Wheel of Wonder August 1 -15, 2010

Starting with Lughnasadh, Wheel of Wonder will have many, very talented guest hosts! We'll start on August 1st with a special Lughnasadh show, hosted by Breakfast special DJ with a love for Celtic Music Bridget. On the 8th, hear a new spin on Wheel of Wonder by Brettilicious. Then on the 15th of August we'll welcome back Aba, DJ of our Wheel of Wonder around the world episode, sharing some tales and philosophies, while including her own unique perspective on things. I'll be back on the 22nd with a new Wheel of Wonder show.

Now, a bit on Lughnasadh. Lughnasadh is the last harvest of Summer and the time of the year when the oak king of summer, the green man, the corn king, whichever name you know him by, symbolicaly dies to secure next year's harvest, when he'll be reborn as the new sun king, leaving the male polarity of nature for the dark part of the year in the strong, paternal hands of the Holly king. It is also the time of the year when the maiden aspect of the goddess moves into her aspect as the Mother. Lughnasadh begins a time of change, leading us into the time of harvesting and reflecting on the wisdom we've acquired through the experiences of the year. Happy Lughnasadh from Wheel of Wonder!

The Incredible picture to the Right is by Jessica Galbreth, see more of her work at this link.

Wheel of Wonder July 18, 2010

This week on Wheel of Wonder, if you've been listening to Wheel of Wonder you'll notice we've travelled through the Elements: Air; Including a news article on Wind Power by Winona La Duke. Water; including Selkies and some news on the Gulf Oil Disaster, and Even Fire and how it relates to the Fourth of July. This week we'll continue in that vein by focusing on Earth, Forest and some sustainable practices in their use. I would also like to introduce a new song by SJ Tucker in recognition of the release of her new CD Mischief. Legends abound of "the people within the Earth" whether it be the Sidhe of the Hollow Hills, or the Ant people, described in some indigenous American legends as the Progenitors of the Human Race. We'll dedicate some songs t o these legends. Also within the Element of Earth are the legends of the great Tree of Life, it is easy to step closer to understanding these legends if you've ever walked within the Old Growth Forests of the Northwest, or any other places in the world were the old Trees still stand, and we'll even try touch on Sustainable Logging news. Gnomes, Whorls, and Woods on Wheel of Wonder!

The Picture to the right is from DeviantArt by a Berliner Artist named Engelszorn.

Wheel of Wonder July 10, 2010

It is the time of the year when the sun is at its hottest and most powerful again, as shown by this past week's weather. From the Celtic/Earth centered perspective we've come back to the time of Cernunnos, the horned (or I should rather say"antlered") God. It many pagan belief systems, it is believed that the male aspect of Nature's divinity is at his strongest now, before his symbolic death at the end of summer, or his transformation into the Holly King. This week on Wheel of Wonder we'll focus on the myths and stories of Cernunnos, the non-violent masculine force and his aspect as Herne the Hunter, master of the Hunt. I'll try my best to keep our info to the Celtic cosmology, though in some traditions Cernunnos is an off shoot of the famous Greek god Pan. Pan, who was later re-defined by some who chose to scare people into following their Christian Leaders, by making him the anti-god, or the Devil. I won't be focusing on the Devil though, I'll be focusing on the Celtic God of Nature in his Western European Manifestations. Sharing these myths and pieces of information with you, punctuated by music with a Celtic flair! This week on Wheel of Wonder.

The Picture above was created by Fabiola Vargas from Costa Rica. Her art is often posted on Elflands Workshop.

Wheel of Wonder July 4 2010

This week on Wheel of Wonder: A pagan perspective on the Fourth of July. I've been trying to look at our major national holiday: Independence Day. The Fourth of July is like a fire festival as the Celtic Wheel of the Year would see Lughnasadh, Imbolc, Beltane, Samhain. It is also considered a celebration of the United States' independence from British rule. This makes it much like a right of passage ceremony; the new, young nation standing alone, separate of its British forebears. That's not to say that since then the United States government have done everything right. No, I think these administrations, past and present, have done some things that are very wrong.

From the Pagan perspective though, one could see Independence Day as a mixture of fire festival and rite of passage ceremony. Barbecues, fireworks, celebration feasts drawn from the harvest now in season. Very much similar to a pagan fire festival. While also celebrating a "parent country's" "off spring" choosing to stand up as their own self-governed authority. A message from the Wiccan reclaiming tradition's way of engaging the world that seems to apply here is: The spirit of revolution and declaring independence can still be celebrated in these times not necessarily by calling up the old ghosts of British and colonial bloodshed, but in the spirit of declaring self-sovereignty and revolution. Today's revolution, to improve things in our very own country, nonviolent actions taken to ensure greater social and environmental justice, that is a good reason to celebrate the United States of America, a land with potentially more freedom to dissent from the injustices of the sitting government. People of America taking control of their own destinies as opposed to blindly following leaders who do not seem to have our best interests at heart, that is my pagan take on this holiday. I'll speak of fire festivals and rites of passage from different cultures and hopefully we'll connect the dots to how some modern social/political movements reflect a similar purpose to those intended by these rituals from the past, and how that applies to the present.

The picture to the right is from the Vancouver Fireworks Show, as posted on the blog Boga Yoga by Donna K. I hope to include some of this wise woman's quotes this week on the show.