Mugwort

Today I learned that some witches are afraid of mugwort tea. They seem to be under the impression that a cup of mugwort tea will cause all sorts of health issues if you have any medical problems, or that a cup of mugwort tea will get you high.

So let's talk about mugwort for a second. Mugwort has been a commonly used herb through the centuries. People have been making mugwort tea, and using mugwort for culinary purposes for a very, very long time. Most people are not going to drop dead from using a little mugwort.

The idea that mugwort is a hallucinogen... Look, mugwort contains thujone, that's true, but it's my understanding that it contains less (or about the same?) thujone than rosemary or sage, two other very commonly used herbs in cuisine and witchcraft. No one is running around warning about the dangers of those herbs, so why has mugwort drawn such negative attention to it? It's very odd to me.

Of course it is absolutely true that you really need to do your research, consider your health problems, what medications you're on, if you're pregnant, etc, before you start up drinking and strange herbs or whatever. I'm not at all going to discount that. Mugwort in particular is not something pregnant people should be consuming, since it can induce periods. That said, the idea that anyone who has any mental health issues, is taking any sort of medication, has heart problems, that those people need to stay away form mugwort completely? It's just not true. They need to watch how much they ingest, yes, of course - too much mugwort isn't good for anyone. (But remember, too much nutmeg is toxic, as well...)

Full disclosure here, I have high blood pressure. I have struggled with anxiety and depression most of my life. I am on medications for both. But I've been using mugwort in tea, mead, and in incense incense in honor of Artemis for quite a while, and have never had an issue. A mug of mugwort tea has no effect on my blood pressure, it does not interact with the type of medication I take to help manage my blood pressure, it does not affect me mentally. I just do not use it in the quantity needed to reach any sort of high. I doubt most people making the occasional cup of tea from the herb ever will. I did my research first, very carefully, and I recommend anyone else do the same - don't take my word for any of this, go research for yourself when it comes to your own health - but at the same time, don't be completely scared off because some exaggerate the possible dangers. If you're interested in mugwort, go read about it, check out it's long use in history, and make your own informed decision.

Pagans - what we DON'T have in common.

I think this post could easily be summarized by saying "not all pagans/witches are Wiccan," but I think what that really means can sometimes use some clarification.

The (Triple) Goddess and The (Horned) God
Not all pagans/witches work with/worship/acknowledge this pair of deities. Beyond that, not all pagans/witches see it necessarily to work with a male/female deity pair at all. Some work with a single deity, a few deities, maybe a few goddesses and a god, a a few gods and a goddess, whatever. Deities don't always show up in neat little male/female pairings, and it is not something emphasized in a ton of traditions. (And no, not following a male/female pairing doesn't mean that person is unbalanced, doing it wrong, or whatever else.) Heck, not all pagans and witches are even theists...

Sun=Male, Moon=Female
There are a lot of moon gods and sun goddesses who might feel differently. Some moon gods include: Khonsu, Iah, Thoth, Baal-hamon, Mani, Ay Ata, and Tsukuyomi. Some sun goddesses include Isis (her lunar associations were Greek in origin, not Egyptian), Sekhmet, Hathor, Saule, Ekhi, Etain, Sol/Sunna, Arinna, and Amaterasu.
On a similar note, I notice a lot of pagans putting a lot of emphasis on fitting everything into a male/female or masculine/feminine box, and well, again, not something everyone's going to be doing... but that's probably a whole different post for later.

Ritual Tools/Altars
Athames, chalices, pentacles, and wands... nope, not all pagans/witches use these. And since not all pagans use these, it goes without saying that not all pagans place these on their altars. And as mentioned above, since not all pagans work with the Goddess and God, of course not all pagans have representations of them on their altars. Different pagan traditions (and individuals) have totally different ritual tools, altar needs, altar layouts, and so on.

Holidays
Pretty much all pagans are familiar with the Sabbats of the Wheel of the Year: Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas, Mabon, and Samhain. These are hugely popular holidays. Many also know that sometimes these are known by different names... Lammas/Lughnasadh, Imbolc/Candlemas, Litha/Midsummer, and other variations.

