A Merry Beltane

Fire drawing of Matisse’s “Dance” by Scott Associates
for the Edinburgh Beltane Fire Festival.

The month of May was come,
when every lusty heart beginneth to blossom,
and to bring forth fruit;
for like as herbs and trees bring forth fruit and flourish in May,
in likewise every lusty heart that is in any manner a lover,
springeth and flourisheth in lusty deeds.
For it giveth unto all lovers courage,
that lusty month of May.
- Sir Thomas Malory,
Le Morte d’Arthur, 1485

“The festival marks the passing of winter, which is a Pagan tradition about farming and rural life, and that is well worth celebrating. The warmer weather and brighter nights are certainly something to celebrate.” – Ricky Henderson, Edinburgh City Councillor

“Beltane derives from the Irish Be?ltaine or Scottish Gaelic Bealtuinn; both from Old Irish Beltene “bright fire” from belo-te(p)ni?), where belo- is allied to the English word bale (as in bale-fire), the Anglo-Saxon bael, and also the Lithuanian baltas, meaning “white” or “shining” from which the Baltic takes its name. In Gaelic the terminal vowel -o (from Belo) was dropped, as shown by numerous other transformations from early or Proto-Celtic to Early Irish, thus the Gaulish god-names Belenos (”bright one”) and his partner Belisama. Belenos was probably the same divinity, originally from belo-nos “our shining one”, is also from the same source, as was Shakespeare’s Cym-beline.” – Wikipedia

“In the pagan calendar, the coming week brings Beltane, one of the major holidays of the year. Halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, it marks a time of teeming fertility, when the life forces of the natural world are in full bloom, in our bodies as much as in plants and animals. At Beltane, many of us have access to more creativity than usual. Our vitality may be at a peak and our libidos fully unfurled” – Rob Brezsny, Free Will Astrology

“The rituals surrounding Samhain and Bealtaine are closely related to each other and make it clear that the two festivals are linked, but also that they deal with opposite energies within the unfolding of the year. What is explicit and active in one is implicit and dormant in the other, and vice versa…while Samhain began one kind of yearly cycle, Bealtaine began another, and both could be construed as a kind of “New Year”…In both cases sacred fires were extinguished and re-lit, though this happened at sunset on Samhain and at dawn on Bealtaine. Bealtaine was a time of opening and expansion, Samhain a time of gathering-in and shutting, and for herd-owners like the Celts this was expressed with particular vividness by the release of cattle into upland pastures on Bealtaine and their return to the safety of the byres on Samhain.” – Alexei Kondratiev

“Prepare a May basket by filling it with flowers and goodwill and then give it to someone in need of healing and caring, such as a shut-in or elderly friend. Form a wreath of freshly picked flowers, wear it in your hair, and feel yourself radiating joy and beauty. Dress in bright colors. Dance the Maypole and feel yourself balancing the Divine Female and Male within. On May Eve, bless your garden in the old way by making love with your lover in it. Make a wish as you jump a bonfire or candle flame for good luck. Welcome in the May at dawn with singing and dancing.” – Selena Fox

“Historically the Walpurgisnacht is derived from Pagan spring customs, where the arrival of spring was celebrated with bonfires at night. Viking fertility celebrations took place around April 30 and due to Walburga being declared a saint at that time of year, her name became associated with the celebrations. Walburga was honored in the same way that Vikings had celebrated spring and as they spread throughout Europe, the two dates became mixed together and created the Walpurgis Night celebration.” – Wikipedia (Walpurgis Night)

Tonight and tomorrow (in the northern hemisphere) are the traditional dates for the major spring/summer festivals in modern Paganism. Beltane, Bealtaine, May Day, and Walpurgis Night. This fire festival heralds the coming of summer and is a high holiday, a liminal time when the barriers between our world and the otherworld were thin. In many traditions and cultures it is a time of divine union and fertility. May you all be especially blessed this evening and tomorrow.

Spell-fest of Love

Ed Hubbard of Witch School fame (or infamy depending on your opinion) has made the news for organizing a global spell of love and peace (I guess all those press releases have paid off). In an interview with Tamara Ikenberg of the The Courier-Journal, Hubbard talks about the goals of this spell, how he is going to measure its effectiveness, and how much he enjoys the show “Charmed”.

