Category: Updates

Winter Rituals and Folklore

January 5, 2019

Back in the 1990s I participated in mummers groups at Reclaiming Tradition witchcamps in British Columbia.  Combining my fascinations with folklore and ritual, mummers plays and costumed evocations were sometimes remarkably potent, memorable events.  For this reason, I love to see folkloric celebrations taking place during the dark times of the year.  Here are a few videos worth a look.

The Mari Lwyd is a tradition seen in South Wales around Christmas and the twelve days of Christmas.  Featuring a decorated horse skull, often with a mobile, clacking jaw, with the “horse” clad in white, and accompanied by a costumed retinue, the Mari Lwyd makes house visitations, with the retinue striving to be invited in.  Sometimes there are traditional songs, an offer of hospitality by the people at home, or a rhyming contest.  See for yourself how this tradition has recently been revived in a local school in Wales.

A spookier and more disturbing tradition comes from the Alpine regions of Germany and Austria.  Perchta (plural: Perchten) is a folkloric woman, possibly related to the Goddess Holda, who visits homes between Christmas and Twelfth Night.  She knows, like Santa, whether you’ve been naughty or nice.  This crew of antlered Perchten is from the Tirol region of Austria, and is creepy, wonderful, loud, and decidedly ancient AND postmodern.  Take a look.

A joyful Twelfth Night to you all.

-Talasyn

Winter Solstice & the Dagda

December 21, 2016

Today I celebrated Winter Solstice in ritual with a close friend and long-time priestess.  We worked with the Dagda, Brigid, and a number of the land spirits at Bru na Boinne, where the most exquisite thing happens at every winter solstice.  A shaft of winter sunrise sunlight makes its way down the narrow stone passageway to Newgrange and floods the chamber with light.  It happens only for a few days on either side of Winter Solstice each year, making it a rare and special event.

OghamStaves
Charging the ogham staves

And so we traveled there to work magic for personal and political ends.  It is the house of the Dagda, so we sought his permission for our visit, as well as consulting the land spirits.  It was a potent ritual for both of us, and has left us with a number of ideas, visions, and further ritual work to explore.

If you’d like to learn more about the Winter Solstice alignment at Bru na Boinne, this video provides further information.

Light is returning.  Sleep well.

-Talasyn

 

 

 

Vigilance and Activism

November 27, 2016

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(image: http://tinyurl.com/han7zo4)

It is a few weeks since the Presidential election in the US, and I have determined not to recede into silence.  While many in the mainstream media are saying, “give Trump time to make his political appointments,” and “wait and see,” I have seen plenty.  The country is weeks away from passing into the hands of a narcissistic, ill-prepared, surly-tempered demagogue, and we are in serious trouble.  So many of us are equating this election result with the rise of Hitler in Weimar Germany in the early 1930s.  Our eyes are open, and we have the benefit of historical awareness, so we cannot be silent.

I’ve been thinking about the role of ritualists and magic workers in acting out, speaking up, and choosing to focus our will decisively.  Let’s stand together for social justice and political sanity in the face of hateful and destructive rhetoric and actions.  Street protests, calls to legislators, and keeping up pressure on the parts of government we can reach all have an important role.  But we are ritualists–witches, seers, magicians and druids, to name but a few.  Now is the time to draw on those skills to make social change and work the channels that we know how to work.

May the power of Brigid’s forge inspire us to action,

-Talasyn