June Solstice 2010 onlinepagans.com Pagans

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Online
Pagans
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June Solstice 2010
onlinepagans.com
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Premiere Issue!
Bast photo courtesy B. Gruagach
Contents
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Editor’s Note
Pānchālī
Solstice! June 21 2010
Sacrifice of the Heart
Follow That Feeling In Your Tummy!
The Brigid Brand
Walking a Blended Path: A Brief Overview of Christo-Paganism
Walking a Celtic Path With Two Broken Legs
Pagan Bookshelf: Pagan Poetry
Notes From A Paranormal Investigation: Case #1
Yearning of the Night
I Will Stay With You
Ritual, Pattern, Time & Perception
The Wiccan Rede and the Law of Threefold Return
Pagan Destinations: Temple of Sekhmet, Indian Springs NV USA
June 2010 Online Pagans Magazine 3
Editor’s Note
by Ben Gruagach
Ganesha photo by B. Gruagach
W
elcome to the premiere
issue of Online Pagans
Magazine!
Our hardworking band of contributors has
been conspiring for months to put
together a quality publication for all
types of Pagans from all around this
magnificent world we share.
As a gift to the Pagan community
this issue is free. Everything was
done on a volunteer basis because
we wanted to give something back
to our community. Online and electronic versions of the magazine will
cost nothing and printed versions
will be available for the cost of production and shipping using print-ondemand technology.
In this issue you’ll find articles on:
dd
the Solstice covering both the
northern and southern hemisphere
dd
parenting from a Pagan perspective
dd
a thought-provoking article
about the problems with preconceptions and cultural blinders when following “traditional” Pagan paths
dd
a selection of touching poems written by a modern American
Hindu
dd
observations of how the worship of Brigid has changed over the
years
dd
a bit of history and theory
about the Wiccan threefold return
concept
dd
a straightforward explanation of a blended spiritual path that
is becoming more popular: ChristoPaganism
dd
notes from a paranormal investigation conducted in North Dakota USA
4 Online Pagans Magazine June 2010
dd
book
recommendations,
photos, and more!
We would love to showcase the
work of even more Pagan authors,
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and artists regardless of what
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Image CC courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/riverap1/3731118876/
Pānchālī
by Sunil P. Narayan
Pulled into my husbands’ court by my uncombed hair
Thrown onto the floor where hundreds of feet touch their thick, red silk
The flowing carpet rises and falls like the mist of my garden
I know you are immovable in your rage Shákuni
Your ego knows no limits, it is like a snake stalking a mouse
Quietly without remorse in its meager heart
All eyes watch me cry in anguish as you pull my sari
To end of this room it flows like the Gaṅgā
Shining with its thin, gold-laden fabric
And crippled by your greedy fingers
Dignified beauty you tossed with your dice
Human emotions you sacrificed with your heart
Bring your eyes to mine to see one word: regret
Ha! You are the nectar’s enemy: regret!
If you took me then Kṛṣṇa will smite you right now!
His chakra a knife for your spineless body
All my fears that followed me at night with my friends
Nibbling on their black pearls while I watched roses rise
They are you…a shadow that rapes the moon
I cannot give you my body for it belongs to Keśava!
My life will one day be returned to his home
To live as a cowherd while churning milk for his hungry lips
The boyish smile and curly hair that barely touches his shoulders
His eyes so wide yet shaped like the waning moon
Little specks in the corner of both eyes are galaxies unknown to us
So far away other people exist for whom Kṛṣṇa is their king
If I am his then he is my king too
Shákuni, you are the drunken ego, a corrupted seed for humanity!
My body is a vase holding the virtues of Sūrya
He touched my spirit to give me a bite of his own
Disrobing me in front of my husbands and all the Āryas of their kingdom
is a sacrilege!
I cry to you to stop this great injustice!
Can’t you see I have sunken into a sea of distress!?
No, you are busy drowning my voice with your wicked laughter
Brahmā gave you a boon that protects your life from any physical or divine harm
Yet, has he no shame when seeing this monstrous deed?
Ma! You are Sarvāsuravināśā, come to my rescue!
Show your terrifying face to this savage
Make him cower under your crippling stare, ma!
Turn his limbs into brittle sticks so he will stop treating my honor like a toy
Solstice! June 21 2010
by Granny Theresa
S
olstice is upon us! A wonderful
day - one of only two that come
each year: the first in June and
the second coming in the month of
December.
In June solstice in the northern
hemisphere shows us the longest day
of the year, and it shows us summer,
sunshine and warmth. In the southern hemisphere it is the shortest day
of the year and brings with it the
promise of the sun coming back, the
days starting to get longer and the
promise of spring to come.
There are many ways to celebrate a
holiday and it is often easy in the
northern hemisphere to forget that
there are a lot of folks celebrating the
same day but in a different way with
the sun still as a focus. In the north
we are celebrating the abundance of
sun, and in the south we are encouraging it to come back.
Let’s talk a little bit about some of
the colors that are traditionally used
with the holiday. Colors to celebrate
the sun include golden yellows,
bright scarlet reds, white, pink and
even violet. As the longest day of
the year the summer solstice is a bit
more of a sexy holiday where we can
wear fresh flowers in our hair and
celebrate the brightness of the sun
and the full life around us.
For a winter solstice, with it being the shortest day of the year,
we want to use silver to honor the
moon and warm golds to remind
the sun to come back, and to honor
the promise of longer days ahead. It
is more of a holiday of looking for
and soaking in some warmth from a
fire and more layers in clothing, and
decorations and the colors tend to
lean more to the darker hues of the
greens and reds.
At the cold winter solstice there
is more of a focus on bringing our
mind and body into harmony, gaining peace and balance. Summer solstice instead is often focused toward
going, being, and outside activities
and of course the time of many marriages.
Regardless of when you are getting
married you can trace many of those
wedding traditions back to old pagan ways, from tossing the garter to
wearing rings to confirm the marriage. The flowers that are carried
and then tossed are a phallic symbol
- promising the girl that catches them
that a man is coming and she is the
next to find a mate. The garter is a
circle representing a woman, and to
the man that catches it a promise of
a maiden that will come to him.
Both the winter and the summer solstice include the old religion practice
of hanging a branch or wreath over
the doorway. In winter the evergreen
is there to remind us that life is ever
present, ever renewable and ever
green. In the summer the branches
used are instead for protection and
Rowan branches are often the ones
we choose.
