tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-11-21:/Paganism, the green man, solitary witchcraft, spells and festivals.... plus just about anything else that crops up along the way!I have written a book, 'Seeking the Green' about my personal pagan path, which was published by Capall Bann last year (2008) Their website is at : http://www.capallbann.co.uk/(copy and past into your browser window). This year they have also published another book of mine, 'The Magical Properties of Plants and how to find them.' I am a regular speaker at the Witchfests run by the CHildren of Artemis. You can find out more about these events by checking out the Children of Artemis main website.MokoFeed2009-11-21T01:11:25+01:00tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-11-20:/2009/11/20/witchfest-international-2009-protective-plants-workshop-7423324/tylluanpenry2009-11-20T23:49:44+01:002009-11-20T23:49:44+01:00 <p>It's always tricky doing a workshop rather than a straightforward talk. Partly because when you have a large group of people you want to get everyone involved and doing something in a workshop - but where to start?</p> <p>I took a large bagfull of Rosemary from my garden to the workshop this year, and gave some to everyone. The idea being that when they left they could at least try out some of the ideas I'd suggested with the sprigs of Rosemary.</p> <p>But firstly, let's look at the whole idea of magical protection. The basic magical thinking is that anything unpleasant protects against something equally unpleasant. As above, so below. The old Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus. If you haven't heard of it before, then please try and read it (there are several versions online at the sacred texts site). </p> <p>It's certainly one of the most important texts for anyone interested in magic. The quote I've given comes from paragraph 2 of the tablet. And basically, what it means is that you work out the properties of something here, in the real world and then you adapt and apply them to the magical realms. Because they are all interconnected. The macrocosm (the universe)and the microcosm (us). Okay, I'm probably over-simplifying, but it's a start. And the idea has been a basic magical principle since ancient times.</p> <p>In my talk I drew attention to several features that mark a plant out as being a good protective plant : its thorns, its colour (particularly red) and its smell. </p> <p>Almost all culinary herbs can be used protectively. Which is a great relief since these are some of the easiest to get hold of! </p> <p>Tomorrow I'll post up a few ideas on how to use a sprig of Rosemary (or other herb) protectively....</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/11/20/witchfest-international-2009-protective-plants-workshop-7423324/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-11-14:/2009/11/14/witchfest-international-2009-reclaiming-our-herbal-heritage-part-7371613/tylluanpenry2009-11-14T12:51:20+01:002009-11-14T12:51:20+01:00 <p>Another way of discovering more about our herbal heritage is to look at plant names, especially the popular folk names. Many of them have Lady or Old Man in the title. So you get Lady’s Mantle or Lady’s Smock – both apparently named after the Virgin Mary – but who or what were they named after originally? I suspect it must was a Pagan deity. </p> <p>In the same way plants with ‘old man’ as a nickname were often associated in some way with the devil, which after all was a demonised version of old Pagan deities. So you get ‘Old Man’ for Southernwood, ‘Old man’s beard’ for Traveller’s Joy, ‘Old man’s pepper’ for Meadowsweet and in southern England ‘Old Man’ was for Rosemary. All these were probably very important plants that had to be demonised to discourage veneration. Find these plants – honour them, and you’re half way to reclaiming our Herbal Heritage.</p> <p>With Rosemary we know something else, too, that it was said to grow best wherever ‘the old grey mare was the better horse – in order words, where the wife was the boss! Even now I think Rosemary grows best wherever the Divine feminine - the goddess - is honoured. The plant may well have originally sacred to her. </p> <p>This might sound far fetched, but the best evidence we have is actually within the rosemary plant itself. It can grow huge, with branches thick enough to make a good wand (or spoon - food stirred with a rosemary spoon was supposed to be extra nourishing!) </p> <p>Look at this Rosemary wand that Mr Penry made earlier in the year:<br> <a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/bath2009_05_09_18_21_05/3696193" title="bath2009-05-09_18-21-05"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/193/3696193_13eb972299_m.jpg" alt="bath2009-05-09_18-21-05"></a></p> <p>Made of Rosemary wood, can you see the familiar witchy 'goddess' outline here? </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/11/14/witchfest-international-2009-reclaiming-our-herbal-heritage-part-7371613/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-11-13:/2009/11/13/witchfest-international-reclaiming-our-herbal-heritage-part-7365094/tylluanpenry2009-11-13T09:35:17+01:002009-11-13T09:35:17+01:00 <p>The way the early Christian bishops and missionaries behaved towards plants can make depressing reading. Personally I think there's nothing more magnificent than a great tree, its roots deep in the earth, its branches soaring to the heavens. </p> <p>And the ancients thought so too. Literary sources tell us how the ancient Greeks and Romans punished anyone damaging a holy Oak. Even the Ostrogoths had a law forbidding anyone from chopping down Oaks and Hazels because they were regarded as trees of peace. But it all changed with the spread of Christianity, and suddenly these trees were going to be prime targets for destruction. </p> <p>For me, destroying a tree (unless, obviously it's dangerous and about to fall over) makes little sense. Christians believe that their god created everything, so why destroy his creation? </p> <p>And yet that’s exactly what happened. In Germany, St Boniface smashed up Donar’s sacred oak. In Rome Pope Paschalis II ordered a sacred walnut tree to be chopped down and a church was built on the site. Yet in ancient Rome the walnut was regarded as sacred, only with the coming of Christianity did it become known as a witch tree. </p> <p>And it wasn't just individual sacred trees that suffered for these frankly loopy ideas. Pear trees were ripped up<em> en masse</em>, and elsewhere Christian missionaries felled what they called ‘god oaks’ to prevent people worshipping them. </p> <p>Yet in spite of all this axe wielding, people still revered trees. The magical thinking behind this was that trees were so closely associated with both the gods and with mankind, that they could take on people's sickness and disease and effect a cure. </p> <p>We know from various snippets here and there, pieces of folklore, local traditions, that many trees were used for magical healing well into the nineteenth century and sometimes the twentieth. </p> <p>That’s almost within living memory. And what that means on a practical level, of course, is that we have a much better chance than you might think of reclaiming this herbal heritage. Yes, it will be corrupted with the passing of the centuries, and sometimes it will feel a bit like trying to read a book through a dirty window pane! But the knowledge is there - and it's up to us to see what we can find.