Ancestor Veneration

This blog has been sorely neglected due to events happening in my real life. I want that to change. A blog is only as good as the content you put into it, and I want Crafty to be good.

I was reading some Samhain material tonight in preparation for my celebration in a couple of weeks. Samhain is arguably a favorite holiday of mine, but I usually say that about all of the holidays. Samhain has particular meaning as it's a time to honor the dead. Recently on a pagan forum I belong to, we were discussing ancestor veneration, which is the spiritual concept of worshiping and/or connecting with those in your blood line that have gone before you. To me, that totally hits home. I was raised to revere the blood lines before me, and taught from a very early age. The folk tales and bedtime stories of my childhood were not only Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs, but also "How Our Family Came to California" and "Princess of Ireland Who We're Related To". Every time Mom would find a new ancestor, she would regale my sister and I with the story of their lives.

Just this week I was helping my new roommate discover her first generation ancestors. Within about one minute's time, I could name several of mine -- but she couldn't confirm even after talking to her parents that all four of her grandparents were born in the US. To me, this seemed foreign, but my roommate didn't even blink.

My ancestors, therefore, have never been out of reach. I have always felt a strong connection with Aofie of Leinster who refused to be promised in marriage, and Sarah Hamrick who traveled across the country by wagon train, and Hugh O'Neall who was kept from ascending to a family seat by unfortunate fates. And the generations I can recall are no different. Those family members who have already passed are constantly in my thoughts this time of year.

On Samhain, I like to light candles for family and dear friends who have died. Part of it is my personal campaign to see death from a different light -- a less scary light. I like the idea that I am keeping their spirits and memories alive in this world. I currently have five candles in my Samhain arrangement: one for my grandfather, one for my grandmother, one for my Uncle Chris, one for my Uncle Jack, and one for a tiny child named Arianna who I was blessed to share some time with before she succumbed to brain cancer.

Tonight in preparation for Samhain, I was reading the Charge of the Goddess, which is a powerful poem that's as popular in Wiccan circles as the Lord's Prayer in Christian Churches. My copy of the Charge is written in the front of a book called The Pagan Book of Living and Dying, which I bought to help me turn this corner and view death as another part of the cycle instead of as a scary ending. I like to read the Charge aloud, because the words spoken have deeper meaning than if I just read it to myself. I came to my favorite part:

"Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices, for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My acts.

Let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you.

And you who seek to know Me, know that the seeking and the yearning will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery: for if that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it without."

This part fills me with peace, and joy, and happiness every time I read it. Especially if I read it aloud. I can repeat the words as their own kind of spell, "Let there be beauty and strength..." while I'm riding on the bus or sitting on the beach or eating dinner. They bring me a kind of comfort I haven't found since my days of pouring over scripture line by line. I'm not even sure I had this much comfort and acceptance then; I'm not entirely sure that I wasn't skeptical the entire time. Perhaps hindsight tells a different story than the one that actually occured.

At this time of year, I drink lots of pommegranite juice. I love to let it dribble down my chin and catch it with my hand and lick it off. The taste of it, tart and sweet, reminds me of this season.

I need to pick out new candles for my Samhain celebration.

Conversation

I had an interesting conversation with a good friend tonight:

me: the three monotheistic religions -- judaism, islam, and christianity -- have been in holy war since christ's death.
me: they've been capable of some pretty gnarly things
and who knows what will happen next
Tiffany: well judaism- is because they didnt want to accept JC when he was here..
so as punishment
they got war..
:-/
me: and islam because they believed that Muhammad was the prophet, not Jesus
Tiffany: right..
me: so the three religions have been trying to convince each other for 2,000 years that they are right
Tiffany: and well christians.. let the catholics say they could go in a do whatever they wanted.... and have wars..
me: exactly
Tiffany: in the name of god.. :P
me: exactly.
Tiffany: stupid catholics..
me: i don't have much use for them
Tiffany: but ya it will be interesting to see what happens..
me: except to model their ritual. there is comfort in ritual, and that's why so many people go to mass, imo
Tiffany: yep..
me: and i like using ritual in my own practice
Tiffany: thats why they just changed the names of those they worshiped..
me: exactly.
i celebrate like three holidays that the catholics also celebrate
Tiffany: lol really..
me: yep
Tiffany: what
me: christmas, of course -- i celebrate the winter solstice on dec 21
imbolc, a candle festival for Brigid, the goddess of fire in Ireland -- catholics call it Candlemas and it's the feast of St. Brigid
or St. Bridget
Tiffany: huh..
me: and all hallows eve, which some follow as a day of the dead, and i celebrate it very similarly -- a rememberence of the dead. samhain (halloween) is the biggest baddest holiday of them all. :P
(not to mention Easter, which used to be called Ostara and wasn't about Christ resurrecting , and was celebrated march 21) so i guess that's four.
so those catholics just stole a bunch of ideas from someone else.
Tiffany: lol well ya..
Tiffany: since consantine couldnt get the people to follow christiany.. he just said well.. keep your stuff.. but well just call it this.. instead of that.. and just keep it mostly the same..
kinda smart if ya think about it..
:P
me: it is kinda smart
Tiffany: ok so i looked up st bridgt..
me: and exactly the kind of thing modern day americans would fall for
yep?
Tiffany: and she was a nun..
who like built a convent..
me: right
a Cill
it's called
Tiffany: and apparently loved god.. and did the whole normal nun thing..
me: she has an eternal flame in ireland
Tiffany: ysa its something like a church of oak..
me: (well, the goddess does)
a cill is traditionally 19
and then on the 20th day it's said that the goddess keeps the flame herself.
Tiffany: huh..
so why do you worship a nun?
me: well, it's not just her. but brigid, specifically? i love her creativity. i love that she was a self-made woman and built that nunnery up around her. i love that she was selfless, and giving, and caring. and i love that she used fire as a symbol of her love for the earth and it's creatures.
Tiffany: huh..
ok
me: on candlemas
i light a candle every hour
and say a different prayer
for a different person in the family.
for the whole 24 hours.
Tiffany: hmm
i love wikipedia..
That she shares both her name and her feast day with those of the earlier pagan goddess Brigid may indicate that Saint Brigid is partially or entirely a fictional creation based on the pagan figure in order to convert Celts to Christianity; the euhemerization of pagan figures and tradition was a common practice of Christian missionaries. However she may merely have been named after her. Given the struggle Christian missionaries faced in their efforts to preach the Gospel in Ireland, even though they Christianized some elements, the adoption of a pagan goddess into the Communion of Saints may have been an effort to Christianize one of the most enduring pagan goddesses. Most historians say that she was a real person whose life was embellished by imaginative hagiographers, and this seems the most likely scenario. Evidence for a political function of the stories comes from detailed political analysis which demonstrates that they have been created or at least manipulated to document the power of Kildare over surrounding regions..[2]
me: yep :)
me: (i also cook corned beef and cabbage, which is amusing to me at least.)
Tiffany: :) lol
me: i don't think brigid cares :p
Tiffany: lol
me: i have a much different relationship with my gods than a christian does with JC


... which will have to be a story for another time.

Lugh's Corn Chowder

There wasn't going to be a public ritual for Lughnassadad. I made an excellent corn chowder instead:

Lugh's Corn Chowder

1/2 onion
3 bell peppers, diced

Sautee in olive oil in the bottom of a small stock pot.

Add:
3 cans creamed corn
2 cans whole kernel corn
1tbsp black pepper (fresh ground is best)
1tbsp natural salt

Bring to a slow boil, then reduce heat. Let simmer 30 minutes.

Add:
1 lb tiny shrimps

Simmer another 30 minutes. Turn off the burner and let it cool for two hours. DO NOT REFRIGERATE, it will suck. Turn the heat back up to low.

Add:
1 pint heavy whipping cream

Bring just to heat, and serve.

I ate as much of it as I could, and fed it to many more people. Fresh herbs top it nicely; I used a bit of basil.

Lughnassah

It is time for Lughnassah, and though I say this about all the holidays, Lughnassah really is my favorite. The God that the holiday is named after, Lugh, has been involved in my life for many years. Lugh is a fantastic character: of the Tuatha de Danan of ancient Ireland, he was born to be a peacemaker and a king. When it came time for him to face his rites of passage, one was to uniquely identify himself within the community. Though he was an archer and a swordsman, a horseman and an animal lover, a blacksmith and a craftsman, none of these things alone uniquely separated him from other members of the adult community. So he cleverly (because of course he was also clever and witty) said, "But do you have someone who can do all of those things?" and passed his challenge.

I celebrate by making corn chowder, a recipe I love and adore. It has cream and creamed corn, peppers and onions, and little baby shrimp in it. I also make myself a corn dolly which is saved for a lovely candle holiday next February, Imbolc. And though I've been celebrating with a large group in a city nearby recently, I am sitting Lughnassah out. I have written a special chant just for Lugh and I'm going to camp for a night and have a sort of retreat. My personal life demands a pause for spirituality, and that is exactly what I intend to do.

Initiation

Late last calendar year I made a pretty big jump from the solitary world of witchcraft that I'd been living in to the more formal arena of being a Student of Wicca. I didn't do it lightly, but boy was it time. I started taking classes from a High Priestess of Wicca in January. From these classes came all the opportunities I've had to practice and worship with large groups for holidays.

When classes began there were four of us. Traditionally, study for a first year Wiccan initiation is a year and a