For Freyja. Every tear a jewel in your hoard, my Lady.
“When your body shudders,
when your breath quickens,
when your waters begin to flow;
when your face turns red,
when the spasms wrack you,
when your shoulders are brought low;
when you lose composure,
when you lose your voice,
and when you lose control;
I see reflections
of carnal passions
in the baring of your soul.”
Hail Freyja!
I just realized that I haven’t shared anything but a few re-blogs since my Wellspring post. There’s some original material that I’ve been working on that’ll be out soon, but it will be a few days from now as I’ve a Sumbel to run in Freyja’s honor tomorrow and that’s been taking up much of my attention.
I follow the scribblings of a great many bloggers, but I thought I’d take a minute to share some of the ones I love the most. Some are well-known and established, and some are new and super-promising. I apologize if yours hasn’t made it on to my page, and if you’d like me to do a review for you I’d be happy to if you contact me.
Oldies but goodies:
These are blogs that I’ve been frequenting for years or are long-term and well-established. They are places that I can always go back to for wisdom, knowledge, and entertainment.
The Twisted Rope: Although I’ve never been closely tied to the Kemetic movement, I’ve loved and honored Iset (Isis) for many years feel some connection and sympathy with them. I like the Kemetics and their generally peaceful and respectful attitudes; and a lot of what I like about them seems to come from or been inspired by Devo’s writings. It is full of broadly-applicable wisdom, approachable, and a treasure trove of information both practical and spiritual, no matter what brand of Paganism or Polytheism you practice I cannot recommend it enough.
Gangleri’s Grove: Few people polarize us PolyPagany folk like Galina Krasskova. Like her or not, one thing no one can argue with is that she is devoted to to her Gods in a way that few other are. I am fond of her acerbic wit, her strength of purpose, and her unwavering loyalty to those who she honors. Her Pagan Prayer Card Project is very similar to something that I had planned on doing once I came into enough money to fund it and I think that it is a thing that is much needed in our world and time. She’s also an impressive liturgist and composer of prayers.
Freya: The Gold Thread: Cara Freyasdaughter’s blog is the first place that I came along the writings of another Freyaswoman. She shares her “Love Notes From Freya” regularly, and they always seem to be what I need when I need them, and I’m not the only person who has observed this. If you’ve ever had Freya cross your path or touch your life, please give it a chance. If you haven’t, do so anyway – Our Lady gets around and you never know what might happen as a result.
Veiled Witch’s Mirror: This is a blog that belongs to a good friend of mine. Deb is both a polytheistic Pagan and a Filianist, and her blog is filled with a uniquely-flavored blend of the two. She discusses a wide range of topics from spiritual and magical technique to covering as a modern woman and more. There are doors to fascinating worlds as well as down-to-Earth wisdom to be found here.
New and Shiny:
These are a mixture of blogs that are new in general, and ones that are new to me in specific (in other words I haven’t had time to properly obsess over and read all their posts).
Rune Lore For All!: A promising new blog by James Hodur (yes, his actual last name; I know his father), an Odinson that I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with for many years now. It’s a bit bare-bones currently, but the information within is gold. Jim has a special connection to the runes that I’ll admit I was jealous of at first but have come to admire deeply.
Lofn’s Bard: ZOMG, this blog is awesome. Sorry, fangirling here – I found it late one night and was in tears at seeing pretty much a whole blog and an impressive body of work devoted to Frigga’s handmaidens, who hold a special place in my heart. If you don’t read anything else on this site, read Gefion’s story, but really – read everything on this site. She is indeed an impressive bard.
In The Desert of Seth: A fascinating blog by the thoughtful and well-spoken G. B. Marian. This blog is devoted to his … devotion to Seth and the small and unique tradition that he and his friends have created. His writings contain an even mixture of devotional discussion (including very insightful pop-culture analysis) and his other interests, and his style is pleasant, accessible, and friendly.
The Challenge: A Weekly Appeal to Our Better Natures: Last but in no way least. It’s a new blog from my dear friend Nathan Large, who intends to issue weekly challenges to his readers (I’ll probably be reblogging a few of them). Nathan is probably the best human being I know, and has been a devoted friend and moral touchstone for me for many years. I’m incredibly excited to see how the Challenge will play out!
Well-written and powerful, I’ll be engaging in this rite and I encourage others to as well. I intend to take the whole day for some silent contemplation and vocal praise and offering to the Many Goda and all the Ancestors who honored them. Apparently it’s being done as the opening rite for Many Gods West, which makes me want to attend even more than I did before.
When: July 31, 2015
Why:
This is not a Syrian issue. This is not a Muslim issue. This is a world issue. It is a human issue. Daesh is purposely targeting memory. They’re targeting their history, and their own *physical* connection with their polytheistic ancestors. It is done to demoralize, terrorize, and desecrate.
We polytheists who have the freedom to practice our religions without fear of our lives (regardless of how much Christian hatred we may experience) have the opportunity to unite ritually, magically, spiritually in mind and will, with…
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Considering how often I post about trans issues I would imagine that this person might know better, but it seems that she’s a bit of a troll so she likely wouldn’t care. Warning to all about her. Also, a warning to other transphobic folks: you won’t be tolerated in my space. This blog is run by the Transwoman Trancewoman and you’ll be booted so far off of it you won’t be able to use the internet for a week (and though I rarely do nasty stuff, it’s personal enough that I might just consider it).
You still have a little time to sign up for this class – I’ll be taking it myself and doing a little reporting on it here! Even if you miss it, there will be more in the series.