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/11/13/witchfest-international-reclaiming-our-herbal-heritage-part-7365094/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-11-11:/2009/11/11/witchfest-international-2009-reclaiming-our-herbal-heritage-7353189/tylluanpenry2009-11-11T20:03:04+01:002009-11-11T20:03:04+01:00 <p>The first talk I did on Saturday was entitled 'Reclaiming Our Herbal Heritage.' It's a theme I often return to <del>especially after a glass of wine and a bucket of bitter chocolate</del><img src="/img/smilies/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" class="middle" border="0"> ...ahem... well, when I started researching for my book I began to notice certain themes recurring time and again. And the more I looked, the more I found. </p> <p>Basically, my theory is this - that the early Christian Church did it's best to either appropriate or suppress the use of plants in pre-existing pagan rituals, particularly in northern Europe (which, let's face it, is the area I know best.) </p> <p>For many of us Pagans plants symbolise the cyclical nature of existence: birth, growth, death, rebirth and metamorphosis. Christians on the other hand weren’t all that interested in what plants symbolised because they believed everything – life, death etc. was controlled by their God. </p> <p>But it wasn’t easy for the early Church to convert people to this new way of thinking. They used two main methods to overcome this: </p> <p>The first thing they tried was using the plant to promote Christianity. Like St Patrick and the shamrock. Basically they changed any link between plants and pagan deities and nature spirits into links with Saints. We’ll call this Christianisation. </p> <p>But Christianising didn’t always work. Plan B was to preach that the plant was a home to devils, witches or demons; or that it was somehow dangerous. This was to frighten people away. We’ll call this Demonisation. </p> <p>Now the fact that the Christian church actually did these things at all helps answer our first question – did we have a herbal heritage? Obviously we did or they wouldn’t have needed to subvert it. They could have just ignored it. But it was clearly too important to ignore. </p> <p>And this helps us see that we do indeed have to reclaim our herbal heritage - because much of it was either Christianised or demonised.<br> We simply have to work backwards from whatever scraps of information we can find. </p> <p>And the first place to look isn’t in the fields or hedgerows, but actually in the records of early Church edicts. For example, in 452CE at the Second Council of Arles, the Church passed a decree that prohibited burning lights near trees, rocks, crossroads and springs. Any Bishop who allowed it to continue was to be excommunicated. </p> <p>That’s interesting. The senior clergy had to be threatened! Paganism wasn’t going quietly. And Pagans in Europe were burning lights in places they must have considered sacred. And one of the places mentioned is ‘trees.’ It’s easy enough to reclaim that idea. A couple of tea lights, a box of matches and head off to your nearest tree… why not?</p> <p>In another edict around the same time, the Emperor Theodosius II ordered that sacred groves should be cut down “unless they had already been appropriated for some purpose compatible with Christianity." That shows how their minds were working. If you couldn’t Christianise it or demonise it then you just chopped it down! </p> <p>And still, they couldn’t stop people venerating trees even though the early Church did its damndest to cut down sacred trees all over Europe. </p> <p>In the next century – that’s the 6th century - the Council of Nantes ordered the destruction of Druidic Stones and holy trees. So people were still visiting these holy sites. And threatening the bishops hadn’t stopped them. </p> <p>In the late 8th century – over 200 years later, the Emperor Charlemagne issued some more edicts - almost identical. In the 11th century King Canute had the same problem in England. And what this shows is that the Church found it almost impossible to eradicate Paganism. And this is good news for us. It means we might be able find some of our herbal heritage even though we have to look for it under a layers of Christianity.</p> <p>Because you can knock down shrines, you can smash statues… but you can’t get rid of the plants.<br> <img src="/img/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>I'll try and blog some more on this subject tomorrow.... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/11/11/witchfest-international-2009-reclaiming-our-herbal-heritage-7353189/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-11-10:/2009/11/10/witchfest-international-2009-the-blessing-ceremony-7343036/tylluanpenry2009-11-10T09:31:58+01:002009-11-10T09:31:58+01:00 <p>Well, I am back from the Witchfest but still buzzing with the fun of it all. And it WAS fun - fun to meet new people and old friends, fun to see the wonderful stalls and listen to others' talks. My books all sold out on my publisher's stall, and one of Mr Penry's wands was aquired by a Museum of Witchcraft in Switzerland, so he's really pleased about that. And of course, I was fairly busy at the Witchfest myself.</p> <p>I was very honoured to be asked to conduct the opening blessing ceremony. As you know, I love blessings and feel the world would probably be a much better place for them. But in spite of my enthusiasm, it's still quite nerve wracking to have to walk onto a darkened stage (the lights came up as I walked on) and make a start.</p> <p>The atmosphere however was fantastic. My blessings are always practically based.... I feel the simpler they are, the more chance we have of making them heartfelt, and that's what propels the blessing along. Also, blessings are not just good for the person on the receiving end, they also benefit the giver. </p> <p>I encouraged everyone to greet those around them, to make eye contact, because then the blessings we give are personal. And I reminded them to spare a thought for all those who couldn't make it to the Witchfest, to keep them close in their thoughts too.</p> <p>The actual words I used were these:</p> <p>Welcome to my left! Welcome and bless you for coming!<br> Welcome to my right! Welcome and bless you for coming!<br> Welcome to those who stand behind me! Welcome and bless you for coming!<br> Welcome to those who stand in front of me! Welcome and bless you for coming!<br> And to all here today! Welcome and bless you for coming!</p> <p>And then afterwards :</p> <p>Father Sky honoured be, (hands outstretched to sky)<br> Mother earth blessed be, (hands towards earth)<br> We arise and welcome thee.(hands in supplication)</p> <p>Finally - and rather recklessly, considering that I'm not the most co-ordinated person on the planet) - we then invoked the compass points. </p> <p>This involved turning in (roughly) the correct direct for each compass point:</p> <p>Guardians of the North, bless this day,<br> Keep us grounded in all we do and think and say.</p> <p>[TURN to the RIGHT]<br> Guardians of the East, bless this day,<br> Teach us to fly like the wind in all we do and think and say.</p> <p>[TURN TO THE RIGHT]<br> Guardians of the South, bless this day,<br> Make us blaze with shining love in all we do and think and say.</p> <p>[TURN TO THE RIGHT]<br> Guardians of the West, bless this day,<br> Teach us to go with the flow of life, in all we do and think and say.</p> <p>Silver Goddess, mother of the stars, loving and serene,<br> Great Wise God of seasons, Lord of all the Green,<br> This is our very special day,<br> May joy and love fill our hearts,<br> In all we do and think and say.</p> <p>Bless you all!<br> Bless us all!</p> <p>A number of people said they enjoyed the blessing ceremony, which gave me a wonderful warm glow in my heart that stayed there all day. Blessings <em>should</em> be enjoyed, and I think the best blessings involve everyone together. I don't like the idea of someone standing on a podium and imparting blessings as though they are somehow set apart.