Frugal & Eco-Friendly Pagan Decor & Ritual Gear

A lot of metaphysical/magical/Pagan ritual tools and statuary etc. are expensive, and cheap alternatives are often not very eco-friendly.

The ever-amazing Ozark Pagan Mamma (Tressabelle) has some great ideas for crafting Pagan decor

Crafting with Salt Dough– make simple (or complex!) wall plaques, deity figurines, beads etc.

Misc. Thrifty Craft Formulas

Lupa also has lots of suggestions for eco-friendly ritual tools, including how she gathers ethically sourced animal parts and other items for her own artwork.

More links on an earlier post of mine- Practice- Simple & Frugal

Advertisement

July Heathen Round Table

Heathen Round Table Prompt for July:

What are your beliefs about deities from other religions/pantheons, both polytheistic and not? Do you honour any, and how do you balance that with heathenry?

Well I have been a Gaelic polytheist or Druid for a lot longer so for me the question is a bit more in reverse. That is, I honor both the Tuatha De Danaan as well as the Aesir & Vanir. I believe the two can blend together pretty well for both historic reasons and cultural similarities. There is a lot of Norse influence in especially northern Scotland, the Hebrides and Orkney islands, there is the blending of Anglo-Saxon and Brythonic traditions in Britain and in continental Europe, it is often tricky to distinguish between historical accounts of which tribes were Germanic and which were Celtic. I’m continually researching and learning new things about how these cultures compare, overlap, intersect and how they differ. I also from time to time will honor deities of other cultures/religions, typically when I am invited by friends or family members to partake in a ceremony, holiday celebration or simply a meal-time prayer. I just won’t participate in aspects that conflict, such as reciting creeds or statements about how there is only one god

Lugh

Note that some of these articles are solely about the Irish Lugh Lamfada, others also compare him to the Welsh Lleu and Gaulish Lugus. I’ll leave it up to the reader to determine whether the three are ultimately the same or not- it’s probably beyond our knowing, as mortals.

General overview

The Nature & Character of Lugh by Tressa Disney (Ozark Pagan Mamma)

Specifics

What’s in a name: Lugh

Family Members

Tales of Eithliu– Story Archaeology podcast, Notes on Eithliu– Yew, Oak, Apple blog

The Women Lugh Wed, The Marriages of Lug– Yew, Oak, Apple blog

Pan-Celtic

Lugus: The Many-Gifted Lord by Alexei Kondratiev

Gaulish

Lugus by Segomaros Widugeni

Comparison to non-Celtic cultures

The Birth of Lugh– Odin & Loki Among the Celts by Thor Ewing

 

 

Aspergers, or schizoid personality disorder?

Another label with symptoms that overlap with autism

Heathens for Social Justice

I used to be a member of Heathens United Against Racism on Facebook- left them mostly because I found them too disorganized, but still supported them in spirit. Well, no more. I stand with Heathens for Social Justice instead. Read this to understand why. I’m bad enough at making sense of interpersonal drama with people I’ve met let alone people I only know on the Internet- but I think the facts here do speak for themselves.

Kvasir Amongst the Gods

As some of you may or may not know, I used to be an administrator over at Heathens United Against Racism.  I am no longer there, because the powers that remain there have decided to stop practicing what they preach.

On the fan page, they’re terming it a “internal restructuring“.  This is an understatement akin to calling a raging inferno a “sudden reaction to molecular agitation”.

You all know me; I’m not prone to name calling, but I don’t shy away from demanding accountability either.  On that note, the people who are currently running HUAR are people who are refusing any sort of meaningful accountability or transparency when it comes to their actions.  Not to the bylaws they helped write and voted in.  Not to the communities that they claimed to care about.  Not to the religion that claim to practice.  Nothing.

What you, the reader, do with…

View original post 352 more words

Tailtiu

Last Queen of the Fir Bolg (the people pre-dating both the Tuatha De Danaan & the Fomhoire. She died of exhaustion while clearing a forest for agriculture. Her foster-son, Lugh began the tradition of holding funeral games in her honor.

Family members: father- Mag Mor, husband- Eochaid, Foster-son- Lugh

Sacred Places- Teltown in County Meath

Sacred Days: Bron Trogain (August 1)

Since there is not much info on this Lady, I’ve included articles that are more personal inspiration-based- use these to connect with Her, and develop your own imbas.

Literary Sources

Metrica Dindshenchas

Articles

Tailtiu: Harvest Goddess– Overall, good info- but with some speculation

How I came to Love Tailtiu, Earth Goddess of Ireland , Part 2 by Shiri Sazynski- Historical info & personal experience

Tailtiu, Primal Earth Goddess for this Season

Lunasa Resources

Historical Info

Lunastal– Tairis article, has separate sections on Scotland and Ireland

Lughnasa, Festival of the Harvest by Morgan Daimler

How to Celebrate

Celebrating Lunastal–  Tairis article, has separate sections on Scotland and Ireland

Celebrating Lughnasa– Together or Alone by Morgan Daimler

Deities & Myths Related to Lunasa (this will be links to other resource pages)

Tailtiu

Lugh

Aine

Macha

Rituals

La Lunasa Ritual

A Lughnasadh Rite by Ozark Pagan Mamma

A Celtic-Norse Loaf-Fest Blot by Ozark Pagan Mamma

ADF Lughnasad by Ceisiwr Serith

Honoring Lugus & his relatives by PSVL

Prayers

Morning Lunasa Prayer adapted by Morgan Daimler from Reap Blessing #90 in the Carmina Gadelica

Lunasa Prayer– adapted by Morgan Daimler from Reap Blessing #89 in the Carmina Gadelica

Crafts & Recipes

3 Easy Lunasa Crafts by Ozark Pagan Mamma

Kids’ Activities for Lunasa/Lammas/Freyfaxi by Ozark Pagan Mamma

Lunasa Music Playlist by Ozark Pagan Mamma

Other Inspiration

A Dream of Lughnasa by Morgan Daimler

My new blog- Way of the Sacred Fool begins!