“On the more mundane level, it’s just getting people to think about what love is, what hope is. On a higher level, we actually believe anything that’s thought about gets manifested into the universe one way or the other…One of the things I’m looking for is car accidents, deaths and crime statistics on that day. If we have any sort of success, you’ll start seeing some dips in those. People report everything from hysterical visions, similar to the Virgin Mary sightings ?? to people saying “I’ve gotten extra money” or “I was able to do something nice.” People see things because they change their focus or change their mind-set. What do I mean by changing people’s mind-sets? If somebody smiles at you in the morning, you go out and smile at somebody else, and that person smiles at somebody else.”

I’m not sure how me finding a twenty dollar bill in my couch will be counted as a manifestation of global love and harmony, but I’m sure that would be just one of the lesser manifestations of this working. In Witch School’s newsletter “The Daily Spell”, Hubbard says the working will test if magic is “real” or not.

“We need no longer wait to see if magic is real or not. We can test it through such global experiments, but instead of looking for data, I am looking forward to hearing the experiences people will have through this day of divine manifestation. I believe it will move the way we think about the world and how it works.”

Wait a minute, he says he won’t be looking for data, but in the interview Hubbard says he will be looking for “car accidents, deaths and crime statistics on that day”. That sounds like looking for data to me. It seems like a victory for magic will be declared no matter what happens on May 5th.

I think there is nothing wrong with praying (or performing magic) for peace, love, and justice. Most of the great men and women of history have done so. But I do have a problem with attempts to quantify such prayers/spells for the edification of a specific group or agenda. I don’t care if people have “hysterical visions” or not, I care if people were inspired by their actions to go out and act for peace and justice. That will be the real test of sincere spell-work.

Spotlight on Pagan Music

A weekly feature highlighting the best music from Pagan, Pagan – influenced, and occult artists. You can hear many of these artists on my weekly radio show and podcast, or you can check out the annual “Darker Shade of Pagan” music special available for download online.

HEKATE

Hekate

Band Bio:
Hekate was formed in 1993, for the time being as an atonal-project. Hekates first ever performance was in the spring of the same year during an art exhibition at an advanced technical college in Koblenz. Soon there after, a fusion of several stylistic elements into a symbiosis emerged from the strong naturalistic-folkloric relation of each band-member. The music is mainlybased on the use of classical percussions like kettle drums, timpanis, snare- and bass drums and chinese gongs combined with acoustic guitars and middle-aged instruments as e.g. hurdy gurdy. The musical background is completed by use of modern synthesizers. The lyrics are presented by alternating male and female singing in German, English and French- and other tongues such as Latin, Jidish or Middle-Age-German.

Hekate web site.

Song download:
Sample clip of “Morgane Le Fay”
Sample clip of “Europa”
Sample clip of “Dance of Taurus”
Sample clip of “Ocean Blue”

Hekate’s song “L’Ivresse” appears on the 5th annual “Darker Shade of Pagan” special available for download, here.

Reviews:
“Hekate’s latest release “Goddess” is no exception to the bands well established reputation. Once again Hekate has emerged from dormancy with a recording that has exceeded all expectations. Goddess is every bit as ambitious as the simple title co notates. In a musical genre fixated on archaic Northern European spiritual traditions Hekate is breaking the mold by extending the exploration of the sacred into broader fields of reference. “Goddess” successfully embodies references to cultures as diverse as the Greeks and Romans to the lost gods of the ancient Egyptians. Though such a wide range of influence and inspiration may appear to some to be impregnated with stale “new-age” sympathies Hekate has seamlessly integrated these numerous ancient references of culture and spirituality into a potent and mind blowing journey through time.” – Heathen Harvest

“The music is sort of a mixture of neo-folk and medieval styles, completed with powerful drumming and use of electronics. Hekate consists of many members and a rich instrumentarium and with several vocalists (male and female), so that the songs are pretty varied. Sometimes it sounds bombastic, with martial drums and trumpets, sometimes fragile and beautiful with female voices and acoustic guitars and strings. Most lyrics are in German, but there are also texts in French, Yiddish and old German.” – Funprox

“What we have here is a lot of medieval influences, a bit of new age and a bunch of dark wave stuff. Beautiful female vocals, haunting drum sounds (paukes, timpani, march drums), whispering male vocals, modern sounding keyboards, mid-eastern atmospheres, different flutes and pipes and ?? well, and a LOT more!!! Hekate sounds like nobody else…” – Intromental Webzine

My Two Cents:
I have mixed reactions to the “neofolk” genre. I find a lot of it overly martial and pseudo-militaristic, often featuring some deep-voiced man intoning obscurely about the glory of Europe. But sometimes some truly unique gems emerge and make me take notice. Hekate is one of those bands. Aside from the band members actually being Pagan, they have crafted a delicate balance of feminine and masculine voices and break free of their genre’s constraints. Their latest CD “Goddess” may be their best work to date, and a good entry point to the band’s work.

