Tutelary Goddesses

Earlier in my post on different categories of ancestors, I mentioned the idea of honoring tutelary spirits and gods of the countries, cities or tribes that one’s ancestors are from, especially if you don’t know much about them or don’t otherwise feel that connected to their culture. Tutelary means guardian- and national personifications in particular tend to be feminine, hence the title of the post.

Ruadhan, a Hellenic Polytheist of British & Irish descent, does this by honoring Britannia & Hibernia, the Roman national personifications of Britain and Ireland. Though they have been adopted by the natives and Hibernia is also various called Eriu, Kathleen ni Houlihan etc. He even wrote a myth explaining their origins.

In another post he notes: “One thing that I regret not posting about this year is my ritual and prayer for my re-envisioning of Shrove Tuesday as Pancake Feast of Britannia and St. Patrick’s Day as Bacon & Cabbage Feast of Hibernia.” I’m always interested in seeing creative polytheist alternatives to St. Patrick’s Day- or for that matter interesting spiritual takes on any secular holiday.

Here’s a list of national personifications from Wikipedia. Oftentimes in Europe, or European colonies they have a name of a Roman province (as above) and are inspired by Athena/Minerva. Some of them are more suitable for honoring than others- especially if they have more character and mythos surrounding them, and are not just symbols. Some of them are more identified with war, nationalism and imperialism. I pretty much just see Uncle Sam as a rather sinister symbol of the U.S. government. Lady Liberty, or Libertas to use her Roman name is honored by American Pagans of many traditions. Columbia, an older national personification has also seen a revival, but there is more controversy surrounding her due to her name and associations with Manifest Destiny. I shall write more of her another time.

There is also often a representation of the ordinary citizen, and one could choose to honor them symbolically for one’s unknown peasant ancestors. I think an even better option is to honor a prominent labor organizer, or other national hero. Cities often have statues of founders or more symbolic characters. I live not far from the Minnesota State Capitol, which is like many capitols adorned with various Greco-Roman style statues. Natural features, such as rivers and mountains have their own spirits. For my own ancestors, as I already mentioned there’s Hibernia & Britannia- there are some who claim that the goddess Brigantia is an earlier antecedent.

For Scotland, there’s Caledonia, Scotia (originally applied to Ireland!) and Jock Tamson (their equivalent of John Bull) I am part German, though I have not been able to trace that part of my ancestry. Germania is the national personification, she doesn’t seem to have much mythos surrounding her. There’s also Berolina (Berlin), Hammonia (Hamburg) and Bavaria (once a country, now a region)

Frau Holle is said to be the mother of the Deitsch people and that is who I’d be most inclined to honor for the Germans- though my ancestors were not Deitsch, they immigrated later on I believe, but I like the Deitsch-American folk traditions.

Cute pic of various national personifications (tried to post here but it was too wide!)

Slate article “Do other countries have their own Uncle Sams?”

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Prometheus

Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetos and Klymene.

In the war between the Titans and the Olympians, Prometheus (his name means “foresight”) knew that the Olympians would win, so he convinced his brother Epimetheus to join him in siding with them. Prometheus created humans out of clay. Later he noticed that humans were cold on earth, and feeling compassion for them,  he decided to steal fire from Olympus to share with them. In punishment, he was chained to Mt. Parnassus, and every day an eagle would come and eat his liver. Every night his liver would grow back, in a cycle of endless torture. Finally his agony was ended when he was freed by Herakles, and apparently by that point Zeus had gotten over it- or maybe it was because it was his son that was freeing him?

I tend to think of Prometheus as a patron of reason, free-thinking and humanism- which may seem contradictory, but as I’ve stated before humanism does not necessarily exclude theism. I also associate the flaming chalice symbol of Unitarian Universalism with him- it represents the torch of civilization being passed on and the light of reason. Prometheus reminds as we revere the gods to not forget about humanity. He inspires us to challenge unjust authority, while his story warns us that rebellion does come at a cost.

