen teaberry (Gaultheria procumbens)

 

Édad - Ending Mundanity

Traditional: aspen (Populus tremula), yew, or "test tree"

My Triad: quaking aspen (P. tremuloides), largetooth aspen (P. grandidentata), tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)

 

Idad - Indelible Memories

Traditional: yew (Taxus baccu), or service tree, juniper

My Triad: juniper (Juniperus communis), eastern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), black spruce (Picea mariana)

Another Kind of Update for my Crow Folks

This month I have been sick and overwhelmed and battling severe fatigue, and when I went to see Na Morrigna, I asked - what would you have me to this month?  Can I just rest?

No, not only rest. They wanted me to finally start a piece of devotional fiber craft, and to share a small, happy update.  One of my workshop proposals was accepted to the Morrigan's Call Retreat 2024!  So it looks like I'll be going back to Connecticut this coming June!  Perhaps I'll have finished the shawl by then and will be able to dedicate it - or pass it along to the person it's meant for.  I'm not entirely sure I'm meant to be making it for myself.

But I hope to see some of ya'll at the retreat this summer!  Tickets should be live on their website soon.

My workshop is titled "Sovereignty and Otherness", and here's my abstract:

This workshop begins with a discussion of what sovereignty means, and a few examples from lore of how the Morrigan, Macha, and Badb wield their own sovereignty, and how we can strive to follow the examples they set.  We’ll talk about the importance of self-sovereignty, and the ways in which our modern society attempts to undermine it, and then I’ll open up into a brief discussion of the ways in which we are othered – as pagans, as witches, as queer folx or people of color or neurodivergent or disabled people or as any other demonized minority group – and how we can use the insight those experiences give us, and turn it into power.

The second half of the workshop is then a guided journey, based on the same themes as the first half, where I will lead the attendees on a path through the woods to a clearing where we will meet Na Tri Morrigna around a fulacht fiadh, an outdoor cooking pit associated with Na Morrigna and the fianna, the warrior-bands.  Each person will add one item representing their personal Otherness to the cauldron of stew, to add sustenance to the pot, and then after speaking with Na Morrigna, will be instructed to ladle out a bowl to eat, returning their Otherness to themselves as the power and strength of personal sovereignty supported by a diverse community.

Ogham Impressions: Fourth Aicme

If you haven't read the introduction to the first aicme, maybe go read that first and return, because today I'm just launching straight into the fourth aicme.

I associate Ailm with the winter, and from that, with Samhain, and then the rest of the aicme with winter and with the north, though again as far as I know there is no direct historical support for that.  I'm also adding in some keywords that come from my personal understanding of each fid that I've developed in my studies, but again, these are to be taken as one person's opinion, not fact.

 

Ailm – All Timeliness

Spirit: a bearded, hunched over old man, but with trickster vibes. Long white beard, robes a dingy greyish white and faded dark green, bald, light colored eyes (possibly green-grey), walking with a staff.  Reminiscent of Old Man Winter illustrations.

Keywords: a cry, a groan, a shout; branches creaking in wind and popping in ice; tip of your tongue, the moment before insight, brink of discovery; epiphany, eureka moment; clearing clutter out of the way to make room for insight, removing the extraneous so the pattern can be recognized; metacognition and self-improvement work; sovereignty and its importance; beginning of a legacy, head of a family, an important or exalted ancestor, a progenitor; ploughing metaphors, clearing away what will impede crops, readying the soil for planting, planning for the far future; looks to the far future but also the far past and recognizes the repeating patterns therein; certainty, integrity, clarity of purpose, a strong sense of self; applying knowledge and wisdom won through long experience and good judgement.

 

Onn – Onward Momentum

Spirit: androgynous, ash tree dryad

Keywords: movement, travel; going where you feel called, seeking your fortune, following your heart; heading towards one’s heart’s desire, toward self-actualization, self-realization, success; seeker, pilgrimage; take the good with the bad, the honey with the thorns; the continual work of study, or of relationships; buckling down for the long haul, perseverance, sustainability; building for the future; don’t take the path of least resistance, take the path that’s necessary and overcome obstacles as they appear, the only way out is through; moving with a clear goal/purpose even if the entire path is not yet clear; a need for action and movement instead of more strategizing, any way forward is better than stagnancy;

 

Uir – Unending Cycles

Spirit: grandmotherly, but a bit like the grandmother from the Halloweentown movies*, grey hair, light skin, brown eyes, seems almost human, but that “almost” is very key – no longer human but not distinctly one of the Dead, either. Crone Energy, but back still very straight and limbs very strong.

