So apparently you can't migrate a blog to a separate account and then make that the main blog. Go figger.
So please go and refollow Awenydd o gCamulos! I promise I'll make it worth your while. Maybe. If you're into that sort of thing.
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thewanderingcelt-deactivated201
I call this The Dwarven Weapon Project. I did this a couple of Christmases ago for my wife, adrianners. She loves fantasy Dwarves, mostly from the Dragon Age series. The Falchion comes from that horrid Robin Hood movie that came out a few years ago. I did the designs on the sheath. The first close up is of a serpent and the second comes from Dwarven symbols in the LotR movies and backgrounds. The axe is the Norse axe from Arms and Armour. I made the sheathe, dyed it blue, and added the designs. The rune is the Norse/Germanic rune “Othila?” and a Keyhole design.
I loved doing this and might do more projects like this in the future.
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sachairimaccaba
I did a quick pen sketch of An Dagda today while I drank my morning coffee. I kinda use The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and artifacts from the Celtic world as inspiration. Also, I know there has been no armour discovered in Iron Age Ireland, but I like the chain mail.
Your devotional art makes me want to try some of my own.
And then Camulos goes "I swear to me, if you make me look like that Steve Bacic asshole I will fuck some shit up" and I get scared and don't.
Reblogged ruthlessdilettante
Queen Hatshepsut of Ancient Egypt. She has a lovely smile for someone who’s been dead for thousands of years.
deux-zero-deux
she wasn’t a queen. she was a pharaoh and wanted to be referred to as such. she even had her statues modeled after the male pharaoh’s statues to state her dominance and authority. she was actually one of the most successful pharaohs in all of ancient egyptian history and she reigned longer than any other woman in power in egypt.
cumleak
damn no wonder she died and smiled for a trillion years afterwards
omgxchrissy
The fact that we know about her is marvelous.
the next Pharaoh after her Tuthmosis III tried to erase Hatshepsut out of history ,chiseled her name off her monuments ,covered the text on her obelisks with stone,knocked down and defaced her statues .
she was even left off the list of pharaohs ..talk about some patriarchy bullshit
her name was lost for a couple of millennia, her body was found in a unmarked grave in early twentieth century
sad part is in Egyptian belief is if your are forgotten in the living world you don’t exist in the afterlife,so he was trying to kill her even in death
fatfury
My best friend throwing down some herstory. A+ commentary
mothensidhe
She wore a fake beard, you guys. She was the fucking boss.
ruthlesswoodcarver
If we remember her now does that save her from an awful afterlife?
I'm just picturing the Kemetic afterlife. All the Pharaohs are hanging out in some kind of swanky club, drinking and congratulating each other on being bros.
The doors slam open and Hatshepsut strides in, glorious, robes swirling, rocking the fake beard and the insane amounts of wealth and power. "Miss me, bitches?"
31 Days of Polytheism: Day Seven
7. Foundations: Tools, Altar/Shrine, & Sacred Space
My general belief on ritual tools, altars, and shrines is that are completely not necessary to a devoted religious practice. However, I do believe that sacred space is completely and utterly essential.
Sacred space is a fundamental tenet of Brythonic practice. Not in the same sense as Christianity or Judaism, where the church or temple is the only residence of God and religious activity is restricted to that area (I know that that isn't the dogma, but it is usually how it shakes down in practice). I know that tomorrow is supposed to be talking about places of spiritual significance, so I'll leave the idea of intrinsically holy places to the side for the moment.
Historically - again, my evidence comes from literature, mythology, ethnographic studies by outside observers, and living folk tradition - sacred spaces were often part of nature. The Druidic nemeton, for example. Holy groves. Fairy rings. Stone circles in the middle of great plains. On a less monolithic scale, certain hilltops or rocks were seen to be fairy-places - places where the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned.
In my practice, I do not always have the luxury of being able to find one of these places. If there were such spots here, they've long been paved over and built up - or, would take hours to get to. I have to create my own sacred space. And while I do pray to my gods at all hours and in all locations, and I do try to live my practice consistently in my daily life, I also need a space that is wholy dedicated to my practice. A space that once I enter, I am in that liminal space between this and Other. It's the closest I can get to the astral right now.
This happens to be my altar area right now - but not just my altar. I create a bubble of sacred space by manipulating the light, sounds, even the air around me. My altar is on a shelf about a foot above the ground. I sit cross-legged in front of it with the lights off in the room and a window open for fresh air. I light just enough candles to create a bubble of light and warmth. The smoke from the candles creates just enough of an altered atmosphere that it pulls me out. If my wife isn't home, I also burn rosemary and sage - not for any great symbolic purposes, but it smells good and purifies my surroundings.
I don't do that when my wife is home because it severely bothers her allergies - always remember, kids, don't be a dick with your practices!