Theoi article on Prometheus

Speculation on Reddit: Were the Titans the gods of a pre-Greek society that was supplanted?

Origin of the Flaming Chalice as a symbol of UU-ism

Threads on the Cauldron Forum: Honoring Prometheus, Experiences Honoring Prometheus?

Alternatives to St. Patrick’s Day

As I’ve discussed before, I do celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, as a celebration of Irish culture. I’m curious what other Celtic Pagans/Polytheists are doing for alternatives to conventional St. Pat’s Day? This year I’ll be attending Paganicon, from the 14th-16th, and as the 17th will be on a Monday I’ll be going to Irish class as usual in the evening.

Years back I remember reading Dancing With the Sun,  a book on Witchcraft by Yasmine Galenorn, in which she suggested celebrating Liberalia, a Roman holiday for Bacchus that happened to fall on March 17th. I thought, sure, that’s Pagan, but it’s not Irish. Well, Lupus came up with an interesting idea– e pointed out that like Bacchus/Dionysus, in Irish myth Cuchulainn was born twice, so it would make sense to honor him on that day. Lugaid & Caer are going to be doing that (as well as honoring him on other days)

I would also like to read the Fenian stories in which Oisin or Cailte meets St. Patrick, and engage in interfaith debate.  And here’s some of Gorm’s suggestions on the same blog for celebrating.

I’ve long had the idea of simply honoring the personification of Ireland- Eriu– or Hibernia, Kathleen ni Houlihan- or a sovereignty goddess associated with a part of Ireland that you feel a spiritual connection with (travel, ancestry etc) So please, share your ideas!

The Conversion Narrative

Over on the Cauldron Forum, there was a thread about conversion and Naomi J  made a comment about the concept in sociology of religion of conversion narratives that many converts to a new religion create a “spin” on their life story that explains how it was destiny or somehow inevitable that they would convert. (see post #9) I think that’s perfectly understandable, after all, when looking for a religion a person is often trying to find a way to make sense of the world and their life, but the problem is when they begin to distort events so that they fit into the narrative and deny and invalidate their past.

I wonder about this myself. As time has gone I’ve realized how some of the ways I viewed things spiritually as a kid ultimately led me to paganism. Also upon more conversations with my parents, I’ve realized how theologically liberal they are compared to their peers in the churches we attended.  At this point my dad is basically agnostic but OK with (non-fundie) religious people, and my mother is from my conversations with her, an animist essentially. I think she’s always believed in fairies to some degree, and rocks and plants (and of course animals) hold an importance to her that they don’t to other people.  My mother’s family is from Montana, and being good Westerners they all have a certain reverence for nature, and sense of wonder and respect for it. My mom’s twin is a retired park ranger who worked for many years in Yellowstone National Park. My uncles like to go hunting, and I know for them respect for the animals and the ecosystem is key. My oldest uncle even belongs to multiple hunter conservation groups, like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Another uncle has lived for many years on a Crow Indian reservation, and has kind of been “adopted” by them to some degree, he is even a trained sweat lodge leader.

Back to myself- sometime in toddlerhood my parents realized that I was different – I threw tantrums more than other kids. A doctor labelled me as having “fragile moods”, a brilliant deduction that did not impress my mother.  Later this was identified as “autism” and my brother was labeled autistic as well.  One situation in which I would often throw tantrums was in church. I had to sit quietly and listen to some guy drone about stuff I didn’t understand. So naturally (to me anyway) I protested with “This is BORING!” and demanded to leave. My parents ended up taking turns going to church or staying home with me until I matured more.  But I still had anxiety and social problems which made fitting it at church, school or any other setting difficult.  So I’ve often thought the me ending up pagan is related to me being autistic- not fitting in, and looking for someplace else where I did, following my interests avidly, and just plain thinking differently than other people.