Keywords: half-wild places, useful “weeds”; living in harmony with your local ecosystem; land spirits and nature spirits; gardening and foraging; practicality, pragmatism, thrift, waste not want not, frugality, poverty; bodily death, graves, decay; ancestors, grief; untilled soil, a field left to lie fallow to renew the soil, crop rotation; our own fallow times, and rotation in our own lives to avoid burnout; slow earth cycles, the “longue durée”; nostalgia, honeyed memories, rose colored glasses; preparatory work, getting organized so you can do things later, getting ready to get ready; the inevitability of change and death, but also the inevitability of new life to take its place; reincarnation.

* Not kidding, unfortunately! Sometimes spirits just like a face we’ve already got in our heads, for aesthetic and associations.  Which is why everyone sees the gods a little differently!

 

Edad – Ending Mundanity

Spirit: shifting between and blending two forms. First, a washer woman, a bit chubby but with dense muscles beneath, in wet clothes, with light brown hair and hazel eyes, her light complexion reddened by exertion. Second, a skeletal-thin feminine spectre with corpse-grey skin wearing wispy rags. Neither time was there blood, but she wasn’t actively washing. Very Washer at the Ford vibes.

Keywords: death, ghosts, ancestors, deathwork, hauntings; wisdom from those who have passed on, mediumship, spiritwork; entheogens and similar spiritual tools and practices; mystical or occult initiation, especially when sudden or unexpected; moving out of the realm of “normal” experiences and being forever marked as changed by this; nothing will ever be the same again; near death experiences and the epiphanies they bring; piercing the veil, the second sight; destruction of the old self to make way for the new, dismemberment healings, a need to leave your old ways behind; initiatory crisis; an unavoidable turning point or pivot point; important personal gnosis; the beginning of the path of a mystic or a witch.

 

Idad – Indelible Memories

Spirit: elderly looking feminine yew dryad, with berries in her long hair

Keywords: Old age, the process of growing old, and elders in your communities; infirmity, deathbed, the process of dying; ancestors and ancestor work; long-lived, long life, survival, endurance, permanence; death bringing only a new beginning; cemeteries and graveyards; sagely advice, wisdom and culture being passed down to younger generations, enduring folkways, the fragility of oral tradition; generational and family line talents, blessings, curses; genetic inheritance and epigenetics; inheritance of all types; maturity, guarding the future, looking to the past to plan for the future; look at the big picture; wait for the correct time to act; slow change and transitions; gateway to the lands of the dead; the truth of the past and of a life, as seen in retrospect, hindsight; reflection on one’s past to trace the patterns revealed; things coming to a final end, families that have died out, folkways that have been lost.

 

And that's the last one!  Though I might do one on the forfeda, and I might share a few more lists later, if there's interest.

Ogham Impressions: Third Aicme

If you haven't read the introduction to the first aicme, maybe go read that first and return, because today I'm just launching straight into the third aicme.

I associate Muin with Lughnasadh and the early autumn, when grapes and blackberries both ripen, and thus the rest of the aicme with that season as well and with the west, though again as far as I know there is no direct historical support for that.  I'm also adding in some keywords that come from my personal understanding of each fid that I've developed in my studies, but again, these are to be taken as one person's opinion, not fact.

 

Muin – Madly Intoxicated

Spirit: fat (kinda Venus of Willendorf but more androgynous?), naked, reddish brown skin, either intersex or a sex-fluid shapeshifter (unclear if my focus not good or actually shifting form), short and close-cropped brown curly/coily hair, brown eyes with a twinkle of mischief.

Keywords: wine, mead, alcohol and drunkenness, in vino veritas, intoxication; release, loose tongue, uninhibited; ecstasy, passion, the heat of the moment; voice, communication, gossip, chatter, but also deep conversations; communication breakthrough or breakdown, misunderstanding; deception, flattery, manipulation, ruse, half truths, insincerity, skilled deception; heart on one’s sleeve; emotional knowledge, communication about or from emotional states, emotional literacy or lack thereof; a need for discernment.

 

Gort – Growing Continually

Spirit: masculine, the strongman build (dense muscles with a layer of fat over it, not bodybuilder type), light skin reddened/tanned by the sun, farmer or rancher vibes, wearing an open vest, brown leather, with no shirt beneath, and cloth pants, and a black-brown duster jacket (leather or cloth unclear), small bone colored bull horns peeking out of chestnut colored short wavy hair, brown eyes, seemed to have a tail.