</p> <p>Even Cassandra Eason, the author, complimented me on my blessing ceremony! Praise indeed! <img src="/img/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/11/10/witchfest-international-2009-the-blessing-ceremony-7343036/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-11-04:/2009/11/04/the-book-is-out-at-last-7306332/tylluanpenry2009-11-04T16:26:59+01:002009-11-04T16:26:59+01:00 <p>Well, I've not been blogging as much as I would have liked recently, but this is partly because I'm getting ready for Witchfest International on Saturday. I'm going to be a busy girl - doing a talk (on reclaiming our Herbal Heritage), giving a workshop (on the use of plants for magical protection), conducting the opening Blessing Ceremony and also sitting on stage with several other speakers as part of a 'Meet the Witches' event. </p> <p>Oh, and I have a book signing too... because at long last, after much nail chewing - my book is out! The Magical Properties of Plants.... and how to find them is finally a reality, all 426 pages of it! I haven't seen it yet, but I'm so excited. It was a labour of love, dedicated to the memory of my father, and I can truthfully say I felt I was born to write this book. </p> <p>From the proofs I know that Capall Bann have done a beautiful job (as always) with the layout. And they've told me they're very pleased with the cover (which I based on the idea of a Book of Hours type of illustration.) Here, take a peek, this is my original artwork: </p> <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/cover_illustration/4075969" title="cover illustration"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/969/4075969_4e58d78234_m.jpg" alt="cover illustration"></a></p> <p>I think I shall just tootle off and have a well earned glass of sherry - care to join me?</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/11/04/the-book-is-out-at-last-7306332/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-11-03:/2009/11/03/does-anyone-here-remember-artemis-toxia-7297391/tylluanpenry2009-11-03T10:02:31+01:002009-11-03T10:02:31+01:00 <p>Artemis Toxia used to blog here a few years ago. She used to write about history in the ancient world, the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, and about ancient warfare. </p> <p>I am still honoured to keep her on my blogfriends list even though she hasn't blogged in ages, and we've kept in touch. And tomorrow is her birthday.</p> <p>I want to dedicate this post to a very brave girl who has battled with ill health for about ten years now, but never given up. Who never complains, never asks for favours or special treatment, never even asks for extra energy to be sent her way. She just gets on with things. </p> <p>About two years ago, when she stopped blogging here, things began to come together for her.... only life being what it is, there were a few more huge hurdles ahead that nobody anticipated. She kept going. </p> <p>If you meet her, she is the most quiet, unassuming, lovely girl you could meet. People who know her naturally gravitate towards her. They appreciate her quiet good sense. She is an exceelent person to have at your side in a crisis.</p> <p>And although I miss her blogging, I accept she has moved on with her life and wish her all the very best. Especially tomorrow, which is her birthday. </p> <p>Penblwydd Hapus, Artemis Toxia! May life be good to you!</p> <p>Brightest blessings<br> Tylluan Penry </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/11/03/does-anyone-here-remember-artemis-toxia-7297391/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-10-31:/2009/10/31/halloween-samhain-greetings-7282653/tylluanpenry2009-10-31T21:38:49+01:002009-10-31T21:38:49+01:00 <p>There's a full moon tonight and there's something in the air...of course, it's Halloween! A wonderful time of year - I've lit one candle already, and some incense, and now I'm off to light some more. </p> <p>Brightest blessings<br> Tylluan </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/10/31/halloween-samhain-greetings-7282653/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-10-20:/2009/10/20/halloween-and-the-silly-season-7205959/tylluanpenry2009-10-20T08:49:17+02:002009-10-20T08:49:17+02:00 <p>Make no mistake, I love this time of year. And it always saddens me when it seems to turn into the Silly Season when vicars, ministers and those who write in Church Magazines start harping on about how it is all connected with devil worship. This is then seized on by the media... who aren't quite sure whose side they're on anyway, because Halloween helps them sell their newspapers just like any other festival.</p> <p>Halloween has nothing to do with the Devil. The devil is a Christian construct, made up of part of pagans gods, some of whome had horns (Cernunnos) or the legs of a goat (Pan). The whole idea of good versus evil is very complex in Pagan myth and legend, where even trickster deities such as Loki (in the NOrth), or vengeful ones such as Juno (in the ROman Empire) were also capable of acts of kindness. And conversely, 'good' deities were capable of great cruelty, such as when Apollo and Artemis murdered Niobe's children. They may have felt they were being insulted, but their argument was with Niobe, not the children. </p> <p>So the idea that celebrating Halloween, which in the north at least was often known as Samhain, is in some way to worship the Christian Devil is total nonsense. But it still goes on.</p> <p>And what makes it worse is that people who really should know better, Head Teachers and their like, seem to get carried away with this. </p> <p>Well I'm rather sick of this 'Either you're for us or against us' dichotomy. I love Halloween. I celebrate Halloween. Halloween is not all about trick or treating - although some people do seem to emphasise this aspect. But nobody went trick or treating when I was young - that's a commercial aspect of the festival, pushed, I suspect, by the makers of Halloween sweets and decorations.</p> <p>The thing to remember about Halloween is that the Church never managed to appropriate it. Other festivals became more or less successfully Christianised... Christmas was turned into Yule, even though there is no way there shepherds were out guarding their flocks in late December. The Spring Equinox was turned into Easter... but they never managed to do away with its association with hares and eggs. Imbolc, on February 1st was turned into Candlemas - with virtually all the same symbolism. The greenery of the spring festivals morphed into Palm Sunday. The list goes on and on...</p> <p>Halloween remains a sticking point. To be fair, the Christian Church did try. They appointed November the first as All Saints Day (the Hallows of Halloween). And for good measure the 2nd November became All Souls Day... but Halloween remained, stubbornly engrained into our psyche. The great fire festival. And of course, the Gunpowder Plot, celebrated as Bonfire Night on November 5th helped keep Halloween vaguely respectable. There was now a good, patriotic excuse for lighting bonfires.</p> <p>So - siding with the devil? Not at all. Halloween is a very sacred time when we remember family and friends who have passed on. For some Pagans the Oak or Sun King 'dies' at this time of year, to be reborn at Yule, the winter solstice. Just as the Holly King or Dark Lord dies at Beltan (May 1st) and is reborn on the summer solstice. The Dark Lord is not the devil. He is a necessary balance to the harmony of the year.</p> <p>However you decide to celebrate Halloween, remember it's an ancient festival the last of the harvest celebrations for this year. 'All is safely gathered in,' to borrow the words of a well-known Christian hymn. Even the least psychic of people often senses 'something' at this time of year. And it's not something to be afraid of either, this thinning of the veil between this world and the next. It's a comforting reminder that we never really lose those we love. They remain close because the Other World is not really that far away.