Celia Farran! Three concerts in the area.

Hello friends, Pagans, and Listeners of the show! Its been such a pleasure to bring you Wheel of Wonder for the past three years, through the seasons, through the awards, and just recently, on the radio station voted best radio station in Olympia, WA. (nice, cause there are about four or five stations in the town). Its also been a great pleasure to meet so many great Pagan Musicians, New Age Thinkers, and independent artists!

One of those artists I've met is then warm and wonderful Celia; A musician, activist for equality, songwriter, comedienne and (going out on a limb here) earth spiritualist. This very talented musician is coming into the area next weekend to do three concerts (and I believe, a house concert too).

Don't miss her if you can possibly make it to one of these shows:

Benefit Concert for the Bards of Caer Pugetia

Saturday, April 21, 6:30-10pm

Ballard Oddfellows Hall

1706 NW Market St Seattle, WA 98107

I belive this event includes a Raffle, Concessions and definitely a performance by

Avery Caldwell, Bard of Caer Pugetia, and an excellent singer and songwriter herself!

Tickets $10.00, available through brownpapertickets.com, or at the door, the night of the event!

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/239911

Fundraising Concert in Olympia

Sunday April 22 7pm-9pm

Olympia Unitarian Universalist Church

2300 East End St NW 98502

Tickets $10.00 at the door

A benefit for the OUUC Memorial Garden

Celia in Concert

Monday April 23, 2012 7pm-9pm

Crystal Voyage Metaphysical Bookstore

2601 East D Street, Tacoma, WA 98421

Tickets $10.00 at the door

To find out more about Celia, go to the link on the left, or celiaonline.com

Also worthy of mentioning; the KAOS spring membership drive runs from this Monday, April 15 to Sunday April 22. The not-fo-profit public radio station that brings you Wheel of Wonder each week has lost a lot of their funding in the past year or two, so please Pagans, Spiritualists and any independent Musicians that have found their way to Wheel of Wonder, consider seriously starting or renewing your memberships on this fund drive week! Wheel of Wonder, the only Pagan focused Radio Show broadcasting live in the USA is only on the air because KAOS memberships make it happen. To support independent, local radio and shows like KAOS supports please call 360 867 5267 during the drive with your pledge, or if your living in a different part of the world , or a less convenient timezone, start, or renew a membership at kaosradio.org

I know this entry sounds a bit commercial. Fear not, I'm as independent as you are individuals. I don't work for corporate America, and Wheel of Wonder has always been intended as a Spiritual, educational Journey! Thanks for listening and following the blog!

-----Radio Ray

Catching up on the Journey: Wheel of Wonder March 4, 2012

"Interconnectedness is not a value limited to Pagans--it's one that is found at the heart of every spiritual tradition I know of. Is there a spiritual teaching or sacred text anywhere that proclaims, "Let the little children starve while the rich amass more wealth, drive the lower middle classes from their homes and reward corruption?" It's the role of religion and spirituality to challenge people to think beyond themselves and their immediate prospects for gain, to remind us that we are all in this together and bear responsibility for one another and for the earth we stand on, and to speak the hard truths that politicians do not tell us."

----Starhawk, from her article in the Washington Post: An Economy of Interconnection (September 17, 2008)

Two weeks back, I spoke on Wheel of Wonder about the current state of the globalized economy, its overreaching power, sustainable alternatives, and how to build a different model for the economy that does not rely on exploit and overusing the people and natural resources of our Planet Earth. One of these is a Generative Economy: "The generative economy is built on a foundation of stakeholder ownership designed to generate and preserve real wealth—resources held and shared by our communities and the ecosystems we live in. These enterprises don’t have absentee ownership shares trading in a casino economy, but ownership held in human hands."

--- Marjorie Kelly, from "Can there be "Good" Corporations?" YES Magazine Issue 61, Spring 2012

Last week, on Wheel of Wonder we spoke of Theosophist ideas, or the principles of Ascension. Ascensionists believe the Human kind, and Mother Gaia (The Planet Earth) are on the verge of a Spiritual Ascension, one that can take us beyond the limitations of "Third Dimensional /Linear Existence" and closer to the source of all creation. This has to do in part with the shifting of vibrational frequencies and the idea that all matter is merely energy vibrating at a certain speed (much like string theory) and that we, as humans have the innate mental and spiritual capacity to shift our own state of energy and by so doing we can help shift the energetic state of not only our spirits, but the entire world. Part of this process is based in viewing the world and all humanity from a perspective of compassion and love. We used source work in part from Christopher Penczak's book Ascension Magick.