Keywords: cultivation, farmstead, gardening; planting and minding things now for a later harvest; tenacity, determination, reaching upwards and getting there by any means necessary; domestic, hospitality; feasting, abundance, nourishment, food; the delights of friends and family (not the obligations), siblings especially; evergreen, fecundity, fertility; creation of sanctuary, cultivation of one’s home place; short term plans.

 

nGétal – Yesterday’s Wounds

Spirit: male, almost androgynized by extreme old age: crinkled, wrinkled, wizened, papery skin, age spots, but still surprising strength to his grip. Short and hunched, wearing a worn cloak – not quite threadbare but clearly long-used. Long pointed fingernails like claws. “Ugly” he insisted.

Keywords: healing, especially with water, folk healing ways, home remedies, folk herbalism; smoke healing, smoke cleansing; healing as removal, removing that which doesn’t serve, surgery; healing as a process, taking care not to let a wound fester; accidental wounds or those gained in conflict; physical cleansing and mundane cleaning; physicians and healers; letting an illness run its course; practical measures; doing mundane work alongside the magical and otherworldly; elf shot and related illnesses, and the curing thereof; removing stagnancy, improving circulation; ruminations and overcoming them.

 

Straif – Strengthening Changes

Spirit: slim, feminine, hair almost white with pale purple tones, long and straight. Skin moonlight white also with purple grey undertones, eyes dark purple. Wearing a sleeveless floor length dress that was so dark a shade of purple it looked black at first. How I might picture a luantishee.

Keywords: thorn, reminds me of thurisaz; protection as offensive action, holding your boundaries by any means (including violence); aggressive, combative, intense; a need to take stock of your defenses and strategize, increasing your defenses after they are breached; rising to a challenge, learning a hard lesson, what you learn and become after facing adversity; turning the tables partway through a conflict and thus coming out on top; banework, occult, “left hand path”, secrecy; transformation as a process: pressure and heat creating a new material; expectations are different from reality, expect the unexpected; a period of intense work and growth, referring to problems you’re currently going through, or a warning that there are some on the horizon.

 

Ruis – Raging Fires

Spirit: A bit like a satyr but bovine. Male, naked, with a broad chest and a round belly. Russet chest hair, slightly darker head hair, small brown eyes, round face with small bull horns on top of his head.  Lower half sort of furred, like a red highland cow; hooves, tail. Big smile.

Keywords: blushing, shame, guilt, embarrassment; past mistakes, learning from the past; transforming trauma, overcoming insecurities; wisdom coming from experience and age; heat, fever from emotion or illness, hot bloodedness; a hot temper, rage, frenzy, flaring into anger; lust, passion, arousal; primal energies, extreme emotional states, intense emotions whether positive or negative; struggle for dominance, struggle against authority or oppression; dysregulation, mental illnesses that affect emotional regulation, coming back into proper regulation; may intensify nearby feda.

 

Sorry this one was late – look for the fourth aicme at the end of the week!

Ogham Impressions: Second Aicme

If you haven't read the introduction to the first aicme, maybe go read that first and return, because today I'm just launching straight into the second aicme.

I associate hÚath with Bealtaine personally, from the association with hawthorn which blooms around then, and from that I associate the entire aicme with the Summer and the South, though again as far as I know there is no direct historical support for that.  I'm also adding in some keywords that come from my personal understanding of each fid that I've developed in my studies, but again, these are to be taken as one person's opinion, not fact.

 

hÚath – Humanity’s Hedge

Spirit: Feminine, so bright and beautiful she hurt to look at (this is how I experience a lot of the Gentry among the Aos Sidhe), with a sort of crystalline quality that’s hard to describe, and almost colorless, with white-bordering-on-gold skin and hair (crayon white, not human “white”), hints of ruby in eyes, lips.

Keywords: transitions, liminality; the fair folk, the unseen, the otherworlds and otherworldly beings; beauty hiding danger, horror hiding help, things not being what they seem, illusions; thorns preventing forward progress, hedges keeping things out as much as keeping you in; risk, chaos, anxiety, heart-pounding fear, nightmares; predators, and protection against them; fertility with the shadow of death; everything has a cost; a difficult and narrow path forward.

 

Dair – Dignified Steadyness

Spirit: Looked like an ent from Lord of the Rings, maybe 9ft tall? And vaguely masculine. Not bearded and not thin, unlike Treebeard in the movies – stout and strong and solid instead, like an oak with an enormous trunk.

Keywords: strength, especially for protection; the protection of solid walls and bolted doors; steadfastness, stability, unshakeable; rock solid foundations, legacy, longevity, building for the future; unyielding, enduring; patience, maturity; kingship and sacred kings; justice, law, righteousness; wisdom, deep truths and truth revealed; grounding, anchor; aging well, slow growth, the march of time; the strength of a community joined together.