Hey folks- my first post on the Witches & Pagans website is now live! It’s called Way of the Sacred Fool- it’s an exploration of disability & neurodivergent spirituality. I will be continuing this blog, but my writing about spiritual dimensions of disability will be there. The W & P folks prefer exclusive content, so I will be linking the posts to this blog. If you don’t already have one, create an account on Pagansquare and you can comment on my blog. (They won’t spam you I promise!) I welcome thoughts from people of any belief system, so long as they are Pagan-friendly.

I’m feeling a bit of synchronicity as it seems I keep seeing writing on related themes- like Were Hildegard’s Visions Caused by Migraines?

Pushing Round Tables together

The Heathen Round Table topic for July has been posted: What are your beliefs about deities from other religions/pantheons, both polytheistic and not? Do you honour any, and how do you balance that with heathenry?   

Well, that one’s certainly a relevant one for me! Be sure to link to the wordpress blog above, or tag your tumblr posts with #heathen round table.

I notice the Celtic Round Table on tumblr hasn’t been updated since April. Summer happens, people get busy! It’s also on wordpress here. A lot of the participants are part of the Polytheist Community Forum that I belong to, so I will poke them.

So I’m starting it up again with- for folks in the Northern Hemisphere: Do you celebrate Lunasa or other harvest festivals?  Do you integrate any local practices, such as county/state fairs, corn feeds, barbecues, etc? How and why?

For Southern Hemisphere peeps: Do you celebrate Imbolc or other late winter/early spring festivals?   Do you integrate any local practices or holidays? How and why?

The Kemetic Round Table is also on hiatus- I’m not a part of that community, but just thought I’d bring it to folks’ attention in case anyone’s interested in re-starting or re-visiting old topics- you can still submit posts for the old ones.

Untangling Heathen Holidays: July/August, Northern Hemisphere

As I commented before, when looking up information about Heathen holidays, especially with American-based books and websites, it tends to be a big Pan-Germanic mix- some Icelandic, some Anglo-Saxon and some modern American inventions like Einherjar and Vali’s Day. Then there are holidays based on Christian-era folk traditions, which may or may not have pre-Christian roots, but as my readers know, I’m more of a fan of continuing comparatively recent folk traditions that we can share with non-Pagan/Heathen members of various cultures. In the end, I’ll likely end up blending things together from more than one tradition, but I want to know where things come from to begin with! My suggestion is celebrate whatever is being harvested- in my area, it tends to be cucumbers and tomatoes and in July the blackberries in my front yard ripen.

Observance- Cultural Origin- Customs

Lokabrenna- July as month to honor Loki- American Heathen + Global Online Lokean community, with inspiration from later Scandinavian folk beliefs If you are into astronomy (or astrology for that matter) the folk beliefs connect Loki to the rising of Sirius and the hot “dog days” of summer, check when Sirius is actually rising- this could fall in July or August.

1st or 2nd of August- Lammas, Loafmass, Hlaefmaesse– English, Anglo-Saxon revivalist

Based on English Christian customs of baking loaves of bread made from the first wheat harvested and offering them to the Church- a festival of first fruits. More info- Wyrt Wizard, Lammas Eve.  The English folk song “John Barleycorn” is a popular one to sing, and may be associated with Frey himself or his servant, Byggvir (meaning barley). Some Heathens, particular Vanatru see Lammas as the time when Frey sacrifices himself for the land and people, probably a Wiccan or Neo-Pagan influence.

“Come Hláftíd (Loaf-Tide) Béowa, the god of barley, and his bride, Béole “the little bee”, are given worship.  The “first fruits of the harvest”, bread and beer, brewed of barley and honey, are offered to them, that they might beward the speedsome harvest.”- Ealdrice Haedengyld 

1st or 2nd of August Freyfaxi– Icelandic name- American Heathen usage

It’s unclear to me whether this festival was celebrated in pre-Christian Scandinavia or Iceland. The name for this holiday seems to come from the Icelandic Hrafnknel’s saga and Vatnesdaela saga, both feature a man who was a Freysgodhi (priest of Frey) who named his horse Freyfaxi. There are also horse associations (horse racing in particular) with Lunasa, the Gaelic festival around the same time. So to me this one “clicks” with the intermixing of the Norse with the Scots and Irish.

Chapter on Loaf-fest/Freyfaxi in Our Troth

Many connect the harvest with the story of Loki cutting off Sif’s hair. A ritual drama can be acted out, or the story can be told, sung or recited in poetic form. Making corn dollies as part of a “first sheaf” rite is also an option- the Last sheaf tends to be observed in October/November.

Hoietfescht– Urglaawe- Festival of the Hay-time, Hoiet is the Deitsch name for July, and this festival falls either the last week of July or the first week of August. Other names include Sommermit or Corn Boils. At this time, the Wanes (Vanir) are honored for the gifts of the harvest- Frey, Freyja and Njord

General References:

The Holy Tides- Hlaefmaesse- Freyfaxi

Hoietfeshct by Rob Lusch  p. 10, Hollerbier Haven: A Journal of Traditional Deitsch Wisdom Vol. 3, Issue 2