This week, in the Spirit of the Journey I'll focus on the idea of The Bardic Journey, or the Journey to enlightenment based in some part on Celtic ideas drawn from Druidry, and perhaps some interesting connections between these ideas and the legends and beliefs of other religious and spiritualist paradigms. Some source work this week will be from the book "Journey of the Bard" by Yvonne Owens (1997, Horned Owl Publishing, Victoria, Canada). As always and as with the last two weeks, we will also be hearing great New Age, Celtic, Indy and Eclectic "music of the spirit" as you have come to expect on Wheel Of Wonder. Check us out at kaosradio.org Sunday Morning (PST) and now, Playlists on spinatron.com (click the link to KAOS). Hope you'll join me for the Journey!

The Picture above was found in the Spiritual Awakening section of the website thegic.org

The Season of Imbolg

Welcome to the Season of Imbolg! Imbolg (variously called Imbolc, Candelmas, Groundhog Day, Saint Brigit's Day) is actually on February 2, most years, but from the perspective of early spring, it seems to me it can run nearly to Spring Equinox (Ostara, Alban Eilir, Gŵyl Ganol y Gwanwyn ). One of the neo-pagan aspects of Imbolc, that I find most interesting, is renewing the vows of what you intend to do within the coming year.

This year, as Wheel of Wonder rolls on, I intend to try to post here more often and expand the repetoir of Interviews, and guests we can bring to you. This year will be a year to include modern Pagan thinkers, Authors, Spiritualists, and Healers. Perhaps you heard the Interview of a couple of weeks ago with Damh the Bard, musician, Druid, and host of Druidcast. This week (February 12, 2012) We'll be Interviewing Heather Dale (Pegasus Award winner 2011), and in the near future Celtic healer Gaishida Kheawok, founder of the British Druid Order Phillip Shallcrass, and hopefully, author Christopher Penczak (he offered to join us last year, perhaps this year we can bring that to fruition, Brigid willing).

So, check back regularly on this Blog, and I will try to do my part to continue to share Insights, ideas, music, and the occasional poem. Perhaps this year some more thought provoking content as well. Thanks and Happy turning of the seasons from Wheel of Wonder!

The Picture above "Moondove" is from Eblanna Raven's website, find out about the wise woman here

Wheel of Wonder January 15, 2012

Once I received a call in the air studio of KAOS while broadcasting a piece about Irish Traditional Witchcraft. Irish Traditional Witchcraft is a spiritual practice passed through certain lineages, those that practice it are known to feel strongly about protecting their family practices. They don't teach them publicly. Some feel there are a lot of good spiritual practices to be gleaned from what these traditionalists make public about their processes.

The question the caller put towards me on that day: " How do you define the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation?" There was a bit of a debate going on in town about a public ritual at the time. This week I'm going to try to address this issue on Wheel of Wonder.

Many people these days are trying to find their true spirit paths, an experience of the divine that makes sense to them on a very personal level, some awakening or epiphany that cannot be found within the limitations of the faith or spiritpath they're raised in, or owe lineage to (perhaps people have always been experiencing this). Can a person's individual truth be limited to only what their race, ethnicity or social class have been taught all these years? Or is the world of Spirit much larger than that? Could perhaps, experience of the divine be beyond racial limitations?

With some insights from well written articles in Thorn Magazine (thornmagazine.com) and music from Pagan artists' expressions of what they feel is divine, we will approach this topic this week on Wheel of Wonder!

The picture "one view" to the right, can be found here

Wheel of Wonder Twelfth Night Post

Welcome to Wheel of Wonder midwinter blog. I write this in the middle of the Twelfth Night Celebrations. The original "12 days of Christmas" fall between the Winter Solstice and the beginning of the Roman New Year (about December 21 - January 1). Its the time of the Saturnalia, Alban Artuan, The Festivals of Lights, and Yule! Last week I shared the silversongs of solstice, and the response was great. Nearly 1/2 dozen phone calls (unusual for an early Sunday Morning). I had occasion to share information on observances of the Solstice and neo-pagan public rituals of the modern age! It also was an occasion for Poetry, inspired by the season.

as Math, son of Mathonwy
would hear it on the wind
so do I...