 

Tinne – Tested Resolve

Spirit: vaguely humanoid but very androgynous; a bit like a dryad/satyr chimera.  Holly leaves and goat hooves and horns on their head that might be goat horn or might be thorns, very red lips and eyes.

Keywords: fire-hardened, forged, transformed by heat and pressure, steel tested in fire; transformation and transmutation; defensive, protective, guarding; prickly, holding at arm’s length; adversity and overcoming it, trials, meeting challenges; a phoenix rising from ashes, new growth after a forest fire but also the destructive catalyst; stripping away inessentials, back to the basics; training hard, mastery through dedication; martial arts, weaponry, warcraft; self-control, self-discipline, self-denial; a trial by fire, running a gauntlet; a likeliness you’ll emerge from this stronger, not broken.

 

Coll – Canny Guidance

Spirit: another dryad, but this one is femme and much more plump than usual depictions (more like Sergle’s art), with a round wide face and broad shoulders, hazelnut brown skin, green-brown eyes, wearing green maybe-leather clothing cut like a sleeveless crop top and skort but clearly not od human make.  Had a sort of warm and happy vibe, though it’s clear there’s more serious depth behind the smile.

Keywords: Deep wells of wisdom, knowledge, scholarly learning; enlightenment, insight; mysteries understood, the sweetness of a puzzle solved; integration of lessons learned; inspiration, communion, vision, revelation, imbas; initiatory paths; prophecy through unraveling patterns, seeing and reading the flow of fate/wyrd; going where life takes you, following the flow, trusting your path; stillness, silence, contemplation, the monastic, the hermit, the blind sage archetype; magic made through application of secret knowledge, the occult, esoteric; guidance from one’s spirit guides and allies, wise counsel sought and received.

 

Ceirt – Queer Wit

Spirit: corpse-pale greyish skinned woman dressed in rags that were once a white gown but are now dirty grey, like an illustration of a banshee, face that was not young and not old, sort of ageless, dark hair and eyes, wearing a veil, faded flowers in her hair (possibly a bridal outfit like the movie Corpse Bride?), wailing and shrieking and shaking when she first showed up.

Keywords: dead, mad, or a poet; crossing into the Otherworlds or land of the Dead; no guarantee you’ll come through your current trials unscathed; apples of life, apple branches of healing, both sweet domesticated and wild sour thorny apples; the possibility of renewal, transformation, or becoming broken by the process; possible deception, confusion, or obfuscation; falling off the bandwagon, relapse, and the lower half of a cycle, both the descent and turning the corner; anxiety, fear, burnout, as well as being overwhelmed by and struggling with these; mental illness, nervous breakdowns, madness; a need to balance both traditional and alternative approaches to medicine and healing.

 

Look for the third aicme in about a week!

Ogham Impressions: First Aicme

A couple of weeks ago (ah, how time flies) I commented on someone else's post about ogham that some of my understandings were similar, and it spawned a brief conversation about how my understanding came about, and then I promised to share some of my insights... and then, well.  Life happened.  Samhain happened.  And now here I am in the second half of November, finally getting some of it down on paper and screen.  I'll start with a little background, though, on my personal study of ogham.

I don't recall when I first heard of ogham, but I can be almost certain that it was in the sense of the "alphabet of trees" or "tree calendar", both of which are pretty misleading. My first real contact with ogham, besides lists of trees that had more new age material than Irish material, was probably in one of Raven Edgewalker's classes at Sacred Space.  They do use the tree list pretty heavily (they're a plant witch after all) but, importantly, they explained that the tree list was only one list out of several, and that the ogham was, at its core, an alphabet of sounds, a framework from which to create poetry. That sounded much more interesting to me than just an oracle of trees, but it wasn't until I got my hands on a copy of Erryn Rowan Laurie's book Weaving Word Wisdom and found part of the Scholar's Primer (Auraicept na n-Éces) online that I started to truly understand what that meant.  Even after I'd read both books and bought a set of staves and started trying to study them on my own, however, I was still finding them to be a bit difficult to connect with. So when I had the chance to go to a ritual on connecting to Ogma and the ogham, I went.  Long story short, Ogma told me that he would not be teaching me the ogham "again", and that I'd have to put in the effort to really connect.  I think it was his nudge or guidance that helped me discover the 6 month intensive I ended up taking through the Irish Pagan School, though, and I am very grateful for that little bit of help.