What it seems some do not realize however (and you've probably guessed where this is going), is that not all pagans/witches celebrate this same set of holidays. In particular, reconstructionist pagans (be they Greek, Roman, Egyptian, or other) tend to have their own calendars, but other traditions of paganism/witchcraft may not incorporate the Wheel.

Also, among those pagans/witches who do follow the Sabbats, not all follow the Wiccan God/Goddess mythos. There are many ways to celebrate the Wheel.

Ethics
It should go without saying that not all pagans/witches follow the Wiccan Rede. Heck, it's not even all that emphasized in some Wiccan traditions. The Law of Three is another Wiccan thing. Karma is not a universal belief.

Afterlife Beliefs
No, we don't all believe in the Summerland. No, not everyone believes in reincarnation.

Ritual Structure
No, not all pagans and witches cast circles, call quarters, etc...

Gems, Crystals, Tarot, Runes, Pendulums, Auras, Reiki, Astrology...
Yeah. All those things aren't a part of every pagan's path. Not all pagans believe in astrology. Etc...

I could probably go on, but I think the point is made. Whatever one aspect you look at, it's not going to be universal among all pagans and witches. Except for like, breathing. All pagans and witches breathe. Probably. I don't know. There's probably one pagan out there who thinks breathing is for peasants and refuses to do it.

"Easter isn't the same date every year so Christianity is totes wrong!"

I really feel like I've talked more about Christianity and Judaism this last week than I have about paganism, which is interesting, because it's all been taking place in pagan communities, heh...

Alright, so with the Easter season coming to a close, I thought I'd write up a little post to shed some light on something that has a lot of people worked up... the date of Easter.

Apparently since Easter moves each year, that means Easter is totally pagan, and/or Christianity is a bunch of made up BS, or... whatever other insulting thing people jump to. Which is quite funny to me, because if you wanted to question the date of a Christian holiday and get on the "they stole it from pagans!" train, Christmas really would have been the way to go. See, the thing is, Easter has a really specific date, and it has nothing to do with paganism, and everything to do with Judaism.

Easter is, in short, the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. Okay, hold on now, that sounds pretty pagan, right? Well, not really. See, this has to do with the Jewish calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar (meaning lunar and solar), like pretty much a boat load of ancient calendars were. Easter is calculated off the date of Passover, because, well, that's when Jesus died. We know this, because the Bible is pretty clear on that.

In other words, Easter is closely linked to Passover, and both holidays appear to move about the "standard" calendar we use because they are based off the Jewish calendar.

But doesn't this mean the day Jesus died moves around? Well, no, not really. The best way I've seen to explain this was on a Jewish website. A man was sitting in a synagogue, and overheard someone asking when Hanukkah was this year, and he was given an answer of "the same as always, the 25th of Kislev." In other words, on the Jewish calendar Hanukkah does NOT move, it is always the same day! However, since the Jewish calendar is lunisolar, the dates do not match up with the Gregorian calendar most of us use in day to day living. So, Hanukkah is always the 25th of Kislev - but when we try to translate that to the Gregorian calendar that means it could be the 24th of December, or the 6th of December, or the 10th of December (and so on), because these two calendars are calculated in different ways.

(Reconstructionst Greek pagans also use a lunisolar calendar, so explaining why those festivals move, and how to calculate them, same sort of idea, same sort of confusion for some folks.)

Woah now, but wait, Easter was the 27th of March, and Passover isn't until the end of April this year! Yeah, okay, bear with me... The thing is, a Rabbi sort of solidified the Jewish calendar several hundred years back, made it universal, for lack of a better way to put it. Christians basically decided to ignore this and continue on with their own calculations, since that's what they'd been doing, and this is why some years Passover comes after Easter, and not before. This isn't super common though, happens, oh, every few years? Most years both celebrations still line up.

So hopefully all that makes sense. I have explained this dozens of times this weekend, and a lot of folks still seem confused by it, and yeah, I guess it can be confusing if you're not used to working with calendars other than the Gregorian one. Or I'm just not doing a great job explaining it, since it is a bit weird.

But yeah, long post short... The date of Easter isn't stolen from pagans, it's based on the Jewish calendar, which is different from the Gregorian calendar.

