#síthearan nicleòid

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Witches&Pagans #36 - Gods, Goddesses, & the Glorious Divine

Who do we worship? How do we find Them — or, how are we found by Them? Whatever our path, the divine is part of our lives and practices. In this issue of Witches&Pagans we share the experiences of priests, devotees, writers, artists, dancers, spirit workers, and everyday people as they live in relationship with the Divine. This special issue features:

Focus on Understanding the Gods

“To Walk with Orisha: The Path of Connectedness.” Manny Tejeda-Moreno leads us on a path replete with Spirit, power, and passion. "To Soar with the Butterflies: Sigyn, Lady of Compassion.” Erin Lale describes the ancient lore — and modern gnosis — of this underappreciated Norse goddess. "His Name Means Ecstacy: Exploring Sacred Marriage in Northern European Traditions” by priestess Shirl Sazynski.     "Riding with the Frauen.” Discover the hidden goddesses of Germanic culture with loremistress Heidi Parton.

“Wisdom of the Holy Isle: Gods & Goddesses of Avalon.” Explore the deities of the Celtic Otherworld with Síthearain Nicleòid. Focus on Daily Devotion “Religio Romana.” Roman polytheist Virginia Carper describes her day-to-day practice of having a proper relationship with the Gods.

“A Party for Parvati.” Want a truly humbling experience? Go to where people who are indigenous to your practice shop, by Deborah Castellano.

“Surrounded by Deity.” Irisanya reveals what’s it like to be devoted to many gods and goddesses at the same time. Focus on Pagan Living

Our columnists weigh in on bringing the divine into your life, including:

Raven Grimassi – The Gods in Old Witchery

Jamie Della – Rose Geranium: a plant of love

Hecate Demetersdatter – How I Found the Goddess

Deborah Blake – Where is Your Inner Goddess?

Jason Mankey – Relationships with the Gods are Reciprocal

Diotima Mantineia – Looking Out for Saturn

H. Byron Ballard – I Love the Big Mama: Don't You?

Archer – A Pagan View of Jesus

Christopher Penczak – Seers are Artists & Storytellers

Ivo Dominguez, Jr – Drawing Down the Great Ones

Thorn Mooney & Eurus offer answers to your witchy questions. In this issue: "How Do I Connect to a God?"

88 pages, published in September, 2018.

Purchase a print copy here and an electronic PDF version here.

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Old Irish 3: Mythic and Religious Language

Welcome to the third free tutorial in Old Irish!

In this posting we will learn how to pronounce some mythic and religious terminology that you may have encountered in your reading and exploration (including place-names and animals), as well as some information about grammar, and the use of Old Irish in ritual.

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Speaking to the Irish Gods: OIr Lesson 2

Welcome to the second tutorial in Old Irish, in service to the Celtic Pagan / Druidic community!

Note: You may wish to print out the lessons so you can read and follow along with the sound file at the same time. Do read through the lesson first though, and then follow along with the sound file.

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Witches&Pagans #34 - Creating Ritual

Whatever your path, whether you are a devotional Polytheist, a Wiccan priest/ess, a root worker and witch, an arch-Druid or a naturalist Pagan, doing ritual is almost certainly part of your spiritual path. In this issue, we explore the many diverse ways in which ritual creates, nurtures, connects and reinforces our bonds to the Gods, the Spirits of Nature, and to each other in community.

 This special issue features:

“Getting to Know Your Story: A Talk with OBOD Chief Druid Philip Carr-Gom.” Gail Nyoka chats with the renowned English druid about the elements of ritual, Druidism, and following the Awen.

"Eolas ar Senchais: Illuminating Ancient Celtic Ritual.“ It’s sometimes difficult to know real lore from invented nonsense, so what’s a Celtic-inspired ritualist to do? Author and druid Sithearan NicNeoid leads the way down the road to authentic knowledge of these ancient paths.

“Druid Ritual Style.“ The rituals of Ar nDraiocht Fein (“Our Own Druidry” in Gaelic), are known for their careful design and elaborate nature. ArchDruid Kirk Thomas lays out the structure, meaning, and theology of these foundational rites.

“Eleusis by the Sea: Wandering Witch at Spring Mysteries.” Natalie Zaman takes a personally significant journey to meet the Gods at the yearly ritual drama held by the Aquarian Tabernacle Church.

“Forged in Flame: Creating a Reclaiming Beltane Ritual.” Irisanya draws back the curtain on the art of creating the legendary rituals of the Reclaiming witchcraft tradition.

PLUS “We Come from the Land Down Under: Retrofitting Ritual for Southern Hemisphere Pagans” by Lee Pike.

Our columnists also weigh in on ways to bring meaning into your solitary (and family) rituals, including:

Raven Grimassi in “Solitary Ritual & Aligning Ourselves with Power"

Hecate Demetersdatter in “How to Create a Successful Group Ritual"

Deborah Blake in “What’s Your Ritual Style?”

Jason Mankey in “Was Your Last Ritual a Disaster?"

Diotima Mantineia in “Astrological Timing for Your Next Working"

H. Byron Ballard in “Ritual and Theatre?”

Shirl Sazynski in “The Names of the Gods”

Christopher Penczak in “By Love, Will, and Wisdom”

Thorn Mooney & Eurus in “Two Many Witches”

88 pages, published in June 2017

Purchase a print copy here and an electronic PDF version here.