In the IPS intensive, there were three parts to the study of every letter (called a "fid"): first, we read the corresponding sections in both Laurie's book (which I mentioned above) and John-Paul Patton's The Poet's Ogham.  Then, there was an hour or so of video lecture that went into the Briatharogham (also known as the "word ogham") in more depth, including some cultural nuances that might not be obvious to people who aren't immersed in Irish culture (that is to say: not the diaspora, those are two distinct cultures at this point).  The third part was a guided meditation journey to connect with the spirit of that particular fid, and it was those exchanges in journey space that really helped my connection with ogham flourish to the point that I felt I understood it enough to include it in my practice.  Each spirit helped me come up with a two-word kenning (in English, alas — perhaps in the future I'll have a good enough grasp of Irish), and gave me a staff in exchange for the gift I brought.  Many also gave me insight into other lists on that first journey — lists of plants and birds and even types of magic, that I've been developing for my own practice with their help.  I probably could have connected to the feda (plural of fid) if I had thought to try, but the curriculum developed by the IPS was really helpful for increasing my understanding of the historical materials, and actually managing to do the work in a timely manner!  I highly recommend it to anyone interested in deepening their connection to the ogham.

Back to the present, I started typing out the kennings and the descriptions of how the spirits appeared to me, and even without sharing the lists of trees and herbs and birds and types of magic, it got pretty long, so for today I'll just give you the first Aicme, the first set of 5.  If there's interest, I'm happy to share some of my personal lists later.

I associate Beithe with Imbolc personally, and from that association I associate the entire aicme with the Spring and the East, though as far as I know there is no direct historical support for that.  I'm also adding in some keywords that come from my personal understanding of each fid that I've developed in my studies, but again, these are to be taken as one person's opinion, not fact.

 

Beithe - Beginning Healing

Spirit: humanoid, slightly femme-of center, looked like a common depiction of a birch dryad (birchbark patterned skin, “hair” that’s twigs and moss, etc)

Keywords: new beginnings and trailblazing; cleansing and purification (and those as sources of healing); herbal healing and herb lore; conception, pregnancy, and birth both physically and metaphorically; serenity and tranquility; hope for the future

 

Luis – Lush Vibrancy

Spirit: humanoid, androgynous, also dryad-like, but shifting shape between several trees/plants

Keywords: lush greenery, vivid greens (physical and metaphorical); vibrant flame, shining light (again, physical and metaphorical); life force; growth, mastery; enlightenment, inspiration; intense, splendid, excellent; power and therefore also sorcery/magic

 

Fearn – Fierce Protection

Spirit: humanoid, something like a satyr, but from the lower leg, not the waist. I’m unclear if the hooves are bovine or cervine or what. Masculine in appearance with a broad chest, chestnut colored hair and some facial hair, but body hair not obvious despite not wearing a shirt (yes wearing pants that stopped at the knee though).  Horns also, but again unclear besides that they curled from the side of the head. Kind of a battle frenzy vibe.

Keywords: protection, defense, guarding; walls and shields (and metaphorically, boundaries and emotional walls and from there to stoicism and repression); necessary/unavoidable bloodshed or “egg cracking”; activism, reactive violence; the path of a warrior, first responders, vanguard; chivalry and also machismo in some cases.

 

Saille – Cyclical Currents

Spirit: humanoid, feminine – like a depiction of a “willowmaid”, so another more dryad-like spirit, drooping twig “hair”

Keywords: flowing water, tides, currents, eddies, the water cycle; rivers, underground springs, natural wells; repeated travel (esp in boats or across water, metaphorically repeated otherworldly travel); the underworld and grief; healing that happens slowly over time, grief fading in time, cycles of healing from trauma; clearing blockages and dams slowly (and metaphorically, emotional blockages); learning to let go, flexibility, lightness, unburdening your heart; emotional ebbs and flows, mood regulation and self regulation; subconscious mind; bodily cycles (such as menstruation or other hormonal cycles; also the ebbs and flows of chronic illnesses both physical and mental)

 

Nin – Knotted Weaving

Spirit: shifting through many forms at first, a commentary on my preconceived notions?  Settled on something that reminded me a bit of a warrior queen, vaguely like the Wonder Woman movie (2017) but with bark armour and leaves in her short hair, carrying a knotted net, a spear, and a spool of twine and had me help fix a piece of weaving on a loom, untangling and reweaving.

Keywords: fiber arts as magical arts (spinning, weaving, knot tying, knitting etc); fate-weaving, creating better futures; planning for a common future and working towards a common goal; community weaving, social contracts, networking, social support systems; negotiation, mediation, cooperation, and diplomacy; group governance, lawmaking, society-shaping.

 

I hope this was interesting for some of you.  Look for the next aicme next week!

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