My friend River’s next Polytheist Basics class is this coming Sunday. All are welcome to join. The class is held simultaneously online and in person and lasts for three hours with one short break. River asks for a minimum $10 donation to help pay for costs (though for the first class you may be able to work out a reduced rate or a trade; you will need to contact her directly).The next class’s description is below:
Our next class is a continuation of our intro to “woo” from a polytheist perspective, and specifically where woo fits into polytheism, where it doesn’t, how it’s distinct, and an intro to some basic skills and concepts that may be useful in polytheist practice. In this class, we’ll begin to cover subjects such as spiritual hygiene, spiritual protection, and setting space ritually for devotional work.
“Woo” is a silly but useful term that vaguely…
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I already know this, it is already written in my heart if not in those words. I’m sure that there are readers who will benefit from this too.
Checked in with Freya this evening for a Love Note, as it has been a couple of days since my last one. Instead, I received a nice little energy reweaving, and this message:
Tell them:
There is no road I cannot walk. No path I cannot follow.
No heart I cannot find. No trouble I cannot endure.(For I have endured much trauma and turmoil already; such has been my fate.)
Come to me in your disillusionment, your anger, and your shame.
Offer these to me, and I will take them away.Call to me when you find yourself shattered on the floor
and blood and tears your only witnesses–
when your pride and heart and bones are broken
call to me, and I will come.Call to me in your fear and your loneliness.
Or call to me in your hope and your joy.
Either way, I will come…
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I saw us out there, in the crowd and in the parade, and for each of us that I saw there were probably two or three others unseen because we value our invisibility because our visibility often comes at so high a price. But we were there, watching, cheering, and marching. While other people were celebrating their freedom many of us were there to remind people that the fight isn’t over, that despite the carnival atmosphere there are still folks who have to take a stand and tell the world, “We are here, and we’re not going away.”
We are legion and we walk among you. We are emerging, and every passing day we grow less afraid and less willing to be silent, to knuckle under, to compromise our rights and identities away.
We are legion, and if that makes you uncomfortable it pleases me and makes me even more proud and defiant. If that makes you afraid it makes me ecstatic. If it makes you violent then we and our allies will walk over you and never look back.
Nothing that you do will make us stop being born into this world. If you hate us because of your faith then hate the God(s) that made us too. If you hate us because of your culture then your culture will be changed. If you hate us because part of you sees something of yourself in us, then drop the hate and march with us until there’s no reason to march anymore.
We are legion, for we are many.
Veering a little bit from my recent posts on Heathenry and devotional polytheism here; I am still a dirty witch. As you may have gathered from previous posts, I’ve got a passing fondness for Planetary magic, something left over from my High Ceremonial days that I cling to because of its absolute utility and accessibility. Of course I don’t follow what’s in the books verbatim (this is me, after all – I can’t make a recipe for the first time without adding to it!) and since beginning to revisit the Olympians from the point of view of a polytheist, my style has changed a lot even if the trappings haven’t. I intend to do a post regarding good relations with these entities from a Polytheist standpoint, but that’s not what is being covered here.
For this one, I wanted to share a trick I’d learned to cope with Mercury Retrogradeness. It seems to be working fairly well so far, and I will give updates later, but there’s still time for some readers to try and implement it (if they haven’t already).
It involves two tools. First, the Kamea of Mercury:
The second is the seal of Mercury:
You can do your own exploration into the descriptions and origin of the Kamea and Seal and other planetary stuff; right now I’m giving the quick and dirty. The Kamea can be used as a focus for the energies of Mercury. It’s a useful thing to have as an empowered talisman, as who wouldn’t want to call on the blessings of Mercury: good fortune, communication, financial success, mobility, and more.
However, according to my seekrit sources (the friends who introduced me to this practice, in other words) if you have an empowered Kamea during the Mercury retrograde period it will draw in the retrograded (sorry if that word hurt you as much to read as it did for me to type) power of Mercury, which is kind of the opposite of helpful to everyone. Which is where the Seal comes in.
The Seal serves as a dampener for the benign energies of Mercury; you can use it to slow down, stop, or reverse them them. So, the theory goes that if you create an empowered Kamea of Mercury and then seal it with the Seal , the energy that is drawn to you is reversed. It’s important to release and destroy the talisman later, though, because it will act like carrying a big old bag of Merc Ret around with you once the Heavens get sorted out.
So the process would go: create the Kamea and empower it and then cover it with the Seal and either carry it around or place it on your altar or somewhere that is personal and powerfully connected to you (and safe from outside influence). I’m trying it out this Merc Ret period. Of course, I had to get fancy about it: I created the Kamea and Seal as part of a larger talisman/working and empowered the whole shebang. The idea for the talisman was still the same, though – draw benign Mercurial energies to me. His specific blessings are things that are important to me in life in general (come on, communication?) but I need it more now than ever.
So far it’s been working like a dream, and I am really feeling it. I’m sharing it here because we still have a few days left before Mercury turns around in his dance and some of you may find it useful. I may refresh it next time it rolls around; we’ll find out. If you’re interested check this post again later for updates and I’ll give some specifics on how the experiment turned out.
Try it out, and give a gift and praise to Mercury; he’s a good God and friend to all.
Since it’s been suggested by many, I’ve created a Tumblr account and blog for Pagan Church Lady. I don’t have much content and now to figure out how to Tumblr… I’m sure I’ll catch on quickly enough. Anyway, here’s the link. Many thanks and warmth and love to those who read my ramblings!
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