Further Reading:
Interview with Hekate. Yet another interview with Hekate.

Camille Paglia and The Great Mother

In an article for Arion, feminist author Camille Paglia sings the praises of Jung prodigy Erich Neumann as the way foward to incorporating Jungian ideas into academic feminism. Paglia discusses Neumann’s theory of feminine development, his best-known work “The Great Mother”, and discusses how “Goddess feminism” went wrong when it embraced the literal idea of a prehistoric matriarchy.

“The ancient Great Mother was a dangerously dual figure, both benevolent and terrifying, like the Hindu goddess Kali. Neumann saw this clearly, but Campbell and the goddess’ feminist boosters did not: they sanitized and simplified, stripping away the goddess’ troublesome residue of the archaic and barbaric. Neumann cited and praised Bachofen’s pioneering work in prehistory but was careful to note that the latter’s idea of matriarchy (as Neumann puts it in The Great Mother) must be “understood psychologically rather than sociologically.” While quoting Bachofen in The Origins and History of Consciousness, Neumann insists that the matriarchal stage “refers to a structural layer and not to any historical epoch.” Such fine distinctions are precisely why I admire Neumann?because he scrupulously tempers speculation with evidence. This vexed issue of matriarchy, which remains one of the most dubious strains in feminism, is of special importance to me because it provoked some of my earliest public clashes with fellow feminists when I began teaching in the early 1970s.”

Paglia contends that all theories of culture must begin with pre-history and work forward, something she feels Jungian-based theory is specially adapted to do. To Paglia, social constructionism of poststructuralism lack an understanding of nature and biology. The essay calls for a return to a Jungian feminist thought that steers clear from Campbell and Gimbutas and instead re-orients towards the work of Erich Neumann.

So How Is That Mainstream Acceptance Coming?

I think that those of us who live in urban areas or college towns often forget that modern Paganism hasn’t really gained mainstream acceptance or understanding in much of our country. I read three articles today (when it rains, it pours) that help highlight the current state of modern Pagan practitioners in America.

First we have the case of a local community in North Carolina where a local Pagan group has joined the “Adopt-A-Highway” program. This has caused enough controversy in the town of Gastonia to warrant a local television spot. In the spot it was revealed that the woman behind the sign who opened a local cafe’/occult shop last summer has been receiving death threats.

“Miller said she has been receiving death threats since her caf? opened last summer, but she hopes the highway adoption can prove to people that her group wants to make a positive impact on the community. She said it also intends to adopt another highway in the near future.”

North Carolina has also been in the news recently for a local school board’s plan to enact a controversial policy over the disbursement of religious literature, and if it will allow Pagan literature alongside Christian tracts.

Another story highlights how fringe groups tend to gather together in places that may not be too tolerant of “alternative” lifestyles. The article deals with the Hidden River Resort, a nudist retreat on the Florida-Georgia border. In addition to hosting nudist/naturist events the retreat has also become a haven for local Pagan and LGBT groups looking for a place to meet.

“Hidden River hosts special events throughout the year including group events and workshops. “We have had lesbian and pagan gatherings. In fact earlier this month, the Phoenix Fire Pagans were here. They are the original tree huggers and earth worshipers,” said Hatten.”

The somewhat tolerated nudist resort acts as an protective umbrella for smaller groups in an area where they most likely wouldn’t receive a warm welcome if they tried to own and operate a resort their own resort. As for Pagans consorting with naturists? I’m sure old Gerald would approve.

Of course being an out Pagan in some places would be almost unthinkable. Like Tahlequah, Oklahoma where tattooing may soon become legal. There, local tattoo enthusiasts have to biblically justify their body art to assure the townsfolk they aren’t horrible Pagans.