</p> <p>Halloween - with all its traditions - is almost here. Enjoy it! <img src="/img/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/10/20/halloween-and-the-silly-season-7205959/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-10-19:/2009/10/19/something-beautiful-7201300/tylluanpenry2009-10-19T16:05:54+02:002009-10-19T16:05:54+02:00 <p>This was recommended to me by one of my daughters... it's the Ukraine's Got Talent Winner.... do check it out, it's so beautiful: </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/10/19/something-beautiful-7201300/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-10-18:/2009/10/18/samhain-and-halloween-7192021/tylluanpenry2009-10-18T09:03:38+02:002009-10-18T09:03:38+02:00 <p>Well, I haven't blogged much lately, but Samhain (or Halloween) is fast approaching. As a solitary pagan I have to ask myself what this means to me and how I will celebrate it. One of the 'problems' with being a solitary is that there is no set ritual, you have to start from scratch and build it up for yourself. But it's only a problem if you make it so - view it as an interesting exercise, a challenge even, and you see it in quite a different light.</p> <p>I love this time of year, there is something very special about it. You can feel the changes in the air. A week or so ago everything still had a golden sheen, now it's darkened, like copal varnish on an old painting. THe original colours are still there somewhere, but they're harder to see now.</p> <p>So how to approach Samhain? Divination tends to be easier - or at least different - at this time of year. That's because the veil thins out between this world and the other worlds that seem to co-exist around us. All sorts of possibilities open up, if only we are brave enough to look for them.</p> <p>Apples are cheap and plentiful. Many of the Halloween games of my childhood seemed to involve them. Bobbing for apples, ducking for apples, toffee apples... and yet apples also signify the masculine life force (and pears symbolise the feminine.) At this time of year many Pagans believe that the Sun god - or god of light (or Oak King) finally dies, to be reborn at Yule (the Winter Solstice). Conversely, on the opposite side of the year, Beltane (May 1st) the Dark Lord, or Holly King dies, to be reborn at the Summer Solstice.</p> <p>At this time of year, when the long dark winter nights are fast approaching, it pays to remember that the long bright summer evenings are just half a year's cycle away.</p> <p>My world is all about finding the balance in life. I may not always succeed, but I'm always trying. <img src="/img/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/10/18/samhain-and-halloween-7192021/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-10-16:/2009/10/16/my-blogging-pledge-slightly-amended-7184439/tylluanpenry2009-10-16T22:20:45+02:002009-10-16T22:20:45+02:00 <p>My name is Tylluan and I will NO longer tolerate online stalkers.</p> <p>I will not feed their fire by responding to their comments or posts except in <del>three </del> four ways:</p> <p>1. I will choose to delete their offending comment if I can<br> 2. I will ignore their comments/posts on another blog<br> 3. And then, I will move on.<br> 4. And if they still persist, I WILL hex them.</p> <p>I will not give them blogging space or another thought for there are many other people here that deserve my energy and attention.</p> <p>May this blogging community regain its blogging spirit and take back this community from stalkers and claim it as their own. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/10/16/my-blogging-pledge-slightly-amended-7184439/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-10-15:/2009/10/15/blog-action-day-yeah-right-7173022/tylluanpenry2009-10-15T09:15:00+02:002009-10-15T09:15:00+02:00 <p>For the past week or so my inbox has been regularly bombarded with reminders about Blog Action Day and doing our bit for climate change.</p> <p>Am I the only one who finds it just a bit<del> hypocritical </del> weird that this co-incides with large adverts for BMW all over the BCUK's home page???</p> <p>Clearly a case of 'Do as I say,' not 'Do as I do' I think.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/10/15/blog-action-day-yeah-right-7173022/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-10-06:/2009/10/06/magical-autumn-7108732/tylluanpenry2009-10-06T09:25:17+02:002009-10-06T09:25:17+02:00 <p>The problem with noticing the seasons is that for most of us we are far removed from the natural world where such changes would be most obvious. Or are we? Give nature half a chance and she's there, nudging us half awake, urging us to remember our own heritage before it's lost forever under a sea of concrete. </p> <p>Strange things happen around equinoxes. THe last one was only a short time ago, the 21st September, but you can still feel its effects, like ripples in a pond. The world becomes restless. Open your eyes and look around... there are things for us all to see, if only we look.</p> <p>For example, have you noticed dogs becoming restless at this time of year, maybe barking at thin air? That happens around the equinox. </p> <p>A friend in the US told me that he notices that snakes become very edgy too, hissing at.... nothing. What do they see? What do they know?</p> <p>House brownies and creatures from the other worlds become very active too. A few nights ago every single clock in the house stopped. All properly wound. And no reason for them to stop. But they did. And I believe that too, is evidence of the very strong energies around at this time of year.</p> <p>But now we need not only to notice, but to look forward. To Halloween/Samhain. That great festival of the dead when the veil between worlds thins out. This is the time of year when you can when you can experience things you may not expect... may not even believe in! </p> <p>Look out for the leaves. By the end of this month, they will be dancing. I mean it. Look how they fall in small piles, and then the wind makes them dance in a way that doesn't happen at any other time of year. Almost as though they are being <em>driven</em>... and who knows? Perhaps they are.</p> <p>There is something about, the unique spirit of this time of year. Start looking out for it and you will notice things....animals behaving differently, the birds, the leaves.... aim not only to look but to listen. </p> <p>Taking notice of how the year impacts on us isn't just an interesting thing to do, it helps empower us too. Every season has its own unique offerings. We have passed the half-way house of Autumn with its brilliant golds and russets. Now the world darkens slightly, gathering speed towards the end of October, with Samhain/Halloween the last of the three harvest festivals (the other two fall at the beginning of August and the autumn Equinox). </p> <p>Even though I'm not a farmer, I feel the need to gather in my own harvest, my writing, my research, all those things that are vital to me as a person. I gather them in and keep them safe against the coming winter.</p> <p>All you have to do, is look out for those dancing leaves.... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/10/06/magical-autumn-7108732/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-09-29:/2009/09/29/the-book-is-almost-ready-7065787/tylluanpenry2009-09-29T23:30:34+02:002009-09-29T23:30:34+02:00 <p>Just a quick update on my latest book. My publishers, Capall Bann have informed me that the proofs are already winging their way to me and should be hear by tomorrow! </p> <p>So that's the next few days taken care of... sitting over a hot desk, with a pencil, tape recorder and magnifying glass, looking for mistakes. </p> <p>It's very important when you send your manuscript to your chosen publisher to make sure that it's as clean as possible, i.e. that you've checked it for mistakes and typos, because when you get to the proof checking stage you are faced with a double challenge:<br> 1. To make the finished manuscript as perfect as possible<br> 2. To make as few alterations as possible.