Herbs are also an important part of
a solstice holiday! In the summer the
herbs are abundant and we are gathering them and using them fresh; but
hopefully we are also drying them for
use throughout the year including at
the winter solstice when we are making our soups and stews savory and
reminding us of the warmth of summer. In the winter months we may
be harvesting roots, but in the summer months we are able to harvest
the buds, flowers, leaves and stems!
The solstice holiday reminds us well
of the wheel of life and how we go
from the darkness of the winter solstice, all the way to the brightness
and longest day of the summer solstice and then we are headed back
again to the shortening of the days
leading us back to the winter.
At summer solstice we want to encourage time outside, dining outside, lounging on the porch, the patio, your yard or a local park - outside
with family and friends is the key!
Bike, walk, hike and swim, camp;
just get outside into nature and into
the sun. Go on a nature walk and
learn to identify herbs, flowers, trees
- you can even look for stones and
shells near a water source.
Winter solstice is more about time
inside, near a fire, close to our
friends and family. It’s all centered
more around the home and being
in the home. You can even play the
crystal wish game. Everyone is given
a wrapped crystal, some are beautiful
and some are not so much to look at;
each person unwraps theirs and sees
what they have been given. Then
someone rings a silver bell. When
the bell rings you must make a wish,
and then give your crystal away. If
you give the crystal away with a happy heart your wish is said to come
true; if not then the wish is probably
not going to come back to you!
It is funny to watch how even grown
ups have been taught to hang on to
what they have, and do not want
to hand away a beautiful crystal or
stone. We forget the truth that all
of them are all perfect gifts from na-
ture. The game can continue as long
as you wish - and some families even
leave a bell out for an entire gathering allowing anyone to ring the bell,
and give you the opportunity to
make a wish.
Regardless of where you are on June
21st, embrace the solstice energy;
embrace the wheel of life and make
some time to just soak it in and enjoy!
Sacrifice of the Heart
by Sunil P. Narayan
A capsule of love is sitting in my heart
It grows like the thick hairs on your mountainous chest
I sit in a meditative state, chanting your name till Sūrya arises
Calmness and warmth, the two things he taught me
Saraṇyū runs away from him every night, frightened and secretive
Sunlight rushes into the world as the Aśvinau storm through the sky in their chariots
I close my eyes to prevent any pain from occurring
But open to see nothing while your breath trickles down my neck
Your scent of trees with pine needles containing clear sap
The birds singing a song of romantic mating
No! Don’t feed me your sap, my lord!
Rub it onto my lips as if they were your sweat
We slither into the corridor under a grassy hill
All the way into another world of playful fairies
Little moss-covered wooden homes surround a clear clairvoyant lake
Lamps adorn the water, unmoving but showing me the whole earth
I do not know what you want me to do tonight
But I caught myself obeying your every command, a hornet in your catacomb
Ensnare my seducing eyes to make me see just your body which
crushes me into glass pieces
Your voice screams like a wolf when mating
When you are done I am gone: an existence leaving behind encapsulated love
Your soul is not in your body so devour it!
I am the reason for you to continue living in a demon-filled world
Sūrya gave me love to give to you!
Your tears become little drops of pearls for which the fairies hurriedly gather
The door for this world is sealed shut as you dwell in a cage of timeless ecstasy
background image CC courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/chromatic_aberration/3829629152/
Follow That Feeling In
Your Tummy!
by Granny Theresa
W
e all know the idea of
“follow your inner voice”
or “well what does your
tummy say” after all that is advice
that is passed down again and again
in families. BUT what about when
that inner voice tells you that Uncle
Bob is not someone that you should
hug? Followed immediately with
your mom saying “Don’t be shy! Go
over there and hug your Uncle Bob.”
When it comes to teaching youth to
follow their inner voice, we often cut
that message short or ignore it all
together in an effort to be polite or
nice.
What message are we then teaching
the little ones? Trust your inner voice
unless it will make someone uncomfortable or unless it is impolite - is
that really the message we want to be
sending? After all in life often standing in our own truth is not always
comfortable.
As a child gets older there will be
many times that peer pressure alone
will encourage them to ignore their
inner voice. Perhaps the child knows
the rule of never getting in the car
with a driver that is drinking, and
maybe the inner voice is screaming
NO! - but all the friends are saying
come on don’t be rude, don’t make
a scene; just come on! So when we
want to teach a united message of living authentically and listening to our
heart, or our tummy or ... do we really want it diluted with polite, nice
and well behaved?
What if instead you are headed to
Aunt Lilly’s house and you have the
talk on the way - it is ok, you do not
have to go and hug her, just be polite and use your manners. But once
you get in the door Aunt Lilly scoops
up the child and takes her off to the
kitchen to give her a present.
It is complicated isn’t it; trying to
think of all the different places in
your life where you need to balance
trust, love, lessons, manners, safety
and so much more. Trying to set an
example and do it right while leaving
the space for another to walk their
own path.
thing that is over-reactive or can be
ignored with a stronger will.
So what kind of tips will assist you
on your path, and as an example to
youth and others? One is to be authentic with your feelings, honor
them and explain that is your reason
for a decision.
An example could be - I am just not
feeling comfortable about this camping trip over the 4th of July, so no I
am not going to come. I do hope you
have a good time though. Then follow through on honoring that voice
and the choice that you have made.
What we do know is that when it
comes to children that are sexually
abused approximately 30% of the
perpetrators are relatives of the child
and around 60% are “friends” of
the family, babysitters, or neighbors.
Only about 10% of the cases are
from offenders that are strangers. (1)
When it comes to children often it
is best to talk to the other adults in
their life and let them know what
your parenting goal is and how they
can HELP you to make sure that the
child will have all the tools they need
later in life to stay safe and honest
with themselves.
So we know for a fact, that in the
case of child sexual abuse, the majority of threat comes from a person
you know, and allow to spend time
with your child.
Once you get started you will see it
is actually easier then it first seems
and you will probably be pleasantly
surprised at the support you do have
available from the other adults in
your life.
Now that we have a very real threat
in mind, do you look differently at
the idea of listening to that inner
voice? Your voice or the voice of your
child - the actions and the words and
even the body signals.
References
(1) Julia Whealin, PhD - National
Center for Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder, US Department of Veterans Affairs.
We often think that listening to our Yield sign photo CC courtesy http://www.
inner voice is a valuable tool, and at flickr.com/photos/tillwe/38356334/
the same time we treat it like someJune 2010 Online Pagans Magazine 11
The Brigid Brand
by Nuadu of Kildare
Now after the spear had been given to
him, Ruadan turned and wounded Goibniu. But he plucked out the spear and
cast it at Ruadan, so that it went through
him, and he died in the presence of his
father in the assembly of the Fomorians.
