Wheel of Wonder April 25, 2010

This week on Wheel of Wonder we'll explore transformation. As in, transformation of the Human Spirit. Maybe I'm inspired by Olympia's Procession of the Species this week, or perhaps its the way the land is transforming into Lush and Verdant Spring, perhaps it is the transformational experience of having the honor of being present at our most recent Artesian Well Blessing by Dr. Emoto on invitation from the Lummi elders, and the Saturday Morning blessing of our inland sea. But Transformation is afoot, and I've never seen both the blessings of the people of European Ancestry and the people of Salish Ancestry occur in the same place at the same time, as I did at the blessing of the Well. This is an important transformation into unity, I believe. Some of this week's content includes quotes from Charles Eisenstein's book The Ascent of Humanity. This episode also gives me an opportunity to look into New Age philosophy as well, and wonderfully, we will have a full Interview with the Australian Angel Louisa John Krol this Sunday on Wheel of Wonder. I hope you'll join me, and let the Transformation begin!

The beautiful Picture above is called: Aquarian Awakening: The Perfection and was created by Jack Haas. More of his incredible work can be viewed at Celestial Art.net

Wheel of Wonder April 18, 2010

This week on Wheel of Wonder, as the episode falls between Ostara and Beltane we're going to speak about the second and third branches of the Mabinogion involving Branwen and the Welsh embodiments of the goddess: Virgin, Lover, Crone. The virgin in this case is a pure hearted woman not owned or enthralled with any partner, but self-sovereign and in control of her own life, ready to pursue her own destiny. The lover is also the mother in this Welsh point of view. The crone is as always the woman of courage and Wisdom living her own life by her own rules, with so long a life behind her and death as an obvious future friend that she no longer needs to follow rules of custom that don't make sense to her, or don't serve her plans. Your eccentric old Auntie or Grandma. Blodeuwedd, Branwen/Rhiannon, and Arianrhod/Cerridwynn, will be the goddesses of the hours. One for each hour if all goes well.

The photo above and to the right is a picture of the plant meadowsweet, from the Internet site Wildflowers of Ireland, with pictures by Zoe Devlin. Scotch Broom, Oak, and Meadowsweet were three of the nine herbs and flowers from which the May Queen Blodeuwedd grew in Welsh Legend.

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Wheel of Wonder April 4, 2010

This week on Wheel of Wonder will be focused on the Wiccan Reclaiming Tradition. Many of the public Spiral Dances one might attend in your area are drawn from this Tradition. Some of the traditions' leading advocates and teachers include Starhawk, Macha Nightmare, Vibra Willow, and even T. Thorne Coyle. we will have some installations of their thoughts and writings this week. A great deal of what is defined as Neo-paganism today can trace its roots back to the Reclaiming Tradition. One thing that is a very important part of the reclaiming tradition is that one's path of faith and political action are both integral parts of this tradition. So this week's music sets will include some straight American Folk Rock, not necessarily pagan, but definitely about political viewpoints. You'll hear Arlo Guthrie and Holly Near, as well as our usual amazing miscellany of independent label Pagan Musicians. Please tune in to Wheel of Wonder this week as we rock and rotate our way through the Reclaiming Tradition!

The picture to the right is called "Triple Goddess by Lady of Gaerdon" and came from the ever popular photobucket site, whether that is to say Lady of Gaerdon created or just uploaded it, or both I don't know. Lady of Gaerdon has many excellent pictures in her online album.

"Rock on Water!" Benefit Concert Success!

Although it has been a time since Tricky Pixie performed in town, I feel I owe it to them and others who may read this blog to say something about "Rock on Water!" The Artesian Well Benefit Concert recently performed in Olympia. The performance venue was great (if a bit cold) with fine acoustics and a good sound system, the staff at The Loft where great, and very gracious in helping the event go smoothly. Not only did Danny Kelly perform for the benefit, but he brought with him local musicians from Olympia bands High Ceiling and Knot Pine Box, and I believe, another of his past collaborators from Helliotroupe. Even KAOS DJ (and occasional Wheel of Wonder sub) Aba was there, ready to play guitar! With more forewarning, as MC, I would have given her appropriate stage time. Check her out in Olympia when you can!
Tricky Pixie was of course, great too, and kept the place hopping until 10:30 pm. Together we raised over $300 USD to protect Olympia's beloved Artesian Well! Over all, it was a great community event, like only Olympia, Washington can do!

Coffee was donated by Batdorf and Bronson Coffee Roasters, Cookies were donated by Blue Heron Bakery, and More home made cookies donated by folks who came to see the show! Additionally, good healthy and organic fruits and vegetables were donated by the Olympia food co-op, and incredibly beautiful, backlit Batiks and water-esque banners from the Procession of the Species! Even Professor Diamant, from The Evergreen State College was there, sharing a set of beautiful slides from the Water Crystal pictures of Dr. Emoto (water crystal pictures of "what the bleep do we know?" fame) they looped beautifully through the projector for the whole length of the concert. Dr. Emoto will actually be in Olympia doing a blessing for the Olympia Artesian Well and the Puget sound, on request of the Native people's elders this month. He will also be doing a talk about the innate intelligence of water, as partially shown through water crystal photography, at The Evergreen State College on April 21.

I'm also very grateful to the folks at SidheHaven for creating the event posters and to the Evergreen Americorps people for printing out the tickets And of course every single one of you who spent the money or donated some funds to make this Benefit Concert a success!

---RadioRay

The picture above and to the right is a photographic still from the New York Performance "Fuerzabruta" created and directed by Diqui James. The waterdancers in this show perform their choreography within a huge, clear, water tank suspended just inches over the audience's heads!