</p> <p>The reason why you want to make as few alterations as possible at this stage is because it can drastically change the layout and page numbering - and can be expensive to put right.</p> <p>So, to all you budding writers... remember, get it right <em>before</em> you send your manuscript off. That way, when the proofs come back, you will keep your work to a minimum.</p> <p>Actually, I'm rather looking forward to the proof reading. Like meeting an old friend again... besides, Capall Bann produce such lovely books, it'll be interesting to see how my book has been set out. </p> <p>Shall keep you informed! </p> <p>The </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/09/29/the-book-is-almost-ready-7065787/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-09-24:/2009/09/24/healing-energies-for-jollyweez-7034621/tylluanpenry2009-09-24T23:15:07+02:002009-09-24T23:15:07+02:00 <p>I've just had a message that our blogfriend Jollyweez is presently in hospital. </p> <p>I know I don't have to ask those who know her to send some healing energies her way, and wishes for a speedy recovery. </p> <p>I shall light some incense for her first thing tomorrow morning. </p> <p>Brightest blessings, Jollyweez, get well soon!</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/09/24/healing-energies-for-jollyweez-7034621/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-09-24:/2009/09/24/a-few-thoughts-on-rune-readings-7032904/tylluanpenry2009-09-24T18:49:23+02:002009-09-24T18:49:23+02:00 <p>I'm a great believer in keeping things simple. Nice clear rune shapes, a plain white casting cloth and a simple three-rune spread. I know sometimes people like much more complicated layouts, but I believe that since there are only 24 runes in a set (well, 24 in the Elder Futhark, 30 or 31 in the Anglo Saxon runesets) you have a better reading with fewer runes. </p> <p>I also make it a point never to ask what the question is about. I don't want to know. I find that way that people are free to ask what's really in their hearts, without worrying whether or not I'm going to sit there judging them. It gives them privacy especially if they're accompanied by a friend or relative. </p> <p>And the funny thing is that my readings seem to work better this way. Without knowing the question, I can get to grips with the runes in a way that I couldn't if I was looking for certain trends. I just read the runes and leave it to the querent to decide whether or not it answers their question. If they're still not sure, I ask them to pull out another rune and ask for clarification.</p> <p>Is this the way the runes were read years ago? Who knows. Personally I don't think it matters. The Runes have adapted to many different languages, many different situations. They have been used for writing, for riddles, for charms and for divination. </p> <p>The very best runes are those you make yourself, preferably from natural materials such as stone or wood. The rune symbols can be engraved, carved, scratched, burned or painted. Some even say you should colour the runes with your own blood. Certainly it's a good idea to cleanse and empower them every so often, otherwise they begin to feel 'stale' and unpleasant to handle.</p> <p>But the most important thing to do with your runes is to <em>use</em> them. Little by little, day by day, you coax them to give up their secrets, remembering that the lessons they bring to you could well be quite different from the lessons they bring to me.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/09/24/a-few-thoughts-on-rune-readings-7032904/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-09-17:/2009/09/17/the-anglo-saxon-runes-6982042/tylluanpenry2009-09-17T09:25:25+02:002009-09-17T09:25:25+02:00 <p>This weekend I am travelling westwards for the Pagan Federations Summer Camp where I shall be giving a rune workshop on Sunday. I'm really looking forward to it. </p> <p>The runes are a brilliant method of divination, although people tend not to find them as attractive as the Tarot. I believe this is partly because with the Tarot (depending on which deck you use) you have something recognisable to look at: the magician, the moon, the hermit etc., whereas the runes are completely abstract.</p> <p>And yet there's a freedom with the runes that you don't get with the Tarot. The runes work on your subconscious if you allow them too. They are tricksy, mischievous things, rather like the Norse trickster god, Loki. No wonder they were used for codes and riddles!</p> <p>As I get older, I am drawn more and more towards the Anglo Saxon Runes. I'm not quite sure why... I spent an entire summer brushing up on my Anglo Saxon just to be able to get to grips with the Anglo Saxon Rune Poem. A year ago I sat in the garden reading the Leechbook of Bald and the Lacnunga (Anglo Saxon Herbals). There is just something about the Anglo Saxons, in my opinion they are sadly neglected when it comes to magic.</p> <p>Part of the problem, of course, is that much of the literature we have by them has a distinct Christian gloss to it. Many pagans find this a bit off putting. But often if you dig just that little deeper, if you go the extra mile, the door opens and you're back in a world of feasting, swords, ogres and gods that throw hammers! </p> <p>For anyone interested in learning more about ancient languages, I can recommend the Tiger of the Stripe website at www.tigerof the stripe.co.uk You need to have a real browse around it to find all the treasures hidden there, but I had my Anglo Saxon dictionary from them at a fraction of the price elsewhere! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/09/17/the-anglo-saxon-runes-6982042/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-09-15:/2009/09/15/harvests-and-sacrificial-corn-dollies-6966007/tylluanpenry2009-09-15T08:18:23+02:002009-09-15T08:18:23+02:00 <p>Harvests can take many forms. Although for me they still bring back memories of watching people riding on the back of hay carts stacked with bales of hay, a harvest can be more personal: the harvest of long study can be passing an exam, the harvest of sickness can be recovery.... Just because we personally don't get to drink cider as we work in the fields doesn't mean we don't have a harvest - we do. </p> <p>Years ago the success of the local harvest literally meant the different between life and death and many rituals and celebrations developed to try and magically ensure that the harvest was a good one. </p> <p>For many Pagans the year has three harvest festivals: 1st August, 21st September and the 31st October. These take account of the different types of food to be gathered, since there is no single date when ALL the crops and harvests will be ready at the same time.</p> <p>One of the most interesting traditions is the corn dolly which was either made from the last sheaf of the harvest, or the sheaf itself. Around the UK it had a number of different names, including the Hag, the Mare, the Harvest Queen, Corn Dolly, and even Mell Doll.The important thing, I think, is that these were all female - perhaps a forgotten reference to a pagan mother goddess.</p> <p>If you read Frazer's 'Golden Bough' you will see that this could be a very bloodthirsty ritual in some parts of the world, with a human being sacrificed so that his blood enriched and empower the next year's crops. </p> <p>In the UK as far as we know, the sheaf (or doll) was decorated with flowers and ribbons and taken back to the farm on a waggon (in Anglo Saxon magic 'following a wagon' was often associated with fertility rites.) The Corn Dolly was then kept safe (usually for a year) but was ritually burned before the next harvest and its ashes ploughed back into the soil as an offering (possibly a symbolic re-enactment of a human sacrifice?).