The Brig came and bewailed her son. She
shrieked at first, she cried at last.
So that then for the first time crying and
shrieking were heard in Erin. Now it was
that Brig who invented a whistle for signaling at night.
- The Second Battle of Moytura.
In the modern western world the majority of us live in consumer oriented
societies where ‘new’ products are
constantly appearing to enrich our
lives and longstanding brands seem
to change to suit ‘new’ markets. The
thatched cottages and wind blasted
landscape aside, as a youth I inhabited a world shaped by markets and
the ‘latest’ products.
During my youth I noticed three
defining brand changes, or changes
that at least meant something to my
juvenile mind. Two of those changes
were the names of chocolate bars.
Marathon took on the cool American name Snickers; Opal fruits, the
multi coloured super sugared toffee
textured fruity greatness, became
Starburst. The two products basically
remained the same but regional marketing was swapped for a more uniform global brand model. The third
thing that changed was something I
considered far less important than
chocolate; as I looked at spirituality
for myself I noticed how something
that to me had always been a boring
bog standard Christian saint, all be
it with some fun handicrafts associ- Alternatively since marketing and
ated with her, become a cool Pagan consumer culture are modern things,
are we projecting our modern lives
goddess.
onto the past in assuming that the
When we as Neopagans look to le- Brig, a Pagan deity, is cognate with
gitimize our beliefs we tends to look the Christian intercessor, Saint Britowards history, to a time before our git? In that case we as Neopagans in
own. Maybe without considering it modern consumer cultures would be
we hold a belief that older is more sa- rebranding the Saint using an undercred - it is certainly a trait of ‘Celtic’ standing gained from life in our era.
religion in Ireland. Here the vast majority of the traditionally sacred sites The Brigit’s Cross is one sedate veror fairy forts are usually antique me- sion of many Piseogs in Irish culture,
dieval farms. But in many ways times certainly it has a non-Christian elebefore our own may not be devoid of ment to it but far less then a Piseog
many of the things we associate with bag filled with carefully chosen feathour modern era. An example may be ers, animal parts and stones that
marketing where the pagan goddess may be hung from a tree by someone
and Saint Brigit are concerned, we wanting to curse you. It may just be
may find that the Christian church as common an expression of Irish
of the early medieval employed very culture as preventing bad luck by saymodern methods to win over our ing ‘god bless the work,’ no more Pagan than a hurling match or visiting
people towards a new religion.
a friend to play cards at night.
When we look at the Saint and the
famous Piseog - Saint Brigit’s Cross If that is the case rather than Chris- as a form of non christian secular tians rebranding a Pagan loosely it
or pagan belief that survived at- would be we who are rebranding a
tached to Christianity, it may be the Christian saint as loosely Pagan and
case that the church took the Pagan we who preserve Christian traditions
goddess and very loosely rebranded in our NeoPaganism.
her as a Christian to help convert
people. Marketing under the circum- A great portion of being Neopagan
stances may not be the modern thing is educating ourselves so when we
we imagine it to be. Marathon bars are faced with many choices we can
were mundane and local but when make informed decisions. The issue
they were renamed Snickers they of whether a saint is Pagan or not is
became cool to a younger audience one of those times when we all have
while keeping them to the same ba- to choose for ourselves. Without
sic recipe kept the loyalty built up placing a value judgment on either
among older consumers. Maybe the view I think its interesting that a PaBrig became Saint Brigit in the same gan goddess, whether in the past or
way. A Christian rebranding of a de- the modern world, became a popular
ity that kept some old traits so she brand name.
would still be familiar enough to attract Pagans.
St Brigid shrine photo CC courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/irishfireside/196492935/
St. Brigid’s Well petitions CC courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/markwaters/3243989698/
Walking a Blended Path:
A Brief Overview of
Christo-Paganism
by VJ Raven
W
Spell casting is a common practice
among many on a Christo-Pagan
path… Some spells that are used are
specifically designed for those on a
Christo Pagan path and others have
been adapted from Wicca or Witchcraft to make the spell specific to
the Christian Holy Trinity or even
one of the Christian Saints, who are
classed as “messengers” between the
mortal and their God. Spells used by
a Christo-Pagan encompass a wide
variety of uses, from healing to finding something lost…. From finding a
The use of an altar is a common new home to creating Holy Water….
theme. Generally a Christo-Pagan From ending negativity/binding
has some representation(s) of Chris- spells to fertility and welcoming a
tianity on their altar—a cross for ex- new child.
ample—and some representation of
the four elements of earth, air, fire It is a common misconception that
and water. The tools of a Christo- Christo-Pagans use only light magick
Pagan are similar to those on a Wic- and wish no one else any harm. In
can or Witchcraft path. An incense some cases, yes, that is true. Howburner/censure, bottles of Holy Wa- ever, there are some Christo-Pagans
ter, anointing oils, candles (both al- who believe in balancing light and
tar and candles specific to the ritual darkness, and yet others who walk
being performed) and salt are quite only in shadows. It depends on the
common items on a Christo-Pagan’s person’s beliefs and how they view
altar. Other items may include items the world around them.
that are personal to the Christo-Pagan to personalize and enhance their
rituals/magick. Some have images of
the Virgin Mary, others use a pentacle, some have pentagrams represented on theirs and others have images
of their patron Saint(s).
e who walk a blended Christian Wicca is different from
path combine two or Christian Witchcraft. Christian Wicmore aspects of religious ca follows the tenets of the Wicca
beliefs into one. Sometimes the two path while following the Ten Comare very different and unusual paths. mandments in the Christian Bible
and praying to the Christian Holy
Christo-Paganism is defined as blend- Trinity. Christian Witchcraft does
ing Christianity with some form not generally follow the tenets of the
of Paganism, which encompasses a Wicca path but some elements are
wide range of blended paths. Under the same — the use of spells, prayers
the umbrella of Christo-Paganism and the energy surrounding all of us
are paths such as Christian Wicca, and that flows throughout the uniChristian Mysticism and Christian verse.
Witchcraft for example, and under
each of those paths are various subpaths, encompassing different beliefs
and different rituals.
The Christian Holy Trinity is represented in some form or another.
God (The Father), Jesus (The Son)
and the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost)
are represented. Some see this trinity as completely male while others
see The Father and Son as the Male
aspects and the Holy Spirit as the
Female aspect of the triple God, the
Mother of the Son.