Open and Closed Traditions

So, I wanted to elaborate a bit on something I mentioned in my ancestry DNA test post from the other day.

I briefly mentioned that I've been told I can't follow Greek/Roman deities, because I am not Greek/Roman myself. Interestingly, I have always been told this by people who are also not Greek/Roman, but who are trying to convince me I need to be following some sort of Celtic path because ancestors. (Never mind how they always totally ignore the Japanese bit, even though I am much closer to Japan through living family and closer ancestors than Ireland or England, but I digress.)

Like I said then, I do not feel like I am limited to whatever it is my ancestors got up to back in the day. But in the case of the Greeks and Romans, I also think it is important to point out that these are pretty open traditions anyway. What I mean by that is the Greeks and Romans willingly spread their religions throughout the ancient world. I was recently made aware of a shrine to Minerva in the UK where people still leave offerings, as an example. The idea of 'foreign' people worshiping their deities was not something they seemed terribly offended by, all things considered.

Beyond that, when one stops and looks, it's easy to see just how incredibly influential these civilizations were on our modern lives, how much of them still lingers with us. That winged staff with two serpents around it that you see frequently in medical symbols in the US? Totally Greco-Roman in origin. And how many statues of Justice - Themis - adorn courts around the world? For many, these traditions are still part of our day to day heritage, even if often overlooked.

That said, I do think it is important to mention that I do not feel this way about all traditions. I do think there are traditions where ancestry or proper initiation are very important aspects. The obvious one that comes to my mind would be many Native American beliefs. I always cringe a little when I see just how many white pagans feel entitled to these beliefs and practices without any actual dialogue with these people. I think some find it hard to accept that, you know, some things just aren't open for you. They belong to someone else, and that needs to be respected. There is the idea that it's totally between Deity and the individual, and for the most part, sure, I get that... but in traditions where the group is extremely important, that must be honored, too. Sometimes it cannot be separated. It's not always an easy process, but if you're going to pursue a closed tradition, that should be expected. (Heck, challenges should be expected of any spiritual path, but hopefully you know what I mean.)

Oh gosh, here we go again...

Well first of all, happy Easter to those celebrating!

If you're a member of any online pagan communities, especially on Facebook, you may have seen this meme floating around. (Without my creative artwork.)

The information this image presents is pretty much entirely inaccurate. Other people have already written a great deal about this, so I'm just going to link to this article: Easter Is Not Named After Ishtar, And Other Truths I Have To Tell You

On a related subject, can we talk about the art used for this image? If you've read the article above it mentions that scholars debate who this image actually represents. It's a really fascinating piece of art. Here's another great article all about the relief and who this image might be of: The Queen of the Night (Burney Relief)

Personally I am partial to the image being of Ereshkigal. But, since we do not know for certain who it is, I can understand why devotees of many deities see their Goddess in this image, especially in such a powerful image.

Full Sugar Moon

I held my full moon ritual tonight. It was one of those times where I wish I wasn't a solitary, so I could have some help carrying things out to the ritual space! I made the usual offering of incense - mugwort and frankincense tonight - as well as some oats, barley, an egg, and milk sweetened with maple syrup and honey.

Since I can remember, I've always held my full moon rituals during the middle of the night, when the moon is highest in the sky. I think, though, next month I might hold a moonrise ritual instead. I have never once sat and deliberately watched the moon rise as I've done with the sun. It might make for a nice change of pace.

Ostara

This year I continued my tradition of holding a sunrise equinox ritual. I went outside and set up about five minutes before sunrise, under the same maple tree as usual, filled with it's red buds. I'd love to make a stone altar under the tree, but for now the ground is a perfectly good working space!

I lit the charcoal to let it get ready for incense, and settled in with my back against the tree, facing east. It was cold out, 18F, but with a warm jacket it wasn't so bad.

It takes about a half hour or so for the sun to fully become visible. I did a bit of drumming (and thought about getting a deeper sounding drum...), did a bit of praying, and just sat and enjoyed the morning, listening to the birds. As the sun started to poke through the trees I offered some incense to Artemis, in her role as goddess of the dawn, and to Demeter, welcoming her life back to the land.