So that's how I create sacred space. Even when the lights are on and I'm going about my business, I can glance over there and remember the calm and focus I find in that space.
Okay! So altars and ritual tools. In recon - especially Celtic recon - these can vary wildly from person to person and are largely based on personal opinion. To try and write an account of sacred tools that applies to everything Brythonic polytheist would be not only counter-productive but also impossible. So. I'm just going to talk about my own altar and tools, and why I use them.
Look, a handily labelled diagram:
Talismans: the three talismans I cross-stitched with symbols representative of the three gods who are foremost in my practice: Lug(h), Camulos, and the Great Lady Whose Name I Don't Know So I Just Go With Great Lady, or Arglwydd Fawr. Two of them are hung from staples in the ceiling.
Lug feathers: We all have moments when we see something and wonder if it's been left as a sign for us. Discernment being your friend, these are the only two I have taken as true signs, and both from Lug. One is a white and grey pigeon feather, and the other is a wooden feather pendant - one of Lug's signs being a golden hawk.
Dried stuff: In my previous altar space I had room to actually hang these, but it's a few bundles of the rosemary and sage that I burn. The popularity of white sage has caused a critical situation for this plant in the wild - if you are going to create saining bundles, try to use plants that you have grown yourself. The roses I keep to use in offerings as well.
Tarot decks: I have two of them - one is the Llewellyn Tarot, which is a gorgeous deck based on Welsh mythology - but it's a little large and unwieldy, which is the difficulty I find with most decks. Use them for more than half an hour or so my arthritis kicks in. So I also have a Pocket Rider-Waite that's the size of a standard deck of cards. Besides, I find the Rider-Waite easier to read than other decks because of the stylised nature and symbolism. The wooden box holds the pocket Rider-Waite, the cloth bag (which I also made from two nine-square quilt patches) holds the Llewellyn.
Candleholder: This means a lot to me. I know that it doesn't quite match the rest of my items and looks a little gaudy, but it is the one thing that I couldn't live without. My wife is a Good Southern Girl and neo-paganism is wildly out of her frame of reference. I know that she was really uncomfortable with the whole idea from the start but because she knew how important it was to me, she tried really hard to understand. About a month later, we were out shopping for unrelated things, and she very shyly bounced up to me with this little yellow candleholder with butterflies on it and said, "Would this be good for your altar?" It's been part of my altar ever since. I filled it with dried rose petals from a rainbow rose that I gave her after that.
Whiskey: My usual offering is bread and whiskey, but I use a separate bottle instead of dipping into the liquor stash.
Three bowls: Most altars and sacred space - especially in neo-pagan traditions - involve the four elements. But that isn't really attested in Celtic recon sources. Instead, I've gone with the very traditional number of three. Three shall be the number of the elements, and the number of the elements shall be three. Four shalt thou not have, nor shalt thou have two unless thou then proceedest to three. I chose water, salt, and earth. They purify, preserve, and ground.
Electric tealight and candles: Electric tealights are amazing. Around Christmas and Hallowe'en they're easy to find in the seasonal section of Walmart or the dollar store. They are great for dorms and apartments where candles can be an issue. I found this little glass witchy cauldron in a thrift store once. Most of my offerings would probably be better served in front of a roaring bonfire - "When shall we three meet again" etc - but this is my best bet right now. Candles I do burn. Either ones that I made myself or cheap taper candles - the dollar store, thrift stores, and Honest Ed's are a recon's best friend. My favourite find (not pictured) is a candle holder for a taper candle that is backed by a mirror. I get lots of light from the one candle, but I usually light one or two more for good measure.
Artio statue: So some Artio feels sort of . . . happened to me. I'll have to write more about them later but anyway. These little stone statues are the touristy Native woo crap they sell at the zoo gift shop, but it . . . jumped into my hand. My entire relationship with Artio is mostly shit happening and me going okay so this is a thing.
Altar cloth: Not necessary, but I used the gifts of Lug to embroider this cloth.
8. Foundations: Places of Spiritual Significance 9. Foundations: Festivals & Calendar 10. Relationships: Gods/Deities/Pantheon 11. Relationships: Patronage with the Deities 12. Relationships: Relationship with a Deity or Deities 13. Relationships: Other Relationships 14. Relationships: Deity Gender Roles 15. Relationships: Ritual, Worship, & Reverence 16. Relationships: Priesthood & Clergy 17. Inspirations: Prayer & Reciprocity 18. Inspirations: Meditation 29. Inspirations: Ethics, Virtues, & Values 20. Inspirations: Divination and/or Magic 21. Inspirations: Mysticism and Philosophy 22. Inspirations: Music, Poetry, Storytelling, Myth, & Aesthetics 23. Experiences: Faith & Times of Need 24. Experiences: Ritual and/or Magic 25. Experiences: Other Explorations 26. Everyday Life: Paganism/Polytheism & Family Life/Friends 27. Everyday Life: Paganism/Polytheism & Romance 28. Everyday Life: Paganism/Polytheism & Work/Career 29. Everyday Life: Paganism/Polytheism & Community 30. Conclusion: Misconceptions 31. Conclusion: Advice to the Seeker
Reblogged echtrai-blog
i did a short reading last night.