I was a voracious reader from a young age, and my fascination with fairy tales continued as I got older. The fairy tales were next to the mythology books in the library and so I got into those even further. I became an expert on Greek Mythology by the time I was in junior high, and I began exploring other topics I came across- Atlantis, Theosophy, Buddhism. It was more “New Age” than Pagan to begin with, as that was what was available.  I remember feeling sad that the worship of the Greek Gods had gone away. I remember wondering in Sunday School class about  the contradictions I felt between the religious tolerance that my parents taught me and the “thou shalt have no other gods before me” and idol-smashing that went on in the Bible. Wasn’t that intolerant? What’s wrong with Baal or Asherah? What made them “false gods”?  I also remember my mother talking about Mother Nature, and coming to the conclusion that Mother Nature/Earth must be God’s wife. God, Our Father who art in Heaven- that seemed to fit together just right. But then I learned that “Mother Nature” was just a poetic metaphor.   And once again, the contradictions- I was taught to believe in gender equality by my parents, and yet God was always male.

I dutifully went to confirmation class at my Methodist Church and was confirmed. (Back in Iowa, I dropped out of confirmation class in junior high due to bullying- the bullies in question were the children of the Queen of the Church Ladies, hence they could do no wrong)  I remember telling my teacher that the concept of the Trinity didn’t make sense to me, and she tried to use the metaphor that water can be liquid, solid or gas but it is still water. That answer didn’t quite satisfy me, but I went ahead and was confirmed anyway.  Reciting a creed in front of the congregation was a big mistake. I didn’t understand it, and I didn’t know what I believed. Who was Jesus? Who was God? How can someone else “die for your sins”? My parents never knew how to answer my questions, and they became rather uncomfortable when I asked them.  So, I looked for my own answers. I briefly considered plain ol’ atheism/agnosticism but I found religion much too fascinating to give up, so I went to the Hamline University library and the St. Paul Public library and hit the books.  I found books on feminist theology at Hamline, like Womanspirit Rising and yes, good ol’ Drawing Down the Moon. I know some people find that one to be a rather tedious tome, but I was fascinated. There are other people who want to worship the old Gods? I was amazed, and I knew I was one of them. This was who I was meant to be.

(Next chapter- me entering the Twin Cities Pagan Communit(ies)

Other Cauldron Blog Project Posts on Conversion:

The Conversion Narrative by Naomi J (she explains it a lot better than me)

Seeking & Conversion by Juni 

Childhood Religion & Conversion: from Buddhism to Witchcraft and Back Again by Morag Spinner

Conversion & NRE (New Relationship Energy) by Veggiewolf

When the Gods Become Real

One thing that became apparent from the Pop culture Paganism discussion last year was a lot of assumptions people were making about how historic myths are, and where the distinctions lie.  The problem is if these assumptions are false then their whole religion falls apart. Hence part of my reasoning in the Authenticity post.

• Mythological heroes (Heracles, Perseus, Odysseus) were historic and therefore worthy of cultus
• Superheroes were never real people there therefore can’t be “real” gods
• Certain characters in medieval Irish and Welsh literature, written by Christian monks were all historically worshiped as gods.
• A counter-point by others: mythology and folklore was the pop culture of its day

Does this imply that the “high gods” of Olympus and Asgard (etc) were originally human, and that makes them more real? The funny thing is good ol’ Euhumerus made that argument a long time ago, that the gods were all deified humans, but he used that as a rationalist explanation of religion, and his ideas were later used by Christians to discredit polytheism. Which is rather ironic given their spiritual focus on a historic deified human.

While there are some who literally worship Superman, Sunweaver was originally just talking about using characters like him as a metaphor, but even that people freaked out about.  Saigh also writes about using a modern warrior woman character as an icon at her shrine, to serve as inspiration but clarifying that she is not worshiping her as a being. Gefnsdottir shares an intriguing anecdote: “A woman who posts on one of the fora where I lurk had been trying to get pregnant for a year without success. At the end of the year, she remembered a particular ritual from the Kushiel’s Legacy series, wherein D’Angeline women (who can’t get pregnant otherwise) light candles and pray to the goddess Eisheth to “open the gates of their womb”. She decided to perform the ritual, and the following cycle, she became pregnant, and has had no problems since.”