The snowy whoosh of winter
skis shooshing down their tracks
Thrilling the wind as they ride
smoothly down curvaceous hillsides

The Hare has turned ivory white
The pale Lynx follows
pounces fast
Icy, wintry jaws of death
clamp down

like the crusty snow, surrounding limbs
of the sacred, naked, oaken tree
a haze of frost paints needley fingers
of the silver-blue, and dark green trees

The fir tree has its winter coat too
and bobbles, bangles, and ribbons as well
dressed for its wake
after its final, deadly fall
And yes they celebrate that too

all this, I hear
I hear it on the wind

written by Ray, solstice 2011

I hope you enjoy the blog, and Wheel of Wonder. Now going into its third year!
The picture to the right was found on a great blog: celtic queens.blogspot.com

Wheel of Wonder December 11, 2011

This week we had a Lunar eclipse upon the Full Moon. The night began clear, white frost covered the rooftops glowing in a sparkling blue hue underneath the pale moonlight. Enchanting. Then a misty presence began to form in the night sky, it became cloudy. as the Lunar eclipse began, it looked as though the moon was ducking behind her ethereal vail, so far away in fact she seemed to disappear from sight. Then the misty clouds would move and there she drifted, one more portion of her surface hidden behind the penumbral shadow. I lay awake watching the shadow dance, feeling that energy and wondering..."Am I know present in a time when it would be good to work with one's shadowself?"

The penumbral eclipse, for those who follow the craft of Moon Magic is considered a strong time for craftwork. It is seen by some as a time when the sun and the moon are in perfect union. Some choose this time to work with the dark goddess, while others choose to work with the Sidhe, the Shining ones and Fairy Magic. As one watches the lunar eclipse through the lens of envisioning the threefold Goddess, one sees her go through all three of her phases from rebirth through renewal, to finally, feminine strength. Joining with the shadow of the masculine as the sun plays its part.

This week on Wheel of Wonder, we'll journey through the theme of Moon Music and the story of Pan and Artemis, ending in the ritual of the full moonlight dance. All this through independent music and sourcework of pagan writers, craftworkers, commentators on line, and in print. Enjoy the soundscape, this week on Wheel of Wonder!

The picture to the right is from Starry Skies.com

Wheel of Wonder December 2011

As the year is drawing to a close, I am already resolving to post more often on the Wheel of Wonder site. As the moon and the seasons change, so is Wheel of Wonder changing. Honestly the whole world is changing, look at the occupy movement and the surprisingly recent recognition in the UK of Druidism being a recognized religion, instead of a cultural celebration, as I understand it used to be. Times like these it seems the world is out of balance, but change is afoot. In the near future of Wheel of Wonder I'll not only be covering the interesting perspectives of Bards and Earth Spiritualists, but the rather New age, but still important, ascension ideas as well. I will also try to bring you info about the economic and cultural progressives ever more common in this twenty-first century world.
I feel concepts like Geomancy, multiple dimensions, and energy work are worthwhile topics for Wheel of Wonder too! Don't worry, I'll still bring you great independent music from Bards and Earth Spiritualists, share legends and stories, and interviews with artists, but now, Interviews with writers, spiritual thinkers and environmentalists as well. This truly is a time of wonder. Thank you for taking some of your time to join me on this journey!

Wheel of Wonder October 15,2011

This week on Wheel of Wonder its the Fall Membership drive for KAOS!
KAOS is the great community radio station that has enabled me to bring you Wheel of Wonder since 2009! If you like what I'm trying to do with this Pagan/New Age/Environmental outreach radio show. Please pledge money to keep the wheels turning.
The whole world is turning, I like to think, into a better more spiritual place. People are waking up and getting fed up with the status quo of Corporate Consumption, Religious Persecution, and Environmental Degradation. Independent voices, songs and stories, like you can find on this community radio station are helping to move this process of global growth along. I hope you'll support these efforts. I also hope all of these wonderful artists whether they be from America, Australia, Canada, northern Europe, or the UK,will help in these efforts to share this good message and give a greater voice to their songs and philosophies with their own donations too!
I was looking over this blog and website again before deciding what to post. Wheel of Wonder has evolved and I have also changed in the past few years. It will soon be time to reflect that in this blog. It will still be about Music, Spirituality, pagan and progressive, and wonderful independent music, but I'm beginning to see there is more poetry and philosophy to share. So it will be changing . This time though, for this membership drive, I'm going to take it back to its roots as expressed in the introduction.
This Sunday I will be sharing stories and songs in musical form throughout the whole episode. Once again you can hear Fiontullach, SJ Tucker, and yes of course Damh too, on this episode of Wheel of Wonder! Please tune in and help keep the discs turning and the message continuing on its journey this membership drive week on Wheel of Wonder!