“According to Craig, the popular Bible passage relating to not injuring oneself relates more to pagan ritual. “The Bible says you’re not supposed to ‘let blood for the dead,’” said Craig. “Which means you’re not supposed to participate in ritualistic destruction of your body to raise the dead, things like that.” Craig is a friend of the Smiths, and Karen is quick to talk about his devotion to God…Safari has a number of customers who are preachers part-time, according to Karen.”

I wouldn’t ask for a pentacle tattoo in that town.

Taken together, these articles help paint a picture of what it means to be a modern Pagan in much of our country today. Keeping in “the broom closet”, receiving death threats when you go public in the “wrong” place, making alliances to survive and celebrate openly. While our numbers and acceptance are growing, it will be a long time before Pagans all across America feel free to be open about who they are.

(Pagan) News of Note

Some articles, essays, and news stories that have caught my eye.

The Philadelphia City Paper profiles the “Sacred Sexuality Beltane Festival” taking place April 27th – 30th. Writer Ashlea Halpern seems impressed by the Pagan festival’s breadth and scope.

“What started out eight years ago as a family-friendly Pagan fest with flower garlands and naked hippies dancing around the maypole has evolved into a pansexual, clothing-optional retreat offering workshops and lectures-at least half of which are Pantheist-oriented and taught by instructors with names like Puck, Freeheart and Wilddragon…”

The festival will also feature talks by authors Raven Kaldera and Jennifer Hunter among others.

Chas Clifton points out a blog entry by Classical Archaeology graduate student Troels Myrup Kristensen on the mutilation of pre-Christian (pagan) inscriptions by early Christians.

“Damnatio memoriae frequently involved the removal of the names of ‘bad’ emperors from public inscriptions. This was a relatively easy procedure, but usually left behind some awkward gaps in the texts. One of the most famous examples of this is the honorary inscription on the Arch of Septimius Severus, where the name of Geta was erased. The modification of the inscription is more obvious today, as the original bronze letters have disappeared. A phenomenon that has received considerable less attention is the Christian removal of names of pagan gods in inscriptions.”

Sadly the need to eliminate “pagan” thought is still around, from Islamic fatwas against Egyptian “idols” to conservative Christians who continue to conflate Pagan belief with Nazi-ism. Did you know that opposing the drilling of ANWAR makes you a sinister Nazi pagan? It’s true, just ask Bruce Walker.

“…there is no “Far Right.” There are only ordinary people and Sinisterists, who have an utterly secular or pagan religion based upon the worship of the lie. So when you meant a Leftist who presumes to oppose drilling for oil in ANWAR or off the coast of the United States or the building of refineries, and you try to explain to him that the world may come to the brink of nuclear Armageddon because of his irrational indifference to the vast production of oil allowed America to defeat the Nazis in the Second World War, do not be surprised if the Leftist yawns: like all Sinisterists, including those who lead Germany into the Second World War and committed the Holocaust, his faith is in the idols of nature and he is willing to see any crime committed to protect his jealous gods and goddesses.”

The LA City Beat profiles a documentary about the tragic life of Basilio Vargas, a 14 year old worker in a Bolivian silver mine. Vargas practices a syncretic form of Christianity where he worships Jesus above ground but gives homage to a pre-Christian “demon” who rules the mines.

“He works incredibly hard shifts at the dangerous mine, where most of the workers don?t live past 40; and he is the sole support of his family, who lives in a stone shack at the mine?s entrance. Like many of the other miners, Basilio also worships a pagan demon, whom he believes controls life in the mines, and who requires libations of coca leaves and sacrifices of llamas. As Basilio explains, he believes in Jesus the Savior ? but underground, homage must be paid to another deity entirely.”

Finally, local psychics, astrologers and tarot card readers all agree that the Edmonton Oilers will win the first round playoff series against Detroit.

“Now leading Detroit 2-1 in the series, Edmonton will win in five games. OK, maybe six. Or seven. Unless, of course, Detroit takes the series in seven — as predicted apologetically by Detroit clairvoyant Geraldine Branch. She promises next year will be “a really good year” for the copper and blue.”

So if you were waiting to place bets (where legal), I guess now is a good a time as any. Have a good day.

What’s Next For Generation Hex?

Steven Taylor at Dreamflesh interviews Jason Louv, editor of the book Generation Hex, and longtime contributor to Disinformation. Taylor talks to Louv about youth culture, Columbine, the Internet, and magic.

