Library Building

I'm starting to gather sources and other information regarding my chosen Hearth culture.  It looks like I might have to re-build a great deal of my library from scratch, so this will be a living document that will likely be updated as I discover new books and purchase others.

Wanted
Currently owned

The Recommending Reading List for DP   

Indo-European Studies:

• The Myth of Matriarchal PreHistory (DP approved)
• Comparative Mythology
• A History of Pagan Europe

Norse Mythology sources:  

• The Prose Edda
• The Poetic Edda
• The Heimskringla (Chronicle of the Kings of Norway)
• The Volsung Saga
• Gods and Myths of Northern Europe (DP approved)
• Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs
• 
  

General Mythology sources: 

• Legends and Sagas at Sacred Texts.com.  Site also has sources for just about anything else you could possibly want for mythology/ religion/ ancient wisdom/ etc.  Looks like it'd be a good way to waste a couple days.

Modern Paganism:

• Drawing Down the Moon (DP approved)
• The Druidry Handbook

Meditation/ Mental Discipline:

• Mindful Knitting: Inviting Contemplative Practice to the Craft

Divination/ Omens

• Futhark
• The Runes Workbook
• Ogam: weaving Word Wisdom
• 
  

Week 7: Creating the Home Shrine

Related to Requirement: #4 – Home Shrine
Required Reading:

• Our Own Druidry: p. 91 - 96 (Personal Work) 86-100

Optional Reading:

• "Placement of the Home Shrine" by Rev. Michael J Dangler 
• "Creating the Desire for Worship" by Rev. Michael J Dangler 
• "Takin' It All Home" by Kami Landy
• Sacred Fire, Holy Well by Ian Corrigan, p. 69-70; 
• The Solitary Druid by Rev. Skip Ellison, p. 38-40  

Personal Reading:

• "Creating a Home Shrine" by Julian Greene

I've had a home shrine for several years now, but I've never really been happy with it.  I like being able to have space to actually create charms and whatnot on my altar and, particularly once my now ex and I combined altars, there was no room for much of anything, let alone oils and beads and cording and mortar/ pestle and all the other necessary supplies.  Accordingly, I'm pretty much starting over on altar organization.  

I have a wooden bowl to use as a Well.  A stone oil lamp for the Fire (not the company I got mine from, but same style).  Several incense burners and oil diffusers.  The only thing I really need is something to act as the Tree.  I've been using a cedar branch (trimmed, de-barked, and sanded), but I have that branch for a reason and will need to find a different option.  I'm hoping now that spring is coming, I'll be able to find a house plant that is both non-toxic to cats and can withstand benign neglect.  I also want to find something else to use as offering bowls instead of either a) my mortar or b) a stacking coffee cup.  

I'll be moving my altar upstairs to my bedroom later today and will thus be able to get decent light and photos.  I might keep a mini-altar downstairs in the library using some of the duplicates that I have, but I'm not sure off hand.  Something about open flame on a bookshelf seems... bad. I like the idea of having a smaller brazier and whatnot in the kitchen while I'm cooking dinner, but counter-space is at a premium right now.  So even something as small as that could be problematic (also, see cat and curious).  

Part of me really wants to go back to using the top of my dresser as an altar instead of the tv stand that I'm currently using.  However, my dresser is rather tall, making sitting in front of it a problem and I also tend to just deposit stuff on it- socks missing mates, pocket junk, my jewelry box, borrowed books... That's not really a good habit to have for your altar.  At least the tv stand has built in storage and is small enough that the normal altar clutter is more than enough to make adding mundane junk require thought.  Yes, there is the option of just becoming a better housekeeper, but lets keep things reasonable.

Existing Altar

I got the altar moved upstairs.

Currently: stone oil lamp, cedar branch held upright in a mason jar with some sand, turned walnut bowl; basic incense burner with... some sort... of incense in it; strand of amethyst chip beads surrounding a polished piece of citron.

Inside the cabinet is incense, candles, oils, altar cloths (i try to change them out with the seasons), assorted other supplies.  I have a basket containing polished stones to use as offerings and a second (smaller) bowl containing larger stones.  It's rather a disaster, so I'm not going to post a photo of it.