i asked, in part, for a mere confirmation of divine presence—it can be hard not to fall into doubt at times when one has no real “sense” of gods or magic.
the first stave i threw was ailm, representing a calling, an answer, a sought solution.
all right, you’ve made your point, you smartass twigs.
echtrai
Smartass twigs is my new favorite name for ogham staves.
Reblogged gayantlers
My books came today! Two of these I recommend without fail to anyone interested in Brythonic recon, and yet I didn’t actually own a copy myself. I was sure I owned a copy of the Mabinogi (that was in English - I do have a beautifully illustrated copy in Gaidhlig).
The Fairy-Faith In Celtic Countries is just … so good. It’s folklore from this utterly matter-of-fact standpoint, so even if it is outdated it’s just an excellent read.
And then the last is a collection of Welsh bardic poetry in translation - the Red Book of Hergest, Book of Taleisin, Black Book of Caermarthen, Book of Aneurin.
I think I’m going to try to liveblog them as I read. I was planning to start with Evans-Wentz because I love him so, but just flipping through Four Ancient Books turned my head so I might start there.
Any requests from viewers like you?
elfofthereach
Definitely want to hear about Four Ancient Books! I have copies of the other two but not that one.
thewyrdwain
I have the free e-book versions of the top two (though, the Mabinogion translation isn’t the best) but I never heard of the last one. Looks interesting!
Do you have the Charlotte Guest translation? Other than the Noble Savage vibe, I actually like her writing.
Four Ancient Books is actually on sacred-texts if you're interested. It's actually the exact same version that I have in print. I'm already about halfway through Evans-Wentz (sooo interesting) but I think I'll tackle the bardic poetry next.
31 Days of Polytheism: Day Six
6. Foundations: Non-Theistic Beliefs
Non-theistic beliefs? My practice is not sharply delineated between secular and religious activities. I was going to use this part to talk about ethics and codes of conduct, but that's a few days from now, so I'm really lost as how to answer this.
Non-theistic: I try to do my part for language preservation. I include Welsh as often as I can - and I'm trying to get my fluency back up, because I believe that language is not just a set of words but also a lens through which to view the world - I wrote a whole paper on it in specific NeoPagan contexts, but you should also read up on the Sapir-Whorf theory of lingual relativity.
A large part of my reconstruction is not based on literature and academic writings - I don't know if this is atypical for the recon community, but the reason that I have this luxury is because the Celtic "pagan" (however you want to classify that - pre-Christian, non-Christian, etc) DAILY life actually continued in an unbroken fashion into the late sixties and seventies - I'd even say that you could find pockets of them still in the more remote areas of Cape Breton, the Hebrides, and the Highlands. I'm not talking about worshipping the gods. I'm talking about the non-theistic parts of pagan life. Things like belief in fairies and putting out milk or not eating food you drop on the floor.
I came across an excellent example of this today.
If we consider part of our reconstruction paths to be trying to reconstruct the daily life of the people of our gods, and we use herbal medicine and hedgewitchery and divination in the bottom of our teacups, we don't really have to look that far. In this day and age, my family's recipe for biscuits (which I made this morning for breakfast) includes the direction 'cut in shortening until the size of small pebbles'.
HOW MUCH MORE FUCKING RECON CAN YOU GET. Not 'until the dough is in small spheroids of approximately half a centimetre in diameter'. No. Until size of small pebbles - which in and of itself is highly subjective, but if you grew up learning how to make biscuits from your mother or grandmother or uncle or whatever, then you knew exactly what size pebbles the dough should be like - because you know how large the dough-pebbles should be. And I've sort of lost the thread by this point.
Non-theistic belief. Involve biscuits. Somehow.