The symbol to represent Christo-Paganism can either be a cross, a pentagram or a cross-pentagram, which
is a Latin cross with the image of a
pentagram either etched or mounted
on the front of it.
Walking a Celtic Path
With Two Broken Legs
by Nuadu of Kildare
T
here are two crippling points
for the average person walking a Celtic Pagan path in
my opinion: preconceptions and
mistaken assumptions. They make it
as difficult to walk a Celtic path as
two broken legs make walking up the
street. For example the average person interested in forms of Traditional Irish Religion really doesn’t know
much about them. He does not understand how groups are structured
or how it’s propagated. That’s OK
- any kind of Native Paganism is an
obscure subject. We only hit the
stumbling block when we don’t recognize that lack of knowledge.
In most cases in my country, by dint
of living in Ireland, we are convinced
that we do know quite a bit about
the subject. Given that Traditional
Irish Religion is a minority religion
within Celtic Paganism, itself a minority religion in Ireland, never
mind the scarcity of Traditional Irish
Religion outside Ireland, most of
the knowledge we acquire is almost
never through personal exposure to
actual native forms of paganism.
On top of books, films and other
similar sources, we primarily base
our knowledge about Traditional
Irish Religion on what we already
know from more popular forms of
Celtic Paganism. From Celtic Wic-
problem is the mistaken assumptions people have.
A while back on an internet poetry
forum the subject of duotheism within Celtic Paganism came up. Specifically, someone wanted to know the
names of ‘the god and goddess’ in
the Irish Culture. When an elderly
person, a man whose family may have
practiced a form of Celtic Paganism
in Ireland long before Gardner made
his efforts public, responded by saying the concept of a God and Goddess didn’t exist in his tradition - the
forum became a battle field. There
was outrage, he was called so many
big words by way of insults there must
have been a sale on insult-word-a-day
toilet paper or something. The main
gist of the complaints seemed to me
to be that he was being insensitive in
the format of his reply and he was
behind the times. What’s comment
worthy in my opinion is not one of
the critics had even a fraction of his
experience and none of them bothered to ask why he didn’t believe in
duotheism.
ca, Celtic Shamanism, Druidry etc.
We assume that people practicing
Traditional Irish Religions are organized into similar groups too and are
taught about it in the same way as in
those popular forms of Celtic Paganism. We might be very disappointed
when we see groups of people at sacred sites seemingly walking around
instead of performing group rituals.
We might suspect Traditional Irish
Religions aren’t religions at all because no one is loudly invoking a deity. We are used to things from more
popular forms of Celtic Paganism
and can assume they are universal in
Celtic Paganism. When Traditional
Irish Religions do not meet our preconceived expectations rather than
considering the possibility that those
expectations might be misplaced or
Those people were incensed by a
in error, we can become frustrated.
simple response in text on an internet forum because of the mistaken
In my experience approaching any assumption that Traditional Irish
neopagan path with preconceptions Religions have to meet the same
is one of the greatest hobbling posts standard formula as popular forms
to neopagans today. Nearly as big a of Celtic Paganism. That it had to
be sensitive to individual tastes and
needs and had to be democratic and
fair. Whether or not I agree that
duotheism is absent from Traditional Irish Religions, it is based on a cultural tradition, and because of that,
and maybe to its detriment in a modernist society it’s not something that
can be altered to suit the situation.
It’s validated not by its mass appeal
but by its relationship to our culture.
It’s not for everyone, it’s not even for
everyone in Ireland. It wont suit everyone’s tastes but instead of using
the opportunity to ask why someone
of such vast experience held a personal belief they hammered away at
the hobbling post with their mistaken assumption.
No one enjoys being told that they
don’t know what they’re talking
about. Even if we suspect it’s true, we
resent having it pushed in our face.
It’s even worse when we have devoted ourselves to reading and talking
with other people about the subject
at hand. We hate thinking that all
that effort has gone to waste. If you
have the inclination this anonymous
typer has a piece of advice. When
you’re tempted to be angry at your
preconceived notions or mistaken
assumptions being held up to you,
think less about the irritation of having your ideas attacked and more
about the opportunity to expose
yourself to new and wider experiences. It isn’t always pleasant. It might
even be something you don’t want to
hear but in my experience it’s easier
to walk a Celtic Pagan path without
the hindrance of two broken legs.
Pagan Bookshelf:
Pagan Poetry
by Ben Gruagach
P
oetry has been part of Pagan
spirituality since the beginning
of religion, the beginning of
poetry, and likely the beginning of
spoken language. There is something truly holy about words that
are offered in honour of the Divine.
Many spell-workers have also found
that words have extra effect when
selected to produce rhythms and
rhymes.
Poetry was an important way of
passing on knowledge in the times
before written language. In Celtic
culture Druids spent years memorizing long poems as part of their basic training. We see this even today
-- William Dalrymple’s book “Nine
Lives” documents examples such
as illiterate healers near Pabusar in
northern India who recite the fourthousand-line Epic of Pabuji from
memory. Even when poetry becomes
formalized through writing it can
become the core way of transmitting
myth and religion. Greek religion
for instance was passed on through
the generations through the written
poetic works of literate scholars such
as Homer, Sappho, and Euripides.
The oldest known written poetry is
likely the work of Enheduanna, who
lived around 2300 to 2225 BCE.
Betty De Shong Meador’s book
“Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart” is
probably the best book out currently
on the topic of Enheduanna and her
poetry. Look for Diane Wolkstein
& Samuel Noah Kramer’s “Inanna:
Queen of Heaven and Earth” for
another good example of ancient
poems and hymns from Sumer.
Another really old surviving Divine
poem is the Epic of Gilgamesh written around 700 BCE.
In more modern times practicing occultists such as William Bulter Yeats
and Aleister Crowley expressed their
spiritual ideas through poetry. Yeats’
work is examined in relation to his
occult practice in “W. B. Yeats - 20th
Century Magus” by Susan Johnston
Graf. You can also read more about
Yeats’ life and work at sites such as
http://www.online-literature.com/
yeats/ Crowley’s work is similarly
examined in Charles Richard Cammell’s “Aleister Crowley: The Man,
The Mage, The Poet” and on websites such as http://www.poemhunter.com/aleister-crowley/
Poetry has had an important role
in the history of modern Paganism
in the English speaking world. In
1948 the poet Robert Graves published his inspired book “The White
Goddess” and it hit the occult and
alternative spirituality community
like a bombshell. That one book encouraged countless seekers to turn
to their roots and embrace ancient
Pagan deities in a way that few other
books have. Graves has admitted
that while the book was written in
the style of a scholarly text it was
actually a poetic whole that sprang
from his heart and soul over a three
week period in January 1944. While
the history it contains is more speculative than scholarly it still serves as
an amazing poetic Pagan bible.