Week 6: first book started: I-E Studies

Week 6: first book started: I-E Studies
Related to Requirement: #3 – Book Reviews
Required Reading:

• Our Own Druidry, p. 19 - 20 13-14(Concerning the Reading of Books) 
• Our Own Druidry, Appendix B, p. xiii (writing a book review) 
• Start on one book from the list of IE titles at the ADF Website, A Recommended Reading List

All the books I'm reading were chosen by my ability to order them through work and thus, payroll deduct the cost.  Also, no shipping.  There are a few other books that I want to read, but they'll need to wait a bit.

For the I-E studies requirement, I'm reading The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory.  Since I was unaware that this is a thing, this should be interesting.  I totally get the urge to assume a pre-Christian utopia... but that's just not borne out by the sagas and archaeological evidence.  There is some evidence that suggests that relationships were more egalitarian in some areas than they were after conversion, however, that is far from universal and not the same as equal (or even not a patriarchy.)

I need to locate my notes from a couple of classes.  For additional background and so I feel like I can properly talk about all this.  Because what's the point of having a history degree if you can't use it for stuff? And this and proving that I don't /really/ need to take the history class to be on cast at the local RenFaire are about all its good for!

At any rate, I guess I'm watching curling matches on tv tonight, as that lets me read and removes my laptop from being a distraction. 

UPDATE FROM WEEK 5:

I finally finished the readings from last week over my lunch break today.  I have not, however, spent any thing approaching enough time outside.

I accomplished next to nothing DP or Grove related over the weekend.  So I need to look up the appropriate Shining and Noble ones in Norse Mythology for the Maitag ritual this week.  And get my notebook organized again.

Starting a rune set will have to wait until after the olympics.  I have less than a week to knit 18 rows.  So... runes... week after next.  Which, conveniently enough, will be after I have my home altar set up to ADF standards and the same week that I officially start meditation.

Beltane Ritual Planning: Resources

This series of posts is mostly going to be for my own benefit.  Mostly a slightly more private place to stash links for writing the Maitag/ Walpurgisnacht ritual for May 1.

I realize that I'm over-thinking this and freaking out about what should be nothing.  But this is what I do.  So I'm just going to accept the whole type A personality thing about wanting plans and calendars, and ORGANIZATION.  I'm happier when things are organized, so... yeah.

• Existing ADF ritual for Maitag.  I understand the instinct to call upon gods in their native language (do gods have native languages?), but there's just too much German in this.  And it's set up for a Norse focused grove, not a pan-indo-european one.
• Solitary Fellowship Grove May 2013 ritual.  I'm not sure how useful this will be, but *shrug* i don't think it will be useless.  In fact, I'm pretty sure it will mostly be useful for my personal practice.  But more information is always better.

Heathenry festivals

• Asatru Alliance 
• Walburg: this is better known as Walpurgisnacht or May Eve. Walberg is a goddess of our folk combining some of the traits of Her better-known peers. Reflect on this day on Freya, Hel, and Frigga as the repository of the glorious dead, and you will have an idea of Wulburg?s nature. On this day pour a horn of mead upon the earth in memory of our heroes. 
• May Day: The first of May is a time of great celebration all across Europe, as the fields get greener and the flowers decorate the landscape with colorful confusion. Freya turns her kindly face to us after the night of Walburg. Celebrate the birth of Spring and the gifts of Freya on this day. 
• WizardRealm
• The festival of Walpurgis, a night both of revelry and darkness.  The nine nights of April 22 (interestingly enough, the modern festival of Earth Day) to April 30 are venerated as rememberance of the AllFather's self-sacrifice upon the World Tree Yggdrasil.  It was on the ninth night (April 30, Walpurgisnacht) that he beheld the Runes, grasped them, and ritually died for an instant.  At that moment, all the Light in the 9 worlds is extinguished, and utter Chaos reigns.  At the final stroke of midnight, the Light returns in dazzling brilliance, and the bale-fires are lit.  On Walpurgisnacht, the dead have full sway upon the earth; it is the ending night of the Wild Hunt.  May 1 is the festival of Thrimilci; the beginning of Summer.  Thrimilci is a festival of joy and fertility, much like Ostara; however, most of the Northern World is finally escaping from the snow at this time.
• Timeless Myths
• May Eve coincided with the later German Walpurgis' Night, because it marked the last day of winter. It is a German version of the Celtic Beltane's Eve (see Celtic Calendar). May Eve marked the last night that Odin hanged from Yggdrasill (the great cosmic Ash tree). Odin has a noose around his neck for nine nights, between April 22 and April 30, as a sacrifice to master the nine mighty rune spells. See Search For Wisdom. 
•  May Eve also marked the time when the spirit world roamed free on the earth's surface, while witchcraft and sorcery is the most potent at this time. After midnight, bonfires were lit to celebrate beginning of summer (May Day or May 1), which also marked the end of the Wild Hunt.
• According to Germanic and Scandinavian folklore, Walpurgis' Night marks the occasion of the witches' coven or revelry at Brocken on Harz mountains; one of the important sabbats in witches' calendar. The celebration was linked to Walpurgis or Walburga (AD 710-779), a Benedictine abbess and saint, whose feast day was held on February 25. She was sometimes confused with a pre-Christian fertility goddess named Waldborg, and also with Waluburg, a 2nd century Germanic seeress.