7. Foundations: Tools, Altar/Shrine, & Sacred Space 8. Foundations: Places of Spiritual Significance 9. Foundations: Festivals & Calendar 10. Relationships: Gods/Deities/Pantheon 11. Relationships: Patronage with the Deities 12. Relationships: Relationship with a Deity or Deities 13. Relationships: Other Relationships 14. Relationships: Deity Gender Roles 15. Relationships: Ritual, Worship, & Reverence 16. Relationships: Priesthood & Clergy 17. Inspirations: Prayer & Reciprocity 18. Inspirations: Meditation 29. Inspirations: Ethics, Virtues, & Values 20. Inspirations: Divination and/or Magic 21. Inspirations: Mysticism and Philosophy 22. Inspirations: Music, Poetry, Storytelling, Myth, & Aesthetics 23. Experiences: Faith & Times of Need 24. Experiences: Ritual and/or Magic 25. Experiences: Other Explorations 26. Everyday Life: Paganism/Polytheism & Family Life/Friends 27. Everyday Life: Paganism/Polytheism & Romance 28. Everyday Life: Paganism/Polytheism & Work/Career 29. Everyday Life: Paganism/Polytheism & Community 30. Conclusion: Misconceptions 31. Conclusion: Advice to the Seeker
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Omg I started these too long ago. I’ve been trying to design these little medallions (I don’t feel like ‘sigil’ is the right word) for the gods I regularly welcome into my home, but so far these are the only three to work out. They’re about an inch and a half across.
Left to right: Lugh: Cauldron and spear, and the spear is the ogham glyph for L.
As Of Yet Unnamed Lady Whose Identity Eludes Me: a pinecone surrounded by white leaves and topped by a star - I first saw her at dusk in an old forest.
Camulos: A bronze knot surrounded with oak leaves, his symbol.
Still very proud of these, want them on the sideblog.
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Finished fixing my altar today! Just using the staple gun to get that extra fabric up and away gives me so much more space (and makes the whole altar surface a little less of a fire hazard).
And, because I used the fucking giant staples I now have these three little metal loops for hanging shit from yay!
In other news, cats don’t like it when you shut them out of the room to pray, rose petals smells like ass when you burn them, and I need to invest in some higher quality booze for my offerings because that stuff is just unpalatable.
And I’m having Artio feels.
Reblogged redfootdaddy
I am new to the Pagan faith and a follower of Brigid and I had a question regarding my book of shadows. So far I’ve used it to write down the sabbats that I’ve celebrated and how the rituals I’ve participated in have gone but I’m not sure what else should go in there. Is it just for spells, rituals and sabbats? Is it also something of a diary for me to record how I’m doing on my path every day? Can someone please help clarify this for me?
As I understand it, the term ‘Book of Shadows’ is a Gardnerian innovation, or at least was popularised by him in his work on initiatory Wicca. ‘Grimoire’ is another word for it, that isn’t so Wiccan. Gardner differentiated between a Book of Shadows, which contains spells, recipes, and rituals and a Mirror Book, which is more like a diary. That being said, use your Book of Shadows however you’d like. It’s yours. It’s there for your reference. If you think it would be helpful to use it to keep a diary, you should do that.
My personal Book of Shadows (I’m not Wiccan but I enjoy the term) is a small ducky notebook where I keep recipes for oils or incense, information about the high holidays, a dream diary, lists of resources, results of my tarot readings, and whatever UPG I’m musing about. Since you follow Brigid, I’m sure she would appreciate you writing down your thoughts about her, poetry in her name, that sort of thing (the Irish deities are big on poetry).
Most sources say to rewrite information into it by hand, but that’s mostly to help fix it in your memory. For rituals and spellwork, you want to be able to read it without squinting while you’re working and I know my handwriting is too terrible to do that.
- De / teaandneedles
knightfromabook
Didn’t feel it appropriate to add this to the P101 post, but here is my Mystickal Book of Shadows:
Reblogging to put this here - I haven't used my ~*~ Book of Shadows ~*~ in a while, but here it is (along with my pocket Rider-Waite - about the size of a standard deck of cards.)
Got some questions about my altar cloth, so I'm reposting it here!
I embroidered this myself a little while ago. It's a surprisingly easy and inexpensive process - it does take some time and some care and dedication, but it doesn't require any great level of skill.
First I found a design that I liked - Celtic clipart is plentiful - and printed it onto onion paper (not actually made of onions, readily available at Staples or similar). I bought some brown broadcloth and pinned the onion paper onto it, then used an embroidery hoop to keep the cloth taut.
Then it was just a matter of tracing over the lines with needle and thread. I used a sharp needle and embroidery floss (two strands for the gold, three for the green). I used a simple backstitch. Yes, right through the paper and fabric. While it's tempting to use long stitches on the straightaways, you need tiny stitches for the curves and points, and if your stitch length is too varied the finished product will look sloppy. It's a little finicky but not difficult.
Once I finished stitching, the paper was so perforated that it was a simple matter of VERY CAREFULLY pulling it away. Pulling too hard loosens the stitches, but the paper is so thin that running the point of the needle down the lines usually ripped it right away. I used a pair of tweezers to get the little bits.
Then I just ironed it flat and hemmed the edges of the broadcloth.
If anyone needs any advice or help with making their own, my ask box is always open!