The evidence of worship of many supposed Irish divinities is sketchy and even more questioned is the divine status of characters in the Mabinogi tales such as Manawyddan and Arianrhod.  Some of their names are cognate with the Irish (Manawyddan=Mannanan, Llew=Lugh) memories of gods that have been “demoted” to powerful humans in the stories.  Other characters can be seen as heroes or demi-gods worthy of honor as well. The lines between God, Sidhe, Human Dead and Hero are very blurry in Celtic and Germanic traditions, and they often aren’t as clear in Greek & Roman traditions as people think they are. (Saigh addresses this historical iffy-ness in her above post)

Nowadays, instead of Euhemerus, we have scholars like Ronald Hutton that tell us, sorry to burst your romanticized bubble but that holiday custom was invented by a Scottish nationalist, and that god you’re worshiping was invented by a poet.  Nothing against Hutton, he has been a needed correction to Robert Graves and Margaret Murray, but what he says is historical should not determine our religious practices. If you want your practice to be all historically attested, fine but you’ll constantly have to re-invent the wheel whenever the new scholarly journal comes out.

This is why I’m becoming more comfortable with the idea of honoring folkloric and older literary figures as deities.  I prefer older characters (19th century or earlier) not due to the “older is more authentic” mentality necessarily but because they have had time to show their cultural staying power and relevance.  Also, by then the copyrights have often expired and the commercialism has faded.  A lot of characters come and go in waves of popularity, others stick around for decades or centuries.  At some point, new gods and spirits appear to us. Maybe they are old gods in new guises, trying to be noticed. Maybe they are totally new. Maybe old gods do disappear and reappear in other forms? But we can’t really tell for sure what’s new and what’s old we just have to follow our instincts. I think it’s the spiritual equivalent of evolution and biodiversity. Spirits and their cults and religions have their own eco-spiritual niches, they evolve with the times- or at times they die and come back in a different form if their “niche” no longer fits them.  Some spirits also broaden or narrow their cultural or geographic territory. Gaia, for example from what we know historically wasn’t worshiped very much as a goddess in ancient Greece, she was more of a distant, cosmic principle. But now she is widely worshiped among Neo-Pagans and even Hellenic recons due to modern ecological consciousness.

This is a rather rambling post- I am sorting out a lot of tangled threads, I’m sure I’ll find some of them are strong material, while other strands are thin, weak and don’t lead me anywhere.  Eventually I will start some more weaving!

More bloggy links-

Stone of Destiny: No Capes “Because fandom is not worship. Worship involves pouring energy outward to achieve a result.Fandom, on the other hand, is about the self. It’s about satisfying a need that we feel, filling a hole that our modern society has forgotten how to satisfy.”

Khaos- Are We Praying For it?

I’ve been pondering a chicken and the egg problem- or should I call it the god and the goth-

We are constantly wringing our hands and moaning “whatever shall we do” about problems with various forms of dysfunction, infighting and disorganization among Neo-Pagans, as well as many people struggling with (un/der) employment, poverty and mental illness. (though I’m not blaming people for  economic  & mental health issues) Much of this maybe distorted by the demographics and behavior of the Internet- some people behave worse online, because they can get away with it more easily by hiding their identities,  and our brains tend to magnify negativity.  Still, I see this off-line as well.

People with all sorts of personal problems, backgrounds of difficult family relationships and who just plain don’t fit in, are frequently and often disproportionately drawn to New Religious Movements (NRMs) of which the Neo-Pagan movement is one.

However, I’ve also noticed that many of these people are focusing their worship on gods of chaos, destruction, death and social upheaval. Certainly deities such as the Morrigan, Dionysus, Kali, Shiva are legitimate parts of our religions but I’m wondering if giving and getting to much attention to and from them is collectively adding to our problems.

