Wheel of Wonder April 28th, 2013

Last week on Wheel of Wonder we spoke about Celtic Faerietales.  Yet this through the lens of how these Pre-Christian era tales show the beliefs and values of the ancient Kells. It seemed to me that there were some recurring themes:  The Giant as an apparent symbol of Nature's wrath and from the "Cailleach of the Snows" The Crone, or bitter wise woman as the danger, of the harsh winter but eventually overcome by the Maiden of Spring.  The Giants seemed to always be masculine, and as antagonists; overbearing and Patriarchal.  Hunters of souls and individual.  In many Celtic Faerietales they could only be overcome by bold and clever men, working in concert with wise and brilliant women (who the men usually had the good sense to listen to).  Another recurring theme was in the advantages of always being nice to strangers and animals, as they would do you a good turn in response, most especially when you needed it.  Recurring Archetypes in the Celtic Tales of the Pre-Christian world included:  The Mystic (or Shamanic) Hero and Adventurer, The Magical Woman, The kind and wise elder male (or Sage/Druid),  the Wise Woman (Or Crone), Animal Spirits (sometimes shown as Humans transformed by Magic), and Faerie helpers or foes (who weren't always understood, but respected).  If one ever studies folktales and faerietales, one should go back as far into history as possible, to understand the values of a culture, modern retellings are often just modern (did you know Cinderella was a woman versed in magic and soothsay, and not just some hapless girl a Fairy Godmother took pity on?)  Go to The Source.

For this week though, the Wheel turns and we'll talk about Beltane and about this incredible event in Olympia Washington called PROCESSION OF THE SPECIES, which took place Saturday.  I was there did you see me?  I was The Green Man (picture above).  Hope you join me this week on Wheel of Wonder!

Wheel of Wonder April 14, 2013

Hello, well its catching up time again!  Week before last on Wheel of Wonder we completed the Elemental Episodes with the fifth Element:  Spirit.  Or as we saw defined on the website gnosticteachings.org:  spirit: mid-13c., "animating or vital principle in man and animals."  In the belief systems of the five spiritual Elements (Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Spirit; sometimes called Ether). Spirit flows through everything, often when I think about the Pentagram, I think about it as the Fifth Point, it could also be represented by being of the place that is the center in the sacred circles some earth spiritualists call forth in ritual.  It was interesting to look at the online gnostic teachings available on this subject.  Gnosticism is of course Christian Mysticism, and some say relate to very powerful energies, so be aware and proceed with respect and caution if you should choose to investigate them.
The week that followed as I was running through my thoughts on what should be our next topic of discussion, eventually I decided to grab a deck of Celtic Tarot Cards, do an Alchemists spread and see what came up.  The overall message I found in that Tarot drawing involved many "swords" cards but almost all in relation to the signifier card of "The Sun." because of that significator, it was overall about as positive a message as you can get from 5 cards, three of which are swords.  The message I found was one of Humans becoming more aware of, or  perhaps, remembering the spiritual dimension of we Human Beings, and using that knowledge to create a better world.  That is the time this reading said we live in.  What a wonderful message!
This week is very important though, because this week is the week of the KAOS membership drive.  KAOS gives me a medium through which to share these neat Pagan, Indigenous, Sustainable, and New age ideas live on FM radio!  The only reason I can do that is because KAOS remains a non-commercial radio station, it doesn't matter if corporate media does not see Wheel of Wonder's message as important or profitable for there bottom line, because the people who listen to KAOS ("One of the top 10 non-commercial stations in the USA" according to Performer magazine, and The Princeton Review) donate actual money to support it.  There are not very many fully independent media outlets left in this country and I hope whether you enjoy listening to Wheel of Wonder, or just reading the blog, or if you are indeed one of the select and wonderful artists I play the music of, or one of the great thinkers I direct traffic to the websites of, that you will consider donating money to KAOS,  this week.
Blessed Be
---Radio Ray