The fine Celtic Design above and to the right was found on the website: Coolchaser

Wheel of Wonder October 2, 2011

Greetings again! Thanks for your patience in waiting for my posts. At Home PC's are expensive! According to the language of nature in this part of the world, the wheel has turned and we've moved into Autumn again. The time of the Oak king is "Past and Passing" (as the Tarot readers would say). But he'll return. The Holly Lord is preparing to take the crown. Of course I'm speaking of the Dynamic, Active energy of Nature, the "Male" polarity if you will.
I've just recently come across a fine meditative/Cyclical approach to engaging the Green Man from the perspective of the honorable Druid/ Author John Matthews. Its about change and "the song of the Green Man, and how Humans engage this aspect of Nature. We''ll share some of that with you this Week on Wheel of Wonder.
And, in the spirit of change, and the past and passing aspects of this civilization we humans live in, I will also share with you some essays of activists from a book I recently found in my local Peace and Justice Library. What are the next generation of Adults and Young Adults doing to put an end to Tyranny in the 21st Century? Especially, what Non-Violent actions are they taking in the face of violence from "The Old Order?" These are Hopeful essays.
Of Course, we will also be hearing lots of great Folk Rock, Rock,New Age, and Pagan Music just as you would expect from Wheel of Wonder! The Wheel starts a'turning at 7Am PST this Sunday Morning on KAOS Olympia 89.3 fm. Streaming at kaosradio.org I hope you'll join me for the Journey.

The Picture of the Autumn Green Man/Druid (see the symbol behind?) was found on this site. Artist unknown to me.

Wheel of Wonder August - September 4, 2011

Has it really been a month since I posted on Wheel of Wonder? August has come and gone, in the Northwest it was finally the month of Summer. As we're going through the clear 8o degree Farenhiet days here, the evenings are beginning to be coller and some few leaves are becoming blushed with the tinge of Autumn. But the Cedar still stands, grand in her stillness and the creak still runs, laughing across the river rocks.
The people involved in the Community Supported Agriculture movement are finally sharing their produce, bountiful enough in my opinion, to show a slow recovery from two rough summers for farmers. Many more farm stands are appearing now as people look toward their local farmers for food, a pleasent cultural movement, better for the environment.

The Earth seems out of balance sometimes. Climates changing, glaciers melting, Natural Disasters occuring, Its the 21st Century. The world's not the same as it once was. Many Lightworkers and like minded people will tell you these changes, especially the ones called Natural Disasters, are a matter of the Earth getting herself back in balance, as Gaia moves into a different physical relationship with the flow of energy in the Universe.

There is also a belief that we as Humans have the ability to relieve Gaia of some of this stress, and excess energy of the changing electromagnetic field , and the stronger shift of the continental plates, that some relate to the over mining/extraction of oil. As sure as Humans can feel the pull of the Spirit on their concepts of existence, Humans can also channel these energetic changes through their bodies, when they work in cooperation with others, in rituals often referred to as Magic, provided they then complete their ritual through creating healing energy for the Earth Mother in return.

At the same time the Human power of the intellect can adapt and create new techniques and technologies for seeing all our basic needs met, and new ways to teach ourselves, through cooperation with others to become resilient to the damage of these natural disasters. This is a balance of Science and Magic. Perhaps exactly what we need to learn in this; the 21st century.

This week on Wheel of Wonder we'll be talking about balance and adaptation, punctuated as best I am able, by the fine Earth Spiritualist and Expansive thinking styles of music you've come to expect from Wheel of Wonder!

The Picture above is called "Presence of Gaia" and is by Josephine Wall

(Promise I really will try not to ever let so much time pass again between postings!)