</p> <p>It's just a beautiful time of year. I think we all deserve our own harvest festival, don't you? <img src="/img/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/09/15/harvests-and-sacrificial-corn-dollies-6966007/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-09-14:/2009/09/14/the-autumn-equinox-blackberries-and-oranges-6959218/tylluanpenry2009-09-14T08:43:11+02:002009-09-14T08:43:11+02:00 <p>So much for a barbecue summer. Though we have had a few good days, and maybe the last few could even be described as a brief 'Blackberry Summer.' I love seeing blackberries, dark and jewel-like hanging in the hedges. Unlike my neighbours, the ever vigilant Mrs Anubis Evans and Mr Sarcophagus Jones, I like a bit of wilderness in my garden. Mr Penry calls it 'benign neglect'.</p> <p>In Wales it was traditional to leave a small patch of wilderness (especially nettles) which was said to be for 'the devil.' I suspect this is evidence of later Christianisation, and that originally the ground was left sacred to a pagan deity or earth spirit. </p> <p>But if you want to pick your blackberries, you have to hurry. For in October (especially around the 10th) it will be Devil's Blackberry Day, and after this date it was traditionally considered unsafe to eat blackberries. Actually, if you look closely, you will see that around this time of year the bramble bushes become covered in small spider's webs, and the fruit themselves are often long past their best, and a bit 'wormy.' </p> <p>When I was young my father always made blackberry cordial for us to stave off coughs and colds. I loved it, and also elderflower cordial, another rich, heavy syrup. </p> <p>It's hard to remember that there was a time, not all that many years ago when oranges were strictly seasonal in the shops and hard to come by at certain times of the year. We used to make syrup from rose hips - my father said they had to be picked after the <em>second</em> frost of the year... if you picked them sooner they would be too hard, and if you picked them too late they would be too soft! </p> <p>Whatever your spiritual path, it's worth noticing the Equinox. At the moment it's a bit like cycling uphill... and just about to go over the crest of the hill. No wonder so many of us feel a distinct unease (a word very closely linked to <em>dis</em>ease ) at this time of year. The balance is quite literally changing as the year shifts gears. Soon the nights will draw in and the shadows will lengthen. </p> <p>This is the time of year when spiders start to take up residence indoors... and you will notice more of them out in the garden too. When storms approach, spiders get busy in their webs, tightening them up so they will survive the wind. An old saying ran:</p> <p><em>If you wish to live and thrive<br> Let the spider run alive</em></p> <p>[In my next post I hope to tell you a little bit about the corn dolly traditions...] </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/09/14/the-autumn-equinox-blackberries-and-oranges-6959218/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-09-09:/2009/09/09/a-quick-update-and-the-autumn-equinox-6928415/tylluanpenry2009-09-09T08:51:07+02:002009-09-09T08:51:07+02:00 <p>I've been away from Blogland for ages, I know. Sometimes there simply aren't enough hours in the day and I am desperately playing catch up. And also, I don't like posting entries on the blog that simply say 'I'm soooo bored' (I never am) or 'I'm soooo tired' (by the time I reach that stage I've usually nodded off anyway.)</p> <p>So, what have I been doing? Well, I've been working on two books, and also on my forthcoming talks : the Pagan Fed's summer camp ( a workshop on RUnes), THe Hay on Fire Festival at Samhain/Halloween, and Witchfest International (plants and anglo saxon charms and magic - probably.) </p> <p>I write quickly, but obviously not quickly enough. <img src="/img/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif" alt=":roll:" class="middle" border="0"> And of course, there's more to life than writing. There's shopping, cooking, cleaning, all the things I would normally be doing anyway. </p> <p>We're now approaching a very interesting festival. The autumn equinox. It doesn't have the same fun element as Beltane/May Day, or Samhain/Halloween... it hasn't been commercialised like Ostara/Easter or Yule/Christmas. But it's still an incredible time of year. And the reason we know this is because the early Christian Church tried (and largely succeeded) in Christianising it as Michaelmas. The feast of St Michael, the Archangel, usually held on 29th September. </p> <p>Revels, fairs and wakes were held throughout the period of gathering home the harvest and often it was difficult to tell where one festival ended and another began. I think it was Henry VIII who finally tried to put a stop to the endless rounds of entertainment and feasting which passed along from village to village. </p> <p>And the choice of Michaelmas is interesting too. St Michael was no ordinary saint, he was an archangel who helped defeat Lucifer and various assorted dragons. </p> <p>Now the connection of Lucifer and dragons is an interesting one. Many ancient sites have their traditions of serpents and dragons who lived nearby and some peope believe these names were actually euphemisms for power, in particular earth currents. Others claim they represented the old pagan religions. By defeated the dragon or serpent, therefore, St Michael was defeating the old pagan religions and destroying their powers.</p> <p>Certainly a number of interesting sites have been dedicated to the saint. The chapel on top of Glastonbury Tor. St Michael's Mount in Cornwall, and Mont St Michel off the northern coast of France. </p> <p>This is a very interesting link if you want to read some more:</p> <p><a href="http://www.sacredsites.com/europe/england/stmichaels_mount.html">http://www.sacredsites.com/europe/england/stmichaels_mount.html</a></p> <p>Personally I think the festival deserves a much higher profile than it has nowadays. We might as well make the most of the three harvest celebrations of Lammas (1st August) the Equinox (21st September) and Halloween (31st October) because after that we have the long nights of winter, the frost, the rain and winds. </p> <p>A good old fashioned feast is just what we need! <img src="/img/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/09/09/a-quick-update-and-the-autumn-equinox-6928415/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-08-31:/2009/08/31/back-again-6862923/tylluanpenry2009-08-31T20:49:32+02:002009-08-31T20:49:32+02:00 <p>I was really hoping to be back blogging again more often, but alas, the best laid plans of mice and men...</p> <p>At the moment I'm working on a rune workshop ready for the Pagan Federations summer camp in September. Workshops are rather different from talks because they're more hands-on, but they're great fun and you get a lot of feedback from the people there, which is always very interesting. I always say I learn far more from my readers and my audiences than they do from me! </p> <p>I am also finishing another book and working on the first draft of yet another. Some people might say I ought to be concentrating on the one book, but I find it's often easier to move between the two... it keeps my mind more alert somehow. (At least, that's the plan.)