Food:
http://ribevikingecenter.dk/en/learn-more/food-solstice-feast.aspx
http://nvg.org.au/documents/other/vikingrecipes.pdf

Week 5: Nature Awareness 1

Related to Requirement #7: Nature Awareness 1
Required Reading:

• Week 5 in WotY
• Our Own Druidry p. 39-43 (Attunement to Nature and the Kindred) 

Optional Reading:

• Urban Druid 
• Honoring the Environment Through Religion 
• Loving Our Mother 
• Learning from the Trees

We got a massive snow storm here last week, dropping about 8.5 inches of snow.  Then 2 days later, we got another inch or so.  And it's been cold enough that what melt was happening... just refroze overnight.  It's just now getting consistantly over freezing during the day (barely... 33 today for the high), and is supposed to be in the 40s over the weekend, so I have hope I'll actually be able to be outside without wishing I was dead next week.

The upshot of this is that due to snow being most of the way up to my knees and over the tops of my boots... I've not hugged a tree for an hour this week.  I've done the readings, but... no outside. I am going home to my parent's this weekend, and should be able to spend some quality time in the park by their house.  Or go to the zoo with my nephew (I'm totally voting this! But not sure his mother will agree.)

If it's warm enough, I should at least be able to sit on Mom and Dad's porch swing and swing and knit and be.  My meditation work isn't going very well, so maybe being outside will help.

Week 4: Holy Day Recap (Imbolc part 2)

Write up for the Imbolc ritual held 2/2/2014.  I'll turn this into a proper essay next week, when I'm less stressed about it.

From Ci:

Our omens for the rite were: 
Ancestors: Sail, or the Willow. The Ancient Ones are speaking, through the stream of time, and bless us with their wisdom if we are willing to listen.
Spirits: Onn, or Foundation and the Wheel. The Noble Ones bless us with stability and forward motion, and remind us that we are supported by the Earth even when the Earth itself trembles.
Deities: Coll and Iphin, or the Hazel and Honey. The Shining Ones bless us with the sweetness of life, and remind us that wisdom is not only found in adversity. Trust them and embrace the joy they offer.

From Magical Alphabets, by Nigel Pennick:

[Sail] is an ogham of linking, a watery symbolism which brings itself into harmony with the flow of events, most notably the phases of the moon... In divination, its power is greater at night than in the daytime, except when the moon is visible during the day.  Its power fluctuates with the cycle of the moon's phases... Esoterically, this eminent flexibility demonstrates [Sail]'s harmonious amenability to the conditions to which it is subjected. (page 134)

[Onn] is a plant which can be found in flower in almost every month of the year.  Thus it is an ogham of continuous fertility... Magically, [Onn] represents the collecting together and retaining of one's strength through adversity. (page 143) 

Coll... signifies the hazel tree...  In Viking times, hazel poles were used to delimit the sacred enclosures known as the hoslur, or hazeled field, in which formal combat took place.  Both in single combat, holmganga, and in full-scale formal battles between armies, the area for battle was distinguished from the normal world of everyday by hazel posts which formed a magical boundary around it. (page 137)

Book does not include Iphin (or at least, nothing that translates to Honey and nothing spelled anything approaching that). 

Write-up time!  I'll go through and turn this into a proper essay at some point, but now is not the time for that.

"How did the rite go in terms of structure? Who were the patrons of the rite, and who was the gatekeeper?"

We followed the Core Order of Ritual, substituting in the appropriate deities.  Earth Mother was Danu`, Gatekeeper: Manannan; Deity of the Occasion: Brigid. 

What things went wrong during the ritual? What things went right? 

No big foul ups.  being indoors always causes a problem with the offering to the outdwellers, but we managed.  We also couldn't have real fire (libraries are unfortunate that way).  But other than that, we pretty much did ok.  Had the right offerings to the right beings and nothing got screwed up too horribly.