Wheel of Wonder July 24 -31 2011

The Wheel Spins and so we've reached Lughnasadh and Lammas, The Time of the first harvest, although here in the Northwest we've had such a cold, wet Summer, just about all of our harvestable crops are running a bit behind! This reminds me of a presentation about climate change I had attended while pursuing my Masters in Environmental Science Degree. The presenter explained one of the likely results of Climate Change on the Northwest could be shorter, wetter Summers and earlier Autumns. I've been watching the trees. The trees always know what time of the year it is, and seem to stubbornly follow their usual yearly cycles at the appointed times regardless of we misguided Humans and our altering of the climate through pollution. So it was no surprise to me the other day when I saw my first advertised as "zero emissions" compact car in town and it was called the "Leaf." (put out by Nissan). Maybe, as the Druids would advocate, people can and are learning wisdom from the Trees.

But what about this obscure (to some) holiday called Lughnasadh, or Lammas? What's that about then? One thing that occurs in my experience (over and over again) is that this time of the first harvest is also the symbolic death of the Oak King, Some would call him John Barleycorn, the Green man turned Golden, or call this shift of seasons the rise of the Holly King. It is the time when the wisdom of the Paternal, the survivor, the thoughtful and insightful aspects of the male polarity of nature come into power, harsh yet wise, to help us through the winter. It is another one of those 'times in between" of ritual, and sacrifice, as referred to in song and legend and in the burning of the Wicker Man (strikingly not similar to the Hollywood movie of the same name).

We still can look forward to the great festivals of Mabon; the Autumn Harvest, and we can also still enjoy the hot, sunny days of the late summer. Last week on Wheel of Wonder I covered Lughnasadh well in song and thought and story. This week, while I'm out experiencing the long last days of Summer and perhaps some of the rituals that go with it, friend to Wheel of Wonder; Bridgit will be sitting in for me from 7am-10am, spinning Celtic Music for your listening pleasure. Still festive jigs and reels wot? I'll return next week to Wheel of Wonder. Happy Lughnasadh, Lammas, Vacation, or whatever you might call it. Thanks for listening to Wheel of Wonder, and following the blog!

Hot new tunes to check out;

Pipes of Pan (CD)

Australian Musicians Louisa John Krol, Wendy Rule, Adrienne Piggot, Dandelion Wine, and many more created this tape , produced in connection with P.A.N; The Pagan Awareness Network (International Not-for-Profit). Check out this Link

---Radio Ray

Wheel of Wonder July 10-17, 2011

Ever wondered about those famous divinities the Tuatha De Danann? They are the Children of Danu, The original Irish Celtic Gods, Led by Nuada, the Dagda, and Lugh. Last week I came on the air at 6:45 am to share the stories of the Tuatha De Danann, Their Conquest of the Firbolg and the striking similarities we find between the names and legends of these Celtic Gods and some of the Legends, and Stories, and Gods of Wales. There is even a Similarity between the Cauldron of the Dagda, The Cauldron of Cerridwynn, and the Magic Sampo of the Finnish Pagan Legends! Interestingly enough, the Tuatha De Danann are described in legend as coming from the Cities to the North, with the four Talismans that helped them achieve their victory. These Treasures: The Cauldron, the Sword, The Rock of Fal, and The Spear of Lugh are universal archetypes for the ancient Treasures of the Spirit World, versions of which are even used in Rituals and Tarot readings today. They exist in both British and other Celtic traditions of Legend and Symbiology.
I enjoyed starting early to share the information. This week I aim to be starting at 6:30 am PST on KAOS, or streaming live at kaosradio.org. This week we'll have a veritable Cornucopia of good music, great legend and philosophy riding the airwaves, an amalgamation of many themes and philosophies we've met on the past two years and some months of the Journey. Please listen in on Wheel of Wonder this week from about 6:30 am to 10am on KAOS Olympia Community Radio!
The picture to the right is of a road at Cascade Pass, WA. Photograph by Ed Farell

Wheel of Wonder June 26, 2011 - July 3, 2011

This week Wheel of Wonder Begins at 7am on KAOS89.3fm, streaming at kaosradio.org (though there may be a glitch in the stream around 9am, I understand. But its supposed to be a short one)
Last week on Wheel of Wonder I was inspired to share a bit of information about Druids and The Sacred Grove (A good place to revisit from time to time). This week I'll be sharing a Pagan Approach to the Fourth of July "Independence Day" in the USA.
I mentioned last year, around this time that Fourth of July, from a Pagan Perspective is much like a Fire Festival and Rite Of Passage. A Rite of Passage for the creation of a new country. Even today though this country celebrates War , even more than Humanitarianism, or Art. There have been some improvements over the past Century or so, in this but it seems like there is still a long ways to go. Let's not forget the Wars and even some injustices that led to the Independence of the United States of America.
Forgetting the past dooms one to repeat it in the Future. So I will have a section of Wheel of Wonder Today that is dedicated to the memory of what some of the Indigenous people went through as this country was formed. As well as other interesting information about Fire Festivals and Rites of Passage (from several cultures, not just modern America) . I'll have new music from Heather Dale and some great World Music for you this week on Wheel of Wonder! Join me for an ear pleasing, culturally expansive show this Week!

The picture to the right is called Fire Festival and I found it on another blog called "Secret Sun" that also speaks somewhat about Pagan and New Age subject matter.

Wheel of Wonder June 5 - June 19, 2011

Time to get caught up on the Blog Again! For starters; Happy Litha! Merry Alban Hefin! This week's Wheel of Wonder is the episode closest to The Summer Solstice, so thats what this Wheel of Wonder will be about. Solstice is known by many names Vestalia, St. John's Day, Whitsuntide, and even Sun Blessing. Cold as this Summer's been most of the time in the Great Northwest so far, we sure would like to be blessed by the sun, with the occasional Rain, to keep things clean and smelling nice. The two aspects of this Sabbat I'll be focusing on both recognize the joy of celebrating the warmer days of Summer, and the strength of the Masculine Polarity of Nature"The Sun God"if you will, and bringing this sense of being part of the active outdoors into your being, to bring out your internal flame (passion, desire, creativity) and live fully in synchronicity with nature in this phase of the year. I hope our music and information this week will help you to feel this and consider this dynamic perspective so your Summer will be more fulfilling and worthwhile! This week we'll have new Music from Heather Dale too!
Time notice: Wheel of Wonder is running this week from 8am to 10am Pacific Standard(Seattle, WA. USA) time.
Heather Dale, Wendy Rule, and SJ Tucker all three put on a wonderful concert in this area last week, Heather Dale strikes me much like a traditional Celtic Bard, her music does reflect this. Sj Tucker was as wonderful as ever, and if you had the opportunity to tune in last week I hope you to heard the Interview with Wendy Rule, a woman who has a sense of Spiritual Existence as deep and rich as the voice she brings to her songs! These artists are all performing at the Faerieworlds Festival in Mt Pisgah, OR. USA this weekend.
And of course, on the weekend of the 5th, we explored the importance of Place Spirits and this belief system's incredible ability to connect people deeply and respectfully with the land they live, walk, and travel through life with. We even covered some of the importance of Genus Loci, especially as relates to the Bards of the British Druid Order within the Seattle Area, how "Pugetia and Pugetius (the Genus Loci; or place spirits)" relate to their philosophy in relationship to this region. Many fine subject matters on Wheel of Wonder, I hope you'll travel the stream or the radio waves to join us, and even expand your awareness through the many links to Music and Information you find on this site!
The picture of Stonehenge above is from paranormalutopia.com I do not know the credibility of this site, but there is a lot of information there.

Wheel of Wonder May 29, 2011

This week on Wheel of Wonder I'll be sharing information about two Celtic Mystic traditions; that of the Ciele De and that of the Irish Traditional Witchcraft. We'll hear about some of these two paths approach to Spirituality and some striking similarities between their viewpoints, Druidic perspectives, and even ascension practices. We will also be hearing new (to Wheel of Wonder) music by Fiona Davidson; now Fiontulach: she now serves in a capacity similar to "Mother Superior" of the Ciele De tradition. She has written many articles and essays about her path, and this "Living Celtic Spiritual Tradition."
Reminder: this is the last week of Wheel of Wonder being in the 6am-9am Pacific Standard timeslot, next week, we'll be moving to the 8am-10am timeslot; but still on KAOS 89.3fm, streaming live at kaosradio.org
The beautiful Mandala to the right this time was created by Nigel Pennick. Check out his work here