In some cases (such as Hecate) darker aspects are more emphasized in modern practice than in ancient times. Other gods we have no evidence were worshiped in ancient times, and while that by itself may not be a problem if you’re not a strict reconstructionist, worshiping some of these gods is a really bad idea.  Lilith, a goddess disguised by the Patriarchy as a demoness (as with pretty much any other negatively depicted female figure in mythology) Spiteful Eris, the original cause of the Trojan War becomes a cool goddess for spiritually dabbling hippies in the 1960’s. As far as absurdist religion goes, try the Flying Spaghetti Monster, not Eris. And then there’s Loki, red hair, handsome looks, fun stories, He’s all about stickin’ it to the Man- that wimpy Baldur dude? Who needs him? Ragnarok, bring it on!

 

This post is part of the Pagan Blog Project.

 

More on Outsiders

I was curious to see what other people had to say about Outsiders, here are some things I found:

An essay on the ADF website- he also discusses the idea of outsiders as emotions, and talks about the social/anthropological aspects as well as cosmological.

Earrach of Pittsburgh- Senior Druid of the Sassafras Grove- gives some explanations and instructions on this part of ADF ritual.  Similar to the above, pretty standard ADF viewpoints.  He makes a good point of recommending calling it “acknowledgement” of the outsiders rather than invocation or offering.  He affirms that we are trying not to draw their  attention.

Outsiders: What, Like It’s Hard or Something? Goofy post- but makes a good point that who the outsiders are depends on the focus of the ritual. Amusingly, she calls herself the “Elle Woods of the Occult” (from Legally Blonde)

Adapting the ADF Ritual Format for Families– Tressa Belle thinks the Outsider step is unnecessary, and suggests instead a blessing of the space for protection.  She says simpler rituals are best for families, and I must agree. Long, complex rituals = not kid-friendly, which makes typical ADF rites a problem. Nice blog overall. Though I don’t have kids currently, I often find family-oriented Pagan resources to be useful- I am kind of a big kid myself!

From the Celtic Reconstructionist FAQ “Some CRs strive to make “treaty” with such beings, usually at the boundaries of their property or some distance from a ritual site. This is done to make an agreement that if the Spirits take the offering, They are promising to not disrupt the home or ritual.”

So, it’s not just an ADF thing. This section also describes Outsider as an ancient & modern social role. To differentiate from this, some folks in ADF use the term “Outdweller” for these spirits.  It looks like others are having some of the same feelings/thoughts as I am on this.

Sacred Cauldron by Tadhg MacCrossan

Note: I have been posting my book reviews on my other blog, Roots Leaves & Threads but I thought I’d put Pagan-related ones here.

Sacred Cauldron is an excellent primer on Celtic Reconstructionist religion. (Regardless of whether the CR community thinks) Tadhg MacCrossan calls his tradition “Druidactos” focusing on Gaulish culture. There isn’t much information on Gaulish polytheism, however so most of the book is based on Irish and Welsh mythology, history and folklore.
I can tell it is very well researched, using many reputable sources I am familiar with such as “Celtic Heritage: Ancient Tradition in Ireland & Wales” by the Rees brothers and “Gods of the Celts” by Miranda Green.
On the down side- There were some assertions in the “Gods and Their Tales” chapter that I found questionable- so be a little careful with that. I thought his ritual set up (nemeton or grove) was overly complex- I think it is based on Vedic (Indian) ritual. He includes several useful appendices terms for ritual gear and other words in various languages including Proto-Indo-European. In general he is very big on comparing IE mythologies, but I think he tends to emphasize similarities over differences a little too much. We certainly can get many good ideas from other IE (and some non-IE) cultures, but we need to stay true to the Celtic spirit. Overall though, this is a well put together and very useful book for Celtic Pagans. I wish it would go back in print!

Though I have to say the marketing on the back is annoying “Secrets of the Druids Revealed!” That’s typical Llewellyn, probably not the author’s choice.