Wane Wyrds

Image credit to Emily Balivet, check out this original painting available at :  http://www.etsy.com/listing/71895349/beltane-reunion-pagan-god-and-goddess Tonight is Walpurgis Night, and tomorrow is May Day, or Beltane. It's a peculiar energy today, or at least I feel so anyway. Knowing what the coming month or so holds makes it all the more meaningful for me. The end of coursework, beginning of vacation, and visitors from afar are all close on the horizon. It is a summer I have been waiting for. For years honestly. It is nearing 7 and I already have a small fire in the cauldron, it will burn throughout the night. For now it is but a candle, but later I may get a bit more elaborate. I am very tired so we will see. Not sure why but for six months or so I haven't done much for the traditional holy days. A prayer or an offering, a votive or two, maybe a bit of charming or divining. I have lost the desire somewhat for the more elaborate rituals I once held for myself. I...

I have found myself drawn to the Goddess Nerthus very much since the end of winter. There is so much changing both within and without me at this time I've felt very drained and at times confused but the barrage of new energy. In less than two months I will be facing a journey that will force me to confront the darkest fears I have yet faced. Fears about my very self, my worth, my vulnerability emotionally, in nearly every sense I will be tested. But if I overcome that fear, I will have gained one of my greatest dreams in life. Nerthus Talisman Nerthus has seemed very near to me lately, particularly in her darker aspects. I don't mean dark in the sense of evil or negative, but dark in terms of the secrecy, the sacredness, of the cave and the deep deep earth. I feel like a seed buried in the mud, gathering as much energy as I can before my effort begins to push forward into the sunlight. I am reminded that life requires death, and to live I must allow parts of myself to die...

Do you use a cauldron in your magical practice? I do. I purchased mine a couple years ago, and it is one of my favorite tools to work with, though I haven't used it much recently. I brought it back out today because I've missed it on the altar, and I have been reading a bit about it in a book I own called "Way of the Hedgewitch" by Arin Murphy Hiscock. It's a great read for those interested in hearth based work, and contains alot of information about incorporating the cauldron into a home centered practice. I thought I would share a bit of information, from my own knowledge and the book itself.  The cauldron is an iconic tool of magic and witchcraft, associated heavily with the witch in both mythology and pop culture. As a pagan symbol, the cauldron is often associated with the feminine, and serves as a representation of the female womb. It's energy is that of fire, creation, fertility, and abundance. It's connection to fire also leads it to be associ...

First of all, before getting into the post, I want to say thank you to all my followers here. Several people have become followers in the past week and as of now I am at 97 followers. Yea, it may not seem like much to some people but when I started blogging almost two years ago I didn't expect much. I just wanted to say thank you to all who follow and read my blog, because I truly value all of you. Thank you all so much. So I decided to post today in a sort of general response to some ideas someone presented in one of my G+ communities about gender roles as a model of religious belief in regards to the Old Norse. Someone posted a thesis argument about how the ideals of Old Norse religion, such as the concept of wyrd, supported strict gender roles within the culture. Now I will admit that the argument was well supported, yet couldn't help but feel it was also a bit lacking when it came to the Vanir gods and their component as an integral part of Norse beliefs. Basically t...