Did you have problems with saying the words without stumbling, or did everything come out smoothly? 

I was only in charge of the offering to the Shining Ones.  For once, I didn't really stumble over the words.  Which probably has more to do with the lack of Deity names than any particular talent on my part.  There is just something about celtic names that cause me all sorts of trouble (probably because the monks who wrote down the assorted forms of Gaelic were drunk and/or high, but whatever).  I do probably need to to pick up one of my Celtic mythology books and re-figure out how to pronounce names.

Did you forget to bring a sacrifice? 

We had all the sacrifices we needed.  As soon as i figure out if there is a particular deity calling me, I'll start bringing a sacrifice for hir.  I do think I should probably put together a ritual back up kit that just lives in my car that contains things like a bowl to act as the well,  a gallon of apple cider or some other juice for offerings, incense, a lighter, that sort of thing.

Were you alone, or with a group? If you were with a group, did you say anything or do anything?

Group ritual with the Grove.  I did the offering to the Shining Ones. I need to get more comfortable with the idea/ presence/ whatever of the out dwellers.  but i'll get there.  Particularly since the Norse do have out dwellers that do need to be placated?

Now, for the not so easy part: how did the rite go in terms of function and feeling? Did you feel anything during the ritual? Did you experience doubt or confidence? Can you describe what happened? If you were with a group, what did the other people say about what happened? What omens were drawn (if any), and what did they tell you? Could you feel the presence of any deities, spirits, or powers? What else about the rite struck you, or do you want to share?

One of my... issues?  although that might be too strong of a word... with the Core Order of Ritual is that it doesn't feel like it's honoring the deity of the occasion enough.  I don't know if that's a grove thing, a me thing, or what.  It's more than possible that I'm expecting the wrong thing.  And I definitely need to work through it, even if working through it means that my personal devotions take that spot.

Once more, my discomfort with the outdwellers needs to be worked on.  I think it stems from my discomfort at inviting the attention of /any/ deity.  It's not a prevalent in celtic and norse mythology, but certainly in the mythologies of my youth, attracting the attention of God/Gods/Goddesses was death sentence.  Nothing pleasant ever happens to those who attract personal attention.

Omens, as interpreted by my current experience, are:
Ancestors: Gma Treva telling me I'll get through this.  Dad's right, I am feeling much the same way she did when Bill left.  But she did pretty good after Bill left and I'll do pretty good after Jon is out of my life.  I just need to trust zen.

Spirits: the foundation is solid, even if it doesn't feel like it.  I need to trust it and fly.  

Shining Ones: Joy is a type of wisdom as well.  Life carries on, and with it, the joy of creation.  Not only the despair of destruction.

Meditation, End of Week 1

If I was perfectly following the Wheel of the Year study program, I wouldn't be starting this until week 8. However, I am anticipating lots of trouble with this portion of the requirements, so I'm starting early.  I am doing a journal entry after each session, however, I'm only going to publish a weekly re-cap.  Less obnoxious for others to read, less exposing of my psyche.

This week could have gone better, but it also could have gone a lot worse. I feel like I only really accomplished the goal once- Wednesday.  The rest of the week was a struggle to stay focused on breathing and not the tens (if not hundreds) of other things that need to or could happen.

But all healthy things take practice.  And I'll get there.  I just need to actually do the practice.  I hit Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday this week, which isn't bad.  I should have done it yesterday, but by the time my movie was over, I knew I'd fall asleep if I sat still for 20 minutes with my eyes closed.

The 20 years of attempting to build a practice have paid off some what.  I don't have to really think about altering my breathing patterns to in-two-three-four and out-two-three-four anymore.  Years of using that as a way to calm myself down has ensured that.  But that isn't helping me focus solely on breath.

This next week is very busy, mostly with stuff for or with the grove.  Since I'm not organized enough to meditate in the morning before work, this is going to be a huge organizational struggle.  I'll either need to meditate over my lunch break or later int he evening so I run the risk of falling asleep.  I'll see what I can work out.  Tuesday, I have 3 hours between work and anime, so there's time to go to the library and find a quiet space there.  The more I think about it, the more the library seems like be my best option for busy weeknights and meditating away from home.  It's quiet and has silent study areas where no one bothers you.

Goals for Week 2 (Feb 2-8)

• meditate at least 3 days
• improve breathing focus.