</p> <p>So apologies for not being around much... shall try to catch up on your blogs in the next few days! </p> <p>Brightest blessings<br> Tylluan </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/08/31/back-again-6862923/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-08-20:/2009/08/20/an-old-poem-to-the-new-moon-6767315/tylluanpenry2009-08-20T16:49:36+02:002009-08-20T16:49:36+02:00 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/new_moon/3806609" title="new moon"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/609/3806609_98a47bc9e7_m.jpg" alt="new moon"></a></p> <p>I really have no idea of the date of this poem to the New Moon; I only know that it is a traditional Scottish folk prayer, originally written in Gaelic. I hope you like it:</p> <p>Greeting to you, new moon, kindly jewel of guidance! I bend my knees to you, I offer you my love.</p> <p>I bend my knees to you, I raise my hands to you, I life up my eye to you, new moon of the seasons.</p> <p>Greeting to you, new moon, darling of my love! Greeting to you, new moon, darling of graces.</p> <p>You journey on your course, you steer the flood-tides, you light up your face for us, new moon of the seasons.</p> <p>Queen of guidance, queen of good luck, queen of my love, new moon of the seasons! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/08/20/an-old-poem-to-the-new-moon-6767315/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-08-18:/2009/08/18/get-well-soon-wendlane-6752012/tylluanpenry2009-08-18T15:22:36+02:002009-08-18T15:22:36+02:00 <p>Knowing how much Wendlane enjoys things that remind her of Wales, I have tried - for the first time, I might add - to post something for her that I found on Youtube:</p> <p>Get well soon, Wendlane! Your friends here all miss you! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/08/18/get-well-soon-wendlane-6752012/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-08-18:/2009/08/18/magical-journeying-part-6749580/tylluanpenry2009-08-18T08:13:44+02:002009-08-18T08:13:44+02:00 <p>As you begin looking - really looking - at the world around you, you realise that there is a lot going on that might pass you by. Sometimes nature seems to be putting on a show especially for you. </p> <p>Recognising and learning from these signs isn't really all that difficult. Part of the problem is that we have forgotten the raw pleasure that being in the open air can bring us. I know that since I've had a number of health problems in the last few years, I really have learned to appreciate just getting out into the garden and watching - and listening - to the world around me.</p> <p>For example, yesterday I spotted two white butterflies flying together, swirling, looping the loop, it was as intricate as any <em>pas de deux</em> in a ballet. I stood and watched, entranced. It may have lasted barely two minutes before they flew off over the roof, but it was quite, quite magical. </p> <p>And you see, I have the feeling that it was <em>intended</em> for me to see it. Why? I don't know. But I came away feeling highly privileged and somehow uplifted.</p> <p>Last night, sitting in the kitchen doing some writing, I heard the owls out in the garden at the back of the house. They were persistent, eerie. Homer shuddered and snuggled deeper into his bed. In Wales it was said that when an owl cried out in the night, a young maiden was losing her innocence. </p> <p>Be that as it may, there is something quite otherworldly about the sound of an owl. They don't just hoot, they cry, and shriek - all at a time when the night is otherwise silent. It's a magical sound.</p> <p>What does any of this have to do with magical journeying? Well, there's a very famous text called 'The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus'. You will often hear a quote from it : <em>As above, so below.</em> </p> <p>Basically what it means is that in magic, or indeed in magical worlds, there is an echo of what is in our real, day to day world. By recognising magic in this world, we make it easier to find and sometimes cross into other magical worlds. Each is a reflection of the other.</p> <p>And - as I hope to show in my next post - quite often we can begin our magical journeys here, in the everyday world! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/08/18/magical-journeying-part-6749580/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-08-15:/2009/08/15/a-few-practical-preparations-for-magical-journeying-6728671/tylluanpenry2009-08-15T11:11:02+02:002009-08-15T11:11:02+02:00 <p>Those of you brave, hardy souls who visit my blog regularly will know by now that when I write on magical or pagan topics I'm writing about my own experiences, my own ideas. So here today are a few ideas about things we can do when we fancy giving Magical Journeying a try. </p> <p>Now magical journeying is one of those things you either love or you loathe. Many people would like to try it, but find it's too difficult. Or they're put off by others who say you must always have 'someone experienced' with you, whenever you take off into the wild blue yonder. </p> <p>So here are a few thoughts I've cobbled together down the years that you might find useful...</p> <p>First of all, you need to get to know the world around you. The trees, the sort of stones you find lying around, the birds, insects and plants - all things that will stand you in very good stead when you're starting off. </p> <p>Don’t panic – you don’t have to turn into a botanist overnight. You can notice without knowing… it’s a very important magical concept… to notice something even though you don’t know exactly what it is or how it works. I do it every day with electricity – no idea how it works, but I use it all the same. </p> <p>So start looking – really looking – and see what you can find. You might know the names of some things… daisies, dandelions… hawthorn trees… that sort of thing. And look for the insects and birds too. Get into this habit and keep it up for weeks, months even, as the seasons slowly change and our world turns golden with autumn. </p> <p>My father taught me a lot about plants, and he always used to carry this battered field guide with him. He’d say you’d never be able to remember the plants when you got home and if you had a reference book with you then you could look them up then and there. And of course, the more you learn, the less you need your field guide. This frees up your pockets for important supplies such as polo mints… </p> <p>Learn to expect the unexpected too…. Mr Penry and one of my daughters were up a mountain a few months ago and reckoned they’d seen a golden eagle. Now there are no golden eagles in my part of Wales. Not one. Not even on a Saturday night. But their description of the bird fitted, they described how it flew, what it sounded like… very convincing. But it couldn’t be a golden eagle. Except…. </p> <p>About a fortnight later, the headlines in our local paper said that police investigating the traffic in illegal birds had raided a house about two miles away from the mountain and found – amongst other things –a golden eagle. </p> <p>So… my husband and my daughter had really had a treat – they’d seen a golden eagle flying over the mountain for the first time in - well, it must have been centuries. </p> <p>I'll post some more tomorrow.... </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/08/15/a-few-practical-preparations-for-magical-journeying-6728671/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-08-13:/2009/08/13/the-magic-word-abracadabra-6714567/tylluanpenry2009-08-13T09:12:02+02:002009-08-13T09:12:02+02:00 <p>Just a brief digression from Anglo Saxon magic today. But I hope you find it interesting all the same.