Since then all sorts of overtly Pagan
poetry has been published. Among
my favourite collections are “Life
Prayers” and “Earth Prayers” edited
by Elizabeth Roberts & Elias Amidon, “Earth Poems” edited by Ivo
Mosley, “The Pagan’s Muse” edited
by Jane Raeburn, and the recently
published “Datura” edited by Ruby
Sara. Some books present primarily the work of a single poet. I really
like “Charge of the Goddess” by Doreen Valiente, “Thorns of the Blood
Rose” by Victor Anderson and
Gwydion Pendderwen, “Dewdrops
in the Moonlight” by Shanddaramon, and for a more Crowleyite feel
try “Qutub” by Andrew Chumbley.
If you are interested in trying your
hand at writing Pagan or magickal
poetry you can’t go wrong with the
helpful guidebook “Composing
Magic” by Elizabeth Barrette. And
if you want to go the extra step and
pursue becoming a holy poet or bard,
look for “The Bardic Handbook” by
Kevan Manwaring. They will really
inspire you.
Notes From A
Paranormal Investigation:
Case #1
by Fyrsweord
I
belong to a group called
Dakota Paranormal Investigators
http://dakotaparanormal.com/
The following is what I experienced
on my first case with them.
Case #1 Investigation 1
tested the electromagnetic fields
with the EMF
and KII meters,
making note of
any unusual fluctuations.
Small town ND
I was most drawn to this old mirror in
the garage. It reminded me of some12 July 2008
thing one would see on a washstand
with a basin. The mirrored glass was
We were called in to conduct an old, cracked and dis-colored in arinvestigation at a small town local eas. The woodwork though was still
business.
Employees had been lovely with dovetails, and no nails.
complaining of being afraid in the There was a noticeable energy about
basement, feeling like they were be- it, and I found myself thinking that
ing watched and occasionally feeling if I were to touch it would my hand
as if they were touched.
go through that glass. For some reason I felt like it would.
The building that this business was
in had been built a bit over 100 years We never really caught anything
ago and abutted an opera house that substantial that first investigation.
burned in the early 20th century. There were surely some unusual ocLocal legend has it that this was once currences but they were all more of a
a mortuary. This was fueled by the personal nature.
fact that there is a lift type mechanism in the basement that would Though two of us could swear we
allow items to be brought up to the heard ragtime music on a gramofirst floor.
phone in the kitchen. It was not
caught on any of our recording tools.
We focused on three areas that night;
the basement, kitchen area and garage. On our initial walk-through we
The investigation site - from historical files.
What happened to me after this first
investigation is what threw me, and
lead to the second investigation.
However, I will say, I knew leaving
that it had never been a mortuary.
POST INVESTIGATION
One of the first things an investigator does is crash and burn as soon
as they can. It can be rather hard to
do so right away if one is all pumped
with what occurred during the investigation or itching to go thru their
evidence.
What follows are the raw notes I
took on what happened to me after.
13 July 2008
Slept from 4-9 am. Dreamed of a
WWI doughboy. Not enough to
recognize a person but flashes of
uniform, military life, a weapon dis-
charging, screaming, smoke fear and
writing letters.
Noon – 3:00 pm.
The dream happened again. Same
soldier. Strongly feel he is American.
Ragtime music.
Emailed Marie* to find out if there is
any tie to this small town and WWI.
16 July 2008 @ 6:39 am
ing though I cannot hear what is being said. Somewhat surreal as I feel
like I am part of the action but am
not. Chest feels heavy and I feel like
I am moving in slow motion or trying to walk thru a river of black tar.
Sometimes I am ‘in’ the soldier then
standing outside. Wake up and I feel
like I lost something.
20 July 2008
Still dreaming of him – definitely
The dream came again. Vague im- feel he was in the war. Still snippets
pressions. Definitely WWI, prob- of information though. Combat
ably the Western Front. He’s Ameri- had to cause his death. Though he
can; the glimpses of the weapons and will not show me. Why can’t I see his
uniform are consistent with WWI face? Seems wrong to just give me
and the USA. He is early to mid bits and pieces. Makes me feel like I
20’s. Hair color is light. Perhaps a am crazy.
sandy blonde. At least medium
height, decent build, though a bit on 27 July 2008
the leaner side.
Dreamed about him again. Same
The view is like ‘live’ shots like in an snippets of information. He is statold, scratchy black and white movie ing to feel like an old friend.
with no sound. There is some action
– in brief spurts. Feel percussion. 01 August 2008
Smell and see haze of smoke. Chow
time. Bunking down.. A dirty hand Still the dreams. Did I tap into somewriting a letter though I cannot read thing or did he find me? I know I
it. Gentlemen hanging around talk- am right about the time period and
his death due to combat.
The investigation site as it is today.
screams. His hands are bloodied and
someone is calling his name C? or C?
He died but not right away. Not during the time I dreamed. Maybe from
his wounds later? I hurt all over like
I have been ripped apart and I want
to puke.
8:20 pm
Marie found something that listed
WWI casualties for the state. There
is a list and pictures. Too afraid to
look.
13 July 2008
I looked at the list and there is one
C name that matches what I heard in
my dream. I am not ready to look at
the pictures.
15 August 2008
He was back again up to the wounding. I looked at the pictures and it is
him. CJH. We need to go back.
Note: CJ was born in Blufton, MN
14 March 1892. He was a grain buyer up until he enlisted in the Army
July of 1917. He served in Battery
A, Field Artillery i.e. the Rainbow
Division. Offensive Engagements
he fought were: Auisne-Marne, St.
Mihiel, and Muese-Argonne. DefenOn a side note: the sive engagements were: Champagnesite was never a mortu- Marne, defensive sectors of Lunevary. It has been a lum- ille, Baccarat, Lorraine, Esperance,
ber yard, hardware/ Souain, and Champagne. Death was
feed/grocery store but due to wounds received in battle and
never a mortuary.
occurred approximately 26 October
1918. He was 26 when he passed.
12 August 2008 @ That same year his mother lost her
3:15 am
husband, and one of his elder sisters
to the influenza.