“The internet’s also been great for bringing people together but to be honest I’m sick of the internet, and the problem, especially with discussions about magic, is that it can be hard to separate out the people who have actually practiced magic in any kind of deep or meaningful way, and those who just like to talk about ideas. Both are great but for those who are just getting started and are looking for actually useful and meaningful information it can be a real mess. But I suppose that’s how it’s always been with magic, anybody looking to get some proper information has always had to sift through small landfills’ worth of charlatanry. Internet discussion forums and even books like Generation Hex are just puffery really when compared to the experience of sitting down or going out in the world and actually doing magic, so the most I can hope for in the current occult “climate,” even my own little corner of it, is that hopefully people will take away enough of a sense that there are other people out there doing this stuff and that helps it become OK for them to actually take that first step and do some experiments without having to feel like they?re completely alone or crazy.”

Louv’s future plans include developing the site Ultraculture into a sort of open occult artistic collective, and working on his Tantra.

Second-Hand Christianity

Are you suffering from the effects of second-hand Christianity? Pagan blogger Brad Hicks lays out the similarities between the dangers of second-hand smoke and second-hand religion.

“We don’t get to pick whether or not somebody else shoves their Christianity into our space and down our throats. And like the people who ask smokers to put their cigarettes out, we’re treated with great hostility by anybody around us when we object to it, like we’re the intolerant ones. I told him that second-hand Christianity and second-hand smoking are, in fact, the exact same issue…nobody in America who works for a living can go half an hour of any workday without at least one reminder that non-Christians in general and atheists in particular (as we were freshly reminded last week by a University of Minnesota survey, the only minority in America more hated than the Islamist fundamentalists that we’re actually at war with) are second-class citizens, not full Americans, not even really people. And we get even less choice whether or not to be exposed to their religious sentiments.”

Sunfell gives further comment.

“I am not sure if the paradigm really fits, but it did serve to make me observe the environment in which I live. I am surrounded by Christian verbiage, symbolism, protelysation, etc. I regularly get behind vehicles with religious messages on them. I see people with Christian themed t-shirts wandering the halls of this building. All prayers in the Chamber are said ‘in Jesus Name’. In Hobby Lobby, the music was all contemporary Christian, which served as a catalyst to run me out of there ASAP.”

Despite the fears of some, America still has a culture that is dominated by Christian ideas and imagery. So the question is, how does that affect non-Christian faiths? For all our talk of a Pagan worldview, how much of our thought processes are influenced by the subtle and pervasive Christian influence. Are we all suffering from second-hand religion?

Wicca Awesome?

MTV News reports on Godsmack’s new album “IV”. In addition to the band adding a “blues edge” to their music they are also revisiting their first major hit.

“For his band’s fourth studio effort, Godsmack singer Sully Erna holed up in his Spiral Recordings Studio in Los Angeles ? not Boston, where they’re from ? to sit at the decks and twiddle the knobs for the first time. The dudes sifted through 40 songs and settled on 11, including the first single, “Speak”; “Livin’ in Sin”; and “Voodoo Too,” a quasi-sequel to the 1998 tune “Voodoo.” Wicca awesome.”

“Voodoo” is famous for introducing lead singer Sully Erna’s Wiccan faith to the world. The video featured author (and Erna’s mentor) Laurie Cabot (along with 30 other Wiccans) performing a dramatic sword-filled ritual.

Laurie Cabot with Sully Erna

It remains to be seen if “Voodoo Too” will be released as a single, and if they will invite Cabot and other Boston-area Wiccans back for a return performance. In any event I’m sure this will please fans of Godsmack. I just hope people don’t really walk around saying “Wicca awesome” in public.

A Proper Pagan Funeral

A truly Pagan memorial service was recently held for Endel ?pik (aka Tal Stoneheart). ?pik, who died last November was given a Viking funeral at the Whitby Gothic Weekend this past Saturday.

“A crowd of more than 1,000 lined Whitby’s harbour to bid an emotional farewell…his ashes were sent out to sea on a Viking longship which was set alight by flaming arrows fired from the beach. Endel, who was widely known as Tal Stoneheart, collapsed at his Derbyshire home which he shared with his long-term partner, Claire Hanley-?pik, whom he married in a pagan wedding in 2003.”

This story has received a lot of press due to Endel having a famous brother in politics, Lembit ?pik, a Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire. Though his death was tragic, in his death he was able to shine a positive light on both modern Paganism and the gothic subculture. May his spirit find peace.