One of the ritual forms I practice is Hrafnar-style Seidr. This type of ritual is a modern liturgy that traces its roots to the form practiced by our ancient kin of faith in Iceland, Scandinavia, and Norway. Hrafnar-style Seidr is oracular divination: a seer goes into trance and is then able to ask questions of…
Category: Ancestors
The pagan year ends on Oct. 31 at Samhain (pronounced sow-ehn). Samhain is the old Celtic name for this holiday and the one we continue to use today. As a belief system connected to an agrarian calendar, our year reflects natural cycles. All around us, the trees are in the middle of their annual transition…
The intersections of older spiritual practices and modern life are interesting and complex. Halloween season is a bubbling brew of history, belief, contemporary attitudes and goofy good times. Within paganism, the world of Earth-centered spirituality, October is the season of the ancestors and contains our New Year on the 31st. Our cycle ends, and then…
Anybody who has attended a Pagan event in the Mid-Atlantic region has most likely encountered Irene Glasse. As the president of Frederick Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (FCUUPS) in Frederick, Maryland, and the organizer of that organization’s annual Frederick Pagan Pride Day, Glasse has contributed to numerous events and organizations in Maryland and nearby environs….
The Wheel of the Year has turned once more. Samhain is past and the days grow shorter and darker till Yuletide reaches us. This is the season of shadow and quiet, of the inward spiral. I think of the time from mid-October till Yule as Veil Season. Although many people focus their Ancestral work specifically…
This short sermon was offered for the October 25th, 2020, streaming service at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Frederick. Full text below. This is one of my favorite parts of the year. I think I am a constant disappointment to my friends who love beaches and summer. It’s just not my thing. Give me gray,…
*October 31st marks one of the High Holidays in the widely-used Pagan Wheel of the Year – Samhain. Out of all our holidays, I’d say this one gets the most press. Our celebration of the end of the growing season coincides with all that is spooky in the larger culture. This time of endings in…
One of the types of Ancestors I personally venerate are Ancestors of the Order – humans who followed a similar life path to my own. In my case, these are the priestx classes of many cultures: the people who chose to place themselves in service to Spirit, the journey of human souls, and the creation…
Take it to the Earth/Take it to the Stone/Take it to the Deep to the Dark to the Bone/Take it to the Mountains take it to the Caves/Take it to the Dark of the old ones’ Graves * For a large part of human history travel was not common. Although trading and raiding were a…
Remember who you are. Not the litany of name, place of work, place of residence, education, blood type, political affiliation or last dental checkup. Remember where you come from. Not the list of states and countries you’ve lived in. Remember… Singing in your bones, in your blood, is a different story. An ancient drum taps…