He died. Snippets
again followed by chaos, and the
stench of combat, and pain, and
In
addition,
four people saw,
what appeared
to be a face trying to form in
the kitchen. It
was at the same
time and I do
not feel it was a
figment of our
collective imaginations.
CJ - the man from the dreams.
Case #1 Investigation #2
15 August 2008
We went back armed with a name to
see what would happen.
Things happened. Increased activity
included the sounds of boxes falling
when none had, unexplained cold
spots, electromagnetic jumps on the
KII, a shirt tail being lifted and the
sensations of being touched. Three
EVPS were caught. Multiple people
saw a dense shadow the shape of a
person walking when there were no
car lights etcetera to explain that.
When this happened I could
not move. First
I felt choking sorrow. I
wanted to go to
my knees and
just cry. Then
there was a pressure around my
waist, as if someone had slung
an arm around
me, and I then
found
myself
leaning against
the sink counter. The entire
area looked hazy
to me and I flashed in and out. Then
I felt happiness. It was not coming
from me. I think he is happy someone finally sees him.
We did catch one quite intriguing
evp at the end. We were packing
up our equipment when a member
of the team felt something definitely
tug at his shirt. He, unfortunately,
cursed. What followed was another
member making ribald remarks that
were equally politically incorrect.
When listening to the playback there
was the sound of someone whistling
a catchy ragtime tune.
Thoughts and Afterwards
16 August 2008 @ 8:33 pm
The dream started as it always does. I
am not going to reiterate or describe
those images again. This one went
beyond his ‘wounding’. I felt CJ slip
away – which tells me he did not die
immediately after his wounding but
probably, lingered.
In this dream I felt him leaving his
body. Tendrils of him disconnecting
and floating upwards staring down.
It sounds like a rehash of every near
death experience related but in the
dream it felt real, and right. And
wrenching. The struggle at first to
hang on and then just a gentle easing
as one reaches the realization that
this was it. There is no more CJ in
the physical sense. Stillness.
Then the dream skipped even further forward to the kitchen of this
business. I was not there but he was
watching the others. He tried to
make them see him but they cannot.
He reaches out to touch them and
he is not sure if they can feel him.
He won’t go to the basement as he
does not like it there. He avoided
us the first time but when I asked,
“Were you in the military?” he became interested.
He wants Ned* to call me up from
the basement. He knows he can
reach me. He tries to show us his
face so we will know him. But he
cannot seem to make it work and
feels badly that he has upset me.
So he slowly withdraws back to just
watching and hovering.
The problem with dreams is the fact
that they are dreams. They cannot
be proven as viable contact. A per-
son can say, “I dreamed the towers What is it about a pizza place that
would come down” and be lying would hold this energy there? The
through their teeth after the fact.
town itself is quite a rich history and
perhaps the land itself holds energy
Dreams are also very subjective. Was that brings things forward. I believe
I ‘seeing and feeling” what I wanted the past does not merely imprint
to in that building? Was it pulling itself on the human psyche but on
from my sub-conscious desire to com- what surrounds us as well.
municate with a perceived anomaly?
Or did I really touch another being He was a grain buyer before the war
that others cannot see?
with family living in that area. This
building was a hardware and grain
If one follows the theory that dreams store during that time. There is a
are subjective, and manifestations of possible tie.
sub-conscious wishes, or needs, then
how do I reconcile this with the fact The mirror. That mirror is what
I started dreaming about a WWI sol- started it, and I keep thinking he
dier out of the blue? I can honestly looked into it once or twice or more
say that, though I often ‘dream’ of before he left the states. The first
soldiers and war, WWI has never fea- dream started with a hazy face in that
tured in any of them.
mirror.
How do I factor in the repetitive nature of these ‘dreams’? How I felt
like I had been active and not actually sleeping? A dream that shows
the wounding and the knowledge
that this lead to his death? If these
dreams are a product of imagination
how could I flesh him out as a person with a face towards the end and
THEN find a face that matches? The
face of a young man who died almost
fifty years prior to my birth. I have
never seen this picture before. Or
were the images in my dreams more
general then I thought and I filled in
the lines?
Maybe there is some kind of portal.
I know that what I experienced was
real. I know that what I dreamed really happened.
I know that CJ visits me sometimes.
It does not matter to me what others
think. This was real.
But why would I hear that specific
name in my dreams?
However, if one discards the series
of dreams, then one would have to
discard the identification. Which
would then beg the question, “Why
did this name provoke activity on 15
August?”
The mirror.
Yearning of the Night
by Sunil P. Narayan
I am the Mistress of the everlasting Night!
You, Sūrya, shall bow down to my black feet!
If your eyes wander to side of this grassy pathway…
If your lips kiss anything other than my smoke-covered skin…
Know my heart will not tolerate such laziness!
A noose to pull your light into the copper jar
It makes me wonder if those poor souls are worthy of your touch
You whore! To follow someone other than my great beauty is a sin!
Is my body not slim enough for your liking?
Adorned with the finest gemstones of our Father’s heavenly paradise
Picked by fortunate servants who worship my voice and reason
They pray for a kiss from my lips yet you pray for release from the clutches of my shadow
If the sunlight is burned like the skin of a baby’s flesh from being touched by a candle
It is no reason to whine like a child
Whimpers and little tears are reserved for the rain
But your sunlight…such a glorious entity you are!
I followed you after the birth of this universe
Our Mother created us for her amusement
An inner joy filled her mind to cause a smile
From that came her immortal children, beings of raw light
We were too hot to touch, so you became the sun and I became the empty hole in your nightmares
My enemy from birth, the one who tried to squash me like a cockroach!
I pulled you by the arms into my embrace
The wind felt it and whispered to us to merge into one creature
Sūrya, you sit down, waiting for me to show you what true godhood is
The immeasurable weight of my lust holds you to the purple sea of stars
I don’t moan but listen to your own…the sound is the bells of our mother’s temple
It is sweet yet meager if compared to my hunger when dawn joins me
Do not feel inferior my love, even the thunder of the sky is small to my ears
Can you see why I must subjugate your tangible body?
Fire cannot be touched unless someone wants to become a monster
But I can feel it in my hands and yearn for your enticing kisses
You run away if I look at you for a second
Maybe I engulfed your enormous body too fast
The next universe already has a sun, don’t make matters worse!
If you leave then my heart break into pieces and fall to Bhūmī-Devī’s mountains
Image CC courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/vegas/431672848/
I Will Stay With You
by Sunil P. Narayan
A window cold and made of ice
Blue as if the ocean froze for me
Air so thin and reluctant to let me take it in
Down into my lungs which have lost all their moisture
I can see world of smoking fish, eyes so black
Little black pearls of the Polynesian Islands pushed into their sockets
You are no where to be found mother!