Eventually the sun was fully visible, and I walked into the woods a bit to offer the bread, and a bit of honey liqueur. Then it was back to bed, at least for a few hours.

St Patrick's Day, Part Two (The less ranty edition...)

We're doing our "Irish" dinner tonight, since we didn't really have time yesterday. Irish brown bread and a boiled dinner of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, onions, and carrots. Not at all a traditional Irish dish in actuality, but something made popular by the Irish communities in New England. Which works for me, you know, considering that I'm one of them New England Irish and all.

Which is actually something that doesn't get a lot of attention in the family. See, us kids/grandkids, we're also part Japanese, my grandmother came here from Japan fifty-ish years ago, and it's always been the more obvious 'ancestry' in the house. Right now my grandmother's sitting in the other room watching Japanese TV on her satellite, we just finished a little 'appetizer' of sashimi. Traditional Japanese items decorate the house.

So when this time of year rolls around, it's a nice time to remember the other part of my (known) ancestry. To me it's not a day about the Saint himself, or what he did or did not do, or anything like that, it's just a day to remember those ancestors. The ones who lived and died in Ireland, pagan and Christian alike, the ones who came to America about a hundred years ago. A day to be a little proud of them, focus on them - and there are some interesting, and some tragic stories on that side of the tree, (one of my Irish ancestors, Julia Barry, went down on the Titanic). The whole debate surrounding the day is just sort of foreign to me, because so many people in my area feel the same way about the day.

On a related note, I decided to do one of those ancestry DNA kit things. I know basically nothing about my mom's side of the family, and I think it'll be nice to fill in some of those missing gaps.

St Patrick's Day

I've seen some pagans spreading some really, really awful history these last few days. One meme in particular has been going around about how St Patrick is Hitler to pagans, etc. he slaughtered thousands of pagans! (Remind me how many people died in the holocaust, again?) Never mind the fact that, you know, no he didn't. Also did you know all the Irish pagans had snake tattoos? (Even though Ireland doesn't have any snakes. Why would they all get tattoos of some foreign animal?) I'm not saying the dude was perfect, and never did no wrong to pagans or anything, but come on, do we have to lie about this crap? The deliberate willful ignorance some people are happy to have, openly admitting that they'll trust their shit sources, because... well, because they say what they want to read.

It reminds me of a few weeks ago, when the Salem witch trials were the hot topic. People lamenting all the witches who were burned in Salem, and how they're our spiritual ancestors, and oppression! Wah! But... there were no witches burned in Salem. No one was burned in Salem, and the people killed were not witches. They were innocent people, Christians, and what happened to them was horrible, and for horrible reasons... can we not twist that into something else? There are still places in the world where innocent people are killed because people accuse them of being witches, places where people do not have the freedom to practice the religion they wish to, let's not shift attention away from those issues to cry about things that don't actually affect us like that.

Bad history is always frustrating, but I've always been more annoyed by it when it comes from pagans, people who you would think would be interested in the actual history they claim their spirituality pays homage to.

The Downfalls of Being Eclectic

I'd a hedgewitch, but by it's nature, hedgecraft is a pretty scattered path in many elements. We share the spirit work link, and a few other such links, but we can also work with different deities, different ritual structures, tools, holidays, ethics, and all else. There are a lot of nice aspects of having this freedom, but it can be hard at times.

I am an eclectic hedgewitch because of the fact that I pull from a few different traditions to flesh out my practice. Greek polytheism has been a focus for me for a while now, but there are other paths that get pulled in, as well. The difficulty there is sometimes I feel like I'm just being pulled in too many directions at once.

The issue with practicing a path that is completely self-directed, completely solitary, is there's no one else to sort of point the way in so many cases. One has to sit down, and really think, okay, why am I pursuing this? Is it for a good reason? Will it truly add something? Do I really have time in the day to add in something more? And the answers aren't always clear.

Sometimes I miss following a pagan tradition where everything was just laid out, here's how we do it, without much wiggle room, because at least all the groundwork was taken care of. I could focus on other things. But, as a whole, that never really worked well for me. I get much more from my path now than I did then, and I suppose that's got to be worth it in the end.