</p> <p>A great deal of magical practice seems to cross cultural boundaries, so that certain words, numbers, gestures and methods seem to crop up time and again. </p> <p>Some of them have been around for so long that they seem to have built up a power all their own. The most famous of all magic words, <em>abracadabra</em> was used in ancient times and in its earliest written form is written as an inverted triangle:</p> <p class="center">ABRACADABRA<br> ABRACADABR<br> ABRACADAB<br> ABRACADA<br> ABRACAD<br> ABRACA<br> ABRAC<br> ABRA<br> ABR<br> AB<br> A</p> <p>Although nowadays we tend to associate this word with stage conjurors who produce rabbits from top hats, as late as the eighteenth century Defoe described people using this charm to cure them of plague. </p> <p>It was popular all over Europe, sometimes to make things disappear (in the written form above you will see that the words appear to ‘shrink’) while Aleister Crowley wrote the word as <em>‘Abrahadabra’</em> and regarded it as extremely powerful. It’s up to you of course, whether you want to use it or not, but you never know, one day it may come in handy!</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/08/13/the-magic-word-abracadabra-6714567/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-08-11:/2009/08/11/artemis-gathering-anglo-saxon-magic-part-6699616/tylluanpenry2009-08-11T16:13:20+02:002009-08-11T16:13:20+02:00 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/anglo_saxon_brooch_from_norfolk/3777186" title="anglo saxon brooch from norfolk"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/186/3777186_f9219ece9d_m.jpg" alt="anglo saxon brooch from norfolk"></a></p> <p>Would you like to see what an Anglo Saxon charm actually looked like? </p> <p>Well, here's one:<br> __<br> +T+p+T+N+ω+T+m+N+ ωA</p> <p>This is a protection charm from an Anglo Saxon book of Leechcraft or healing called the Lacnunga. Either the patient or his leech (which was another word for a physician or healer) were supposed to write these letters along the patient’s arms. And before you ask – nobody has any idea what they mean! </p> <p>So – how were these charms constructed? What was the thinking behind them? </p> <p>Actually Anglo Saxon Magic follows similar patters to ancient magic right across Europe. One of the first things you notice is something called ‘The narrative introduction.’ Although you don’t often find them in modern spells they do crop up all over the ancient world. </p> <p>Here I should digress a bit and mention that along with our more obscene swear words which all come from the Anglo Saxon, the word 'spell' also comes from that language. It's original meaning was a story, legend or history. So this idea of a narrative in the charm is very old indeed and you can’t get rid of it without radically changing the whole structure. </p> <p>But what did a narrative introduction do, and why was it used? The idea was to set out deeds that had already been performed by a god or great hero. These deeds usually have some bearing on the purpose of the charm. They set the scene. And the thinking behind this is ‘You’ve already shown you can free someone in this situation… please do it again – this time for me.’ </p> <p>We eventually find the actual spell formular right at the end of the spell, or sometimes at the end of each verse if it is a very long spell. So you find commands such as ‘slip from the shackles, escape from the foe!’ or even 'Out little spear! Out!'</p> <p>Here's a good example from the Merseburger Incantations - it's a spell for treating dislocated joins and sprains. </p> <p>It starts off by telling a story of how Woden (the Anglo Saxon name for Odin) is out riding when his companion’s horse sprains its leg. Then three goddesses try but fail to cure the horse. </p> <p><strong><em>Then Woden charmed it, who could charm it well:</em></strong> (This is the turning point of the spell – the end of the narrative, and the beginning of the spell formula which is: )</p> <p><em><strong>Leg luxation, and blood luxation, and limb luxation,<br> Bone to bone, blood to blood,<br> Limb to limb as they were glued together.'</strong></em></p> <p>Although the original charm was used by Woden in this form it can be used by humans – calling on Woden to help heal all types of sprains.</p> <p>This combination of narrative and magical command might seem a bit strange to us nowadays, but they still work. The trick is finding the right story or setting to use. For that, it's often a good idea to look back at Saxon myth and folklore, although strictly speaking you could adapt it to just about any circumstances that take your fancy. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/08/11/artemis-gathering-anglo-saxon-magic-part-6699616/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-08-10:/2009/08/10/the-artemis-gathering-2009-my-talk-on-anglo-saxon-magic-6692881/tylluanpenry2009-08-10T17:18:01+02:002009-08-10T17:18:01+02:00 <p>This is a subject that has fascinated me for many years, ever since the day I rescued an Anglo Saxon dictionary out of my school’s dustbin in the library. To read the old Anglo Saxon charms, sitting out in countryside, is to reach back into the past, to an almost long forgotten magical tradition. </p> <p>So… First of all, who were the Anglo Saxons? Well, it’s a collective term for the Germanic tribes – mostly from northern Germany and southern Scandinavia who began invading England in the fifth century. The Anglo Saxon kingdoms lasted a good five hundred years and we have a wealth of evidence about their magical practices. </p> <p>Their spells came in all shapes and sizes. Some were chanted or sung, some involved potions, and some had to be written down either on parchment, metal or bone. Some charms were even worn as amulets. An amulet is basically protective or healing; a talisman is more like a lucky charm. </p> <p>In Anglo Saxon the word galan means to sing or chant. The word galdor or gealdor meant a charm, a means of controlling and directing the power of the healing materials (which could be almost anything, including herbs, stones, bones etc.) </p> <p>One thing you find in Anglo Saxon magic is a tremendous number of charms against magical beings – especially elves and dwarves - who seem to have spent most of their time attacking humankind, and ended up being blamed for just about everything. Including hiccups! </p> <p>So – how do Anglo Saxon charms work? Basically they all contained at least one of the following 4 features: </p> <p>1. A magic ritual on its own.</p> <p>2. A magic ritual together with a charm that had to be chanted, spoken or sung aloud. Sometimes there are specific instructions for singing these charms over the wound, or in the left ear, or at a particular time of day or moonphase. </p> <p>3. Some sort of recipte for a potion, the sort of thing that tells you to ‘Take betony, bishopwort, lupin…’ etc. There were three very important Anglo Saxon herbals: the <em>Herbarium,</em> the <em>Lacnunga</em> and the <em>Leechbook of Bald. </em>• Leech was the Anglo-Saxon word for a doctor or healer. </p> <p>4. And lastly, there was a written formula which was often tied onto a wound to help it heal. </p> <p>In the next instalment I'm going to show you the basics of how Anglo-Saxon spells were constructed. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/08/10/the-artemis-gathering-2009-my-talk-on-anglo-saxon-magic-6692881/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk,2009-08-09:/2009/08/09/talks-for-the-artemis-gathering-online-6683311/tylluanpenry2009-08-09T08:49:51+02:002009-08-09T08:49:51+02:00 <p>Well, I never made it to the Artemis Gathering because of the scarlet fever. However, I thought I would blog a little from the talks I had intended to give there - which would have been on the subjects of THought Forms and also on Anglo Saxon Magic. </p> <p>Hopefully I shall be back later on today with a post on the topic of thought forms.</p> <p>Hope to catch up with you then! <img src="/img/smilies/icon_wave.gif" alt=":wave:" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://tylluanpenry.blog.co.uk/2009/08/09/talks-for-the-artemis-gathering-online-6683311/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>