"Award winning" Wheel of Wonder is moving

Hello again everyone. Time for some more posting what? First I'd like to take a minute to thank KAOS Olympia Community Radio for putting together another volunteer appreciation potluck. I have to tell you, with around 100 volunteer producers at this community radio station, it is really great to have the opportunity to "find the faces that match the voice" for all the great diverse programming this little FM station in Northwest North America pumps out along the airwaves and through the computer stream! (check it out yourself at kaosradio.org) I am also thankful to my fellow Producers and the Staff at the station for voting Wheel of Wonder "Best Show in a tough time slot."(tied with the Punk Show "Campfire Island", which most Saturday nights actually, shuts down the station a few hours before I fire it up again on Sunday morning) I have a nicely framed certificate now to put on my wall, and even more good feeling for the time and energy that goes into this radio program. Hazzah!
I am thankful for the opportunity.
This Sunday; May 29, 2011 is the last time, for a while, that Wheel of Wonder will be starting at 6 am PST on Sunday mornings. The station Schedule is being modified and Wheel of Wonder will be moving to the new timeslot of 8am-10am Sunday Mornings, PST instead, beginning June 5th, 2011. That's two hours later than the current start time, but I'll still be there, perhaps with more listeners? Time will tell.
Sadly, this also means that New Dimensions, the show that follows mine will no longer be on Sunday Mornings from 9am-10am. If you regularly listen to Michael and Justine Thoms after Wheel of Wonder, and would like to hear it on at another day and time (this is a Station Management decision, not mine) please do contact KAOS General Manager Jerry Drummond at 360-867-6895 during regular business hours or Email drummonj@evergreen.edu
I am very glad to be able to keep bringing you Wheel of Wonder, even at two hours instead of three (unless I sneak in early at 7am until the 6-8am slot is filled) and it gives me a chance to move the interviews to 9am, so perhaps more people can hear them. I have interviews with Wendy Rule and Christopher Penczak coming up in June. Hope you'll catch them! Thanks for continuing to follow and comment on the Wheel of Wonder blog. Hope your catching the show on air or streaming!

Radio Ray

the picture above and to the right is a blue Triskelion from a website of Mandalas called oriscus.com

Wheel of Wonder April 24 to Beltane, 2011

Happy Beltane! Another multiple week blog, as home PCs can be quite expensive. Its great to be blogging again on this Beltane Eve! This is the second annual Beltane show on Wheel of Wonder. Wheel of Wonder landed in its first weekly timeslot on KAOS shortly after Beltane 2009. That particular episode was not a Beltane show though. It has been my pleasure to bring you many broadcasts since then. Whoever you are, wherever you are, you can still here Wheel of Wonder streaming online at kaosradio.org just adjust your listening time to whatever time occurs at the same moment that is 6am Sunday Morning Pacific Northwest (Seattle) time. Here's a helpful site for that: world clock meeting planner.
Beltane is a time for celebrations and new awakenings! It is the time of the great dance of life between the God and the Goddess; the male and female polarity within us all. The inimitable time of the year when one can feel Nature's energy of spring, most intensely.
We began speaking of new awakenings last week through the story of the character Ayve. Ayve is an individual who walks toward us out of fables untold, he was a person who felt an acute compassion, or love of nature, but lived on a planet where people blinded by greed misused his mother planets natural resources, and he hunted down these perpetrators with the intention of bringing them to justice. Well, Ayve lives on a planet where magic is afoot and it was after a time of learning from the realm of spirit that he met other who sought to protect nature too. He then soon learned that he was part of the whole and that more people sought to protect his world than those who sought to exploit it, it was after learning this that he truly gained great wisdom and worked with this majority to begin to change his world and every person on that planet's relationship to her. Ayve lives on and his story isn't finished yet, but it began with a personal awakening. New awakenings can be part of the experience of Beltane!
There are also many myths, legends, and Archetypes related to May day within the Earth Spiritualist perspective and with some help from the works of John Matthews, Michelle Skye and perhaps Robin Williamson, I will endeavor to share some of them with you this week, on Wheel of Wonder!

Wheel of Wonder April 10, 2011

This week on Wheel of Wonder is the week for the Spring Membership drive for KAOS independent , publicly accessible Radio. It appears the federal(US) funding for such stations as these is being pulled, so its very important that people who like and listen to independent voices like the ones I bring to the airwaves call during the pledge breaks this week or go online to kaosradio.org to offer financial support to this not for profit radio station.
If you call or contact KAOS during Wheel of Wonder (ph# 360 867 KAOS, or if you prefer: 360-867-5267) 8am-9am Pacific Standard Time USA to pledge, the management of the radio station will know that there are pagans and progressive expansive thinkers out there who enjoy hearing the music and philosophies of the modern earth spiritualists, Bards and Musicians like we play and share on Wheel of Wonder. So please connect and support at whatever level you can, even if its just a good comment about the show. That's how we build community!
I know, I know, sounds like a commercial, but it isn't. Membership support is what a small not for profit community radio station runs on in the USA. No Corporate salaries or commercial time for sale here.
This week I'll be here working on sharing information on the artists I play and their spiritual paths, as I understand them, not only is that interesting, but if their songs inspire you, or speak the truth to your heart/head you might be one step closer to understanding your spiritual truth, you may know what to investigate on your own, and their may very well be a link to it right here in the sidebar! Other times one just has to know what one would be losing to appreciate it better. I can't podcast, I might be the only one or one of very few people in the world running a Pagan information and music show on the FM frequency! Hope to keep it running too. Thanks for tuning into Wheel of Wonder throughout the past few years, I hope to hear from you this week. Bright Blessings!
The picture of The Green Man is a CG by Pete O' Malley. Check it out , and his other art to here

Wheel of Wonder March 13, 2011

Sunday's Wheel of Wonder occurred on the date closest to the first ever broadcast of the show on the Olympia Airwaves. The first ever broadcast of Wheel of Wonder was on March 18th, 2009, as a "Rookie Radio" installment. So I chose this episode to be a "2nd year Anniversary Special ," went right back to the roots and re-created a Celtic Wheel of the Year show. I followed through song, information, and ideology the meaning of Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh (lammas) and back around to Mabon. I will hope to see posts and opinions around it soon.

The key purpose, the string of meaning through observing these ancient Holidays, beyond the harvest and fun, seems to be in living in closer awareness to the natural flow and energetic cycles of the Earth Mother. I am idealistic enough to believe this could very well be one recognizable path towards living in better relationship with the land and each other.

I think agrarian, indigenous, and environmentalist people know this, even if it does not fit their faith path to consider themselves "Pagan" or "Shamanic." That is the appeal of learning about ancient belief and perhaps even new age, ways of thinking.

I hope you have been enjoying Wheel of Wonder over the past few years, and the information I've tried to make available on this blog. The picture above and to the right is from my Garden.

Wheel of Wonder February 27, 2011

A Bard I once met would tell me "if a story's worth telling, its worth telling more than once!" and isn't that at the heart of the oral tradition anyway? I say, if its new music that fits into the Wheel of Wonder radio show's genre, it should be played there. So it is this week on Wheel of Wonder. Once again, like the virtual Troubadour, I've ventured out, sought the songs, and brought them back to share with all ye listeners. Songs inspired by the Mythic Cycles of Ireland. Together, this week by the LCD lights of your chosen radio or Internet device we'll visit through word and song Mythic Ireland and the Evils of Balor, the Heroics of Lugh, the Tragedy of the Children of Lir, and the sorrowful life of the beautiful Diedre. We'll be reminded of the miraculous birth of ChuChulain, and the transition of time between the Milesians and the Fianna. We will also hear of Finn McCool and of the son of he and Sadbh; Oisin.

Perhaps with some history from The Book of Conquests and certainly new music Classical, Celtic and even edgy Metal from Robert Lamb, Anuna, and Cruachan (watch for new Artist Links to appear soon in the list on this blog). So feel free to build a fire in your fireplace, picture yourself around a campfire and think of the radio waves as smoke carrying the medium of knowledge when you tune in today to Wheel of Wonder.

The Painting to the right is called "Ossian awakening the spirits on the banks of the Lora with the sound of his Harp"painted in 1801 by French Romanticist Francois Gerard. The character Ossian is a Scottish variation of Oisin, son of Finn McCool. There is some discussion as to whether Ossian is based in History or Scottish imagination. Either way, I like this work of Classic Art.