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.

Wheel of Wonder June 27, 2010

This week on Wheel of Wonder we''ll drift and dive into the songs and tales of The Selkie. Selkie are the Seal People. They are well known in the Shetland Islands, Scotland, Ireland and even the Faroe Islands and Iceland have legends of them. The Selkies are the people who come to shore from the Sea on some moonlit nights, they remove their seal skins, and dance as Humans upon the moonlit shore. If ever one should have their skin taken, then they become human for a time. This continues for a while until they retrieve their skin from the Human who caught it. The clear relation to life and legend is in that perspective where the Selkie themselves is a fully realized being capable of travelling to the Spirit world and to the in between world where the Human and spiritual meet. The shore is a threshold between this world and the other. The Selkies cannot help but feeling incomplete without their seal skins, as they hear the calling of the Sea to go beyond the limits of the everyday.

This week we'll include these stories as well as new music from Damh the Bard and Iona Leigh. Hear the Song of the Selkies this week on Wheel of Wonder.

The Picture to the right is the work of James Browne. To see more of his art follow this link

Wheel of Wonder June 20, 2010

And so the wheel turns..... It was one year ago this weekend that we heard the first 6am-9am broadcast of Wheel of Wonder. Many things have changed since that weekend last year, I've met wonderful new people, talented artists, and my own Journey has certainly been something to write about too! I have been honored to be recognized as a Bard among our local Bards. I'm not writing exhaustively about myself here though. Wheel of Wonder is about a philosophy of seeing the Earth as sacred, and truly worth protecting by living more sustainably. Its about finding that magic that is all around us, all the time, following our myriad paths to greater wisdom and balancing the natures within ourselves.

In modern lore, we walk the line between the feminine and masculine, the two of equal importance. Litha, The Summer Solstice, celebrates the power of the masculine polarity and the path of the feminine polarity as she changes like the seasons and moves from Maiden/ Lover to the Mother/Wise Woman, and the male polarity moves towards the Father/Sage. In this weeks Wheel of Wonder I'll try once again to bring you some interview footage from Fremont Solstice parade; a celebration of the change of seasons, and we'll speak more of the meaning and traditions behind the celebrations of the Sun and midsummer's eve throughout History and place. Wheel of Wonder the dawn before Litha, 2010!

This time, I'm afraid I do not know who created the picture to the right and above its called "Litha Pixies"

Wendy Rule is Coming to Olympia! (cancelled)

Beautiful and talented Australian singer Wendy Rule's house concert in Olympia has been cancelled.

The concert was intended to benefit Olympia Pagan Pride Day Celebration which is scheduled for September 26th: 10-6pm at Yauger Park. The best benefit this event could receive though, is for all those interested and reading this blog to go ahead and get involved in this important work for the pagan community.

The mission of the Pagan Pride Project is to foster pride in Pagan identity through education, activism, charity and community.
This not-for-profit organization strives to keep their purpose balanced through the inspirations of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth:

Air: Education We're never going to be able to practice our spiritual paths openly if we don't give the public accurate information about what we do and do not do.
Fire: Activism People aren't necessarily going to go out of their way to find out what Pagans really do. We have to have the courage to act on our convictions and do what we need to do.
Water: Charity We know that what we do returns to us. We need to demonstrate this by offering compassion to our communities where it is needed. When we share our own abundance, we show that we trust the Gods to share abundance with us in return.
Earth: Community We're never going to be able to practice openly if we don't know anyone else in our local Pagan communities. We need to weave networking webs in our cities, in our towns, in our rural areas. We need these webs to support one another. That support will also show those who would restrict our practice that we are not just a few isolated wackos, but are a growing congregation of people who adhere to a faith that, while different, is as valid as their own.

Wendy Rule's two newest CDs The Wolf Sky and Guided by Venus are both very good albums though so go ahead and check those out! For updated news on Wendy Rule, feel free to click on her link to the left on this blog.

For more information on the International Pagan Pride Project and other Pagan Pride Day celebrations around the world, check out Paganpride.org

Wheel of Wonder June 13, 2010

After the unexpected interruption last week, I'll pick up right where I left off, finishing out the Water element and then moving right into our exploration of the element of air. Water health and Water spirituality, the deep thinking and deep emotion element. Water physically connects us all, from the ocean's perspective we are all living in one homeland, this must be why cultures throughout the world all have their traditions and mythologies of Sea and River Gods and Goddesses. From Salish lands to Celtic shores, the salmon fish is considered the carrier of Wisdom, and many past tribes have stories of meaning. Then where the Water meets the Air, we here the creative voice and songs of life are carried to us mouth to ear, across the wind and breath. This week we will also have new music from Bone Poets Orchestra and new news from the advocates of alternative energy. I will even share some of the research I've discovered about the maybe not so mythical land of Atlantis. tune in to Wheel of Wonder!

The painting to the right is a Dreamscape by Lori R Avramis, a self-taught artist. check out dreamscapes studio for more of her art!

Wheel of Wonder June 6, 2010

This week on Wheel of Wonder I'll begin a several part series on the Five Elements: Water, Earth, Air, Fire, Spirit with Water! The series may be interrupted by our annual Litha special on June 20. This week though, we'll explore some of the myths and legends and eco-news of the life giving Element of Water.

The photograph to the right was taken at Deception Pass