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SageWoman #91 - Worlds of Faerie

For millennia, we humans have experienced meetings with Beings whose existence overlapped only lightly with our own realm. These visitors bring chaos, whimsy, and undiluted emotion — ranging from joy to terror — swirling in their wake. They act in ways that we humans would simply never think of: just similar enough to us that we can interact with them, but twisted just slightly. Many call these beings "Faeries" and this issue is dedicated to our relationships with their ethereal and enigmatic beings. We begin with Mary Petiet’s grandmother's encounter with the Fae changed her life forever. Find out how in “Away with the Fairies." Sad and lonely after a devastating breakup, Jennifer Langsdale was at the end of her rope when one special Fae lifted her up and pointed her in a new direction. Read her uplifting tale in "A Match Made in Faerie." Downcast by the bullying of her child over the family’s Pagan faith, Winterswan received a special visitation that brought her hope. Find out more in her story, “Butterfly Wings." The uncanny sounds of the island of Iona, off the northern coast of Scotland, introduced Suzanne d’Corsey to a world of harmony and spirituality she had never before imagined. She shares her tale in "Pursued by Music: A True Story of the Great Fairy Mound of Iona.” Celtic scholar and druid-priestess Síthearan NicLeòid unfolds the many ways in which Faerie weaves through Irish lore and myth in her essay “The Gifts of Annwyn” while loremistress Diana Paxson introduces us to the Fae that inspired Tolkien in “Elves: Fairy Folk of the Northern Lands." Our columnists offer their wisdom in this special issue as well. Susun Weed describes her experience with Faerie Medicine; Allison Leigh Lilly reflects on art in a time of strife; and Lizann Bassham describes the connections between the worlds of the Fae and the voice of our ancestors. Anne Hill lends her wisdom on the subject of dreaming between the worlds; Crystal Blanton finds security in solitude; Leslie Linder introduces us to the magic of the unicorn; and Rebecca Bailey points out that Faeries don't use cell phones. Do you wonder how we can find magic in everyday life? Sit in on Amanda Lonsdorf’s conversation on this very subject with British author of The Hedgewitch Book of Days, Mandy Mitchell. Plus Goddess-loving poetry, stories from our readers in the Rattle; and reviews of books we love. We end with a wee story of a trip to the fabled land of the fairies in Ireland by Jennifer Pratt-Walter. Are the Worlds of Faerie calling to you? Enjoy this special spring issue, and perhaps you, too, will smell the sweet perfume of their apple tree blossoms wafting on the gentle breezes of May.

88 pages, published in April of 2018.

Purchase a print copy here and an electronic PDF here.

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Seeing with Ancestral Eyes: Language and Celtic Worldview

Hello everyone, and the bright blessings of early summer to you all! Today I would like to talk about ways to deepen our practice of Celtic Paganism. One the many  important tools that people may choose to utilize when walking a Celtic path is learning one of the modern Celtic languages - Scottish Gaelic, modern Irish, Welsh, Cornish, Breton and Manx. By dedicating ourselves to learning one of these languages we are contributing to protecting the survival of the language as well as the traditional culture embedded in that language.  Some people feel that they may not have sufficient time to learn a Celtic language, but there are free online sources that a person can use in their own timing. For example there is the app Duolingo where you can learn Irish or Welsh. For Scottish Gaelic there are some wonderful resources at learngaelic.scot.

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Reclaiming Ancient Celtic Music and Wisdom Traditions

Hello, and blessings to all!

It's been quite a few months since my last posting, as I was busy finishing up a new book, which should be out later this year. The working title is "Celtic Cosmology and the Otherworld: Mythic Origins, Sovereignty and Liminality," and it's on a small and wondrous academic press - McFarland (you can get on their mailing list to receive up to the moment notices).

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Creating Celtic Wisdom Keepers: Knowledge that the Gods Empower

There is a lot of discussion online these days about how one can learn about the historical knowledge and practices of the past, in order to create a strong foundation based on the wisdom of the Celtic ancestors. It is well documented that the long-standing and time tested wisdom and rituals of indigenous cultures are enduring and powerful because they are supported by, and in some cases perceived to have been directly given by, the gods and spirits. Some of these indigenous cultures have managed to preserve this ancient and sacred knowledge over centuries or even millennia. Others however, like Celtic traditions, have lost pieces of their religion and are working to put back together a fragmented knowledge of what was once a life-sustaining and deeply effective religion.

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Following the Mythic Threads in Medieval Tapestries

Blessings of the New Moon to all! I wanted to share with you some thoughts and information pertaining to an excellent discussion topic that arose on the private Túatha Imbais group.

One member suggested that we explore “The changes myth and oral literature would have undergone in literary redaction, and what and how we can learn about early pagan worldview from literary redactions."

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In previous posts, we explored the cosmology of the Celts and the concept of Sacred Reciprocity. In traditional cultures, it is understood that human beings live in relationship with many other beings - plants, animals, birds, fish, insects, and features of the natural landscape. In addition, what appears to the modern mindset as 'empty space' is in fact often filled with other beings more difficult to see or identify. This is the realm of the gods and spirits, who may inhabit cosmic realms like the sky, ocean and underworld, or whose domain may be part of the world they share with us.

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Last New Moon, we explored the spirit-filled world of the polytheistic Celtic-speaking tribes. Of course, this is the same spirit-filled world we inhabit today, whether we currently live in one of the modern Celtic nations or are the far-flung biological or spiritual descendants of the ancient Celts, living in many other countries around the world. The call of these ancient traditions runs deep, as attested by the more than 22,000 people who viewed The Three Cauldrons blog last month!

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In some of the earlier posts we began an exploration of key questions like 'What is a Celt?' and 'How do we know what we think we know?' No doubt we will return to these themes as we go along, but for now, let's delve into some primal thinking about what it may have meant to 'be living as' a Pagan Celt, and how that world view is relevant in this day and age.