I wait in this little home made of unbreakable ice
cubes
Sounds of the ocean’s breathing and heartbeat
The table being hit by my iron fingers
Ouch! Hear the vibration pass between my fingers
Gone is the blue flesh you created me from...
Everyone fell asleep to leave me to watch
A world no more in existence yet lingers on
Passing each planet now evolved into tiny stars
I call them your diamonds, mother
Mother cut stones out of the black silk worn by
father
I waited for life to rush into my body
A soul without form, just pure imperceptible light
I couldn’t watch myself endure the pain she caused me
If a new body of existence is created, let her be a woman!
To contain all animals and plants within the womb
A garden nourished by the spring flowing from her breasts
She gives two rivers for anything that breathes
My mother I once knew with a fear of her gentle yet tough exterior
Now, she is dead, waiting inside God’s heart for me to call her
I gave myself to the man with penetrable skin and eye sockets without light
An act of love to bring myself to mom, only to find myself stuck in limbo
Image CC courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/759309122/
Ritual, Pattern, Time &
Perception
by Ben Gruagach
W
iccans often describe the
sequence of annual celebrations or sabbats as the
Wheel of the Year. This imagery is
very apt. It illustrates the cyclical nature of reality: what we celebrate now
will come around again in due time.
It also helps us see the sabbats as
part of a greater whole. Each sabbat
is a spoke on the great Wheel. As
the Wheel turns, the seasons turn,
and as the seasons come and go our
lives progress through a repeating
sequence of celebrations, times of
work and times of rest.
We humans have a tendency to spiral our attention down to focus on
the small details of our lives. There
is great beauty in the smallest detail
just as there is magnificence in the
larger patterns. Unfortunately, focusing on the small details often results in losing sight of the larger pattern. We sometimes gain a skewed
sense of proportion and importance
from paying too much attention to
the small details at the expense of
keeping the larger picture in mind.
Balance is important.
Celebrating fire at Midsummer. Photo by B. Gruagach.
When you perform a ritual do you
worry and fuss over every little detail? Do you feel your ritual is a failure if you stumble over a word or gesture or cue? Do you worry that your
ritual tools are not quite perfect? Do
you obsess over having just the right
people in the right places at the right
times for your rituals?
Relax!
Rituals are a dance: even if a specific
step is missed, the overall feeling and
pattern is more important. Rituals
are a work of art: even if a particular
brushstroke in one spot isn’t quite
right, the overall balance of colour,
form, expression, and subject matter is more important. Rituals are a
song: we might miss a note, but what
is in our hearts and how much effort
we put into the song, and whether
we enjoy ourselves in the process, is
much more important.
like the ventilation system in the
building where you are now? Do you
hear traffic, people, birds or animals
nearby? Can you hear the wind? Do
your clothes make sounds as you
shift and move?
As you focus your attention it’s common for awareness of time to shift
as well. Time can appear to stretch
out or to compact itself so that an
hour can seem like just a few minTry and see your rituals as a whole. utes. During ritual it often happens
What is the overall pattern of the rit- that time just slips by unnoticed. Yet
ual? Does it express the intent, the if we focus on the small details, woremotion, the central idea you have in rying and obsessing about whether
your heart? How does the ritual fit we did a gesture just right, time can
in to a larger pattern of days, weeks, crawl.
months, years, and even generations?
Does the ritual help you feel more in One way to balance out our perceptions to go into a ritual with a healthy
tune with the Divine?
outlook is to ground first. GroundIn “The Charge of the Goddess” ing puts us in contact with our founthe Great Lady tells us: “All acts of dation, Mother Earth. It gives us a
love and pleasure are My rituals.” moment to calm down, smooth out
She doesn’t say that rituals must be our perhaps conflicting emotions,
precise in order to please Her. She and find a still peace from which
doesn’t say that mistakes in wording, to flow into the dance that is ritual.
gesture, or sequence will disappoint You can’t ground too much before a
Her. Her words leave it all very open ritual (unless it puts you to sleep!) but
for us to decide how we will express it is possible to not ground enough
those acts of love and pleasure. She before a ritual. When we go into a
might actually like our mistakes in ritual without sufficient grounding
ritual if we laugh at ourselves when we increase the risk of getting sidethey happen.
tracked by the details.
Perception is an amazing thing. We
are blessed with an amazing flexibility in our senses and ability to process
information. When we focus our attention we can become oblivious to
the things that rage around us. For
instance, when you are watching a
good movie how often do you fail to
notice the people who might be sitting around you, the traffic outside,
what the weather is like, how your
clothes feel on your body? When
you get wrapped up in a good book
isn’t it amazing how time can just fly
by?
We can stretch our senses the other
way too and notice things that we
often overlook if we just turn our
awareness in the right direction.
Can you hear things around you,
product. They are both, process and
product, part of the whole.
During my coven’s recent Midsummer celebrations, as the sultry night
embraced us at the end of the day
we decided to dance on the lawn in
honor of the faeries while holding
sparklers and glow sticks. I brought
my digital camera along and snapped
some amazing photos using the lowlight mode. While we were caught
up in dancing around with our sparklers, waving them around in patterns both random and purposeful,
the camera was able to capture some
of the magick in slices of time that
are not visible to the human eye.
And as if to illustrate the time-awareness effect even more, we had to wait
each time a picture was taken before
we could see what it looked like on
the camera’s little screen. When
making a purposeful design with a
sparkler we had to just trust in the
process and let the details take care
of themselves. And the results were
amazing.
Spiritual ritual is the same. We might
not have the ability, right now, to see
the larger picture. All we might have
visible to us at the moment are the
small details that drive us crazy because they seem so nit-picky. If we
can trust in ourselves, in the Divine,
Slowing down, breathing deeply in and in the process of the ritual then
a slow measured pace, and touching we might find that the larger pattern
inner stillness if only for a moment does come together.
is probably the most basic way to
ground. Feel the Earth beneath you And that is when real magick touchand know in your heart that She is es our lives.
there to hold you up. When you feel
*** This article was originally published
at ease you are ready to proceed.
in Circle Magazine issue 94, Summer
Grounded perceptions help us to 2005. ***
grasp the larger significance of our
rituals. We can throw ourselves
wholeheartedly into the performance of the ritual, mistakes and all,
and see the end result of the ritual as
just a closing bar in the song rather
than mistaking results for the whole
thing. Artists often describe their
art as a process as much as a finished product. The creation of the
product is as important as the final
The Wiccan Rede and the
Law of Threefold Return
by Ben Gruagach
S
ome modern Wiccans have decided to not include the Wiccan
Rede and the Law of Threefold
Return in their philosophy. Some
even argue that statements like the
Threefold Law aren’t Wiccan at all1.
The usual arguments are that the
Wiccan Rede, “An’ it harm none, do
what you will” is too simplistic and
is impossible to follow, and the Law
of Threefold Return is a Christian
concept that is punishing in essence.
is no punishment implied for a Wic- decisions about how we will live and
can who fails to live up to the advice. act.
Both of these arguments are based
on rather shallow interpretations
and aren’t supported by historical
documentation about Wicca, at
least as Gerald Gardner promoted it.
Modern Wiccans are free to abandon or adopt philosophies into their
practice as they see fit, but should
take responsibility for these choices
rather than trying to justify them
based on weak arguments.
That means that when we act in a
mundane or magickal way we have
to think about what it is we’re doing
and how it affects the web of everything that is touched by our actions.
Everything is connected so what we
do affects all sorts of things. Acting
mindlessly is irresponsible by the
standard of the Rede as acting mindlessly means we haven’t considered
the harm that could be involved.
The word “rede” means “advice” it’s not a commandment like the
Christian ten commandments are
supposed to be absolute. It’s a guideline, a suggestion, about how a Wiccan can try and live their life. There
Just being alive means we’re doing
harm to something, as many critics
of the Rede have noted. Microbes
die as we breathe, and as our bodies’ white blood cells attack other
microscopic life forms that are invading our bodies. Insects die when we
walk around. Plants and animals die
so we might eat. It’s all about trying to be conscious of the impact we
have on everything else, and making
1. Phyllis Curott in an excerpt from chapter seven of her book “Witch Crafting,”
on the web at http://www.randomhouse.
com/features/witchcrafting/witchcraft.
html
The essential lesson of the Rede is
all about being responsible for your
own actions or lack of actions. Yes,
choosing to not act is an action too!
It means that we should take responsibility for what we do in our lives as
much as possible, and accept responsibility for the consequences of what
we do or through inaction fail to do.
The Threefold Law (or idea that “for
every action there is a reaction”) is
not the same thing as the Wiccan
Rede, but the two ideas are closely
intertwined. The Threefold Law is
a variation of the scientific law “for
every action there is an equal and
opposite reaction,” or the ecological understanding that everything
is connected. When we act the impact of our actions will come back
to us somehow. We can’t do things
maliciously towards others (like
magickal cursing) and expect to not
suffer some fallout from our actions.
While it’s not necessarily possible to
quantify what is sent out comes back
three times or more, the ecological
understanding that all is connected
ensures the results do most definitely
come back to affect the originator in
some form.
Both the Wiccan Rede and the
Threefold Law are attributed in
some form back to Gardner. As the
founder and initial popularizer of
what we know today as Wicca, to say
that the Wiccan Rede or Threefold
Law is not Wiccan is to betray a lack
of historical knowledge.
Waterfall at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, MN USA.
Photo by B. Gruagach
Gerald Gardner
mentions
the
idea of the Wiccan Rede (“harm
none” and “do
what you will”) in
his book “Witchcraft Today.” Doreen Valiente, one
of Gardner’s early
High Priestesses,
discusses the origins and development of the Rede
at some length in the chapter “Witch
Ethics” of her book “Witchcraft for
Tomorrow.” Janet and Stewart Farrar also discuss the Rede at some
length in their chapter on ethics in
“A Witches Bible.” Raymond Buckland, who was initiated by Gardner’s
High Priestess Monique Wilson
(“Lady Olwen”) also insists that the
Wiccan Rede is a central point of
Gardnerian philosophy in his “The
Witch Book: The Encyclopedia of
Witchcraft, Wicca, and Neo-paganism.”
it is explained to the initiate that everything returns threefold, and as a
symbol of this, the initiate scourges
their initiator three times the number of strokes administered in the
first degree initiation. The one who
administered the first degree scourging therefore receives it back threefold.
The Threefold Law isn’t a Christian
philosophy, but more likely borrowed from Hinduism where it is
usually known as the Law of Karma.
Despite the claim that it is a punishment and therefore a philosophy of
The Threefold Law is also identi- deterrence, it is described more in
fied as a Gardnerian teaching by terms of ecological unity – everyRaymond Buckland in “The Witch thing is connected, so what is sent
Book.” There is clear evidence of out will undoubtedly come back in
this in the second degree initiation some form. This is not a philosophy
ceremony from the core Gardnerian of punishment but one of unity. If
Book of Shadows. In this ceremony, one sends out peace and love, the ex-
pectation is that peace and love will
come back in some form.
The Wiccan Rede and Threefold
Law can be a sophisticated basis for
a religious philosophy for those who
examine it in some depth. It is not
necessarily a philosophy for everyone. One of the greatest strengths
of the modern pagan community is
that there is room for lots of variety
and difference. While the Wiccan
Rede and Threefold Law do not have
to be part of all Wiccans’ philosophy,
they are very much part of historical
Wicca despite claims to the contrary.
Pagan Destinations:
Temple of Sekhmet,
Indian Springs NV USA
by Ben Gruagach
The Temple of Sekhmet is a Goddess-worship site dedicated by Genevieve Vaughan in 1993. It is located just outside Indian Springs Nevada, about fifty minutes by car north west of Las Vegas. Set in a breathtaking desert landscape one truly feels humbled and in the presence of the Divine.
These photos were taken during a vacation in 2005. You can see more photos, and learn more about the temple
and events held there, by visiting http://www.sekhmettemple.com/
The stunning landscape where the Temple is located outside Indian Springs, Nevada USA.
The Temple of Sekhmet as you approach from the parking area.
A few of the shrines set aside for specific goddesses within the temple.
The impressive Earth Mother within the temple.
The temple’s central fire pit, with the Earth Mother in the background.
Sekhmet, the lion-headed tutelary Goddess of the temple.
The Peace Pole erected on the Temple grounds.
(Note the clumps of vegetation growing in the branches of the tree -- that’s mistletoe!)
The roof of the Temple of Sekhmet is open to the sky.
Morris dancers at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.
Photo by B. Gruagach.

June Solstice 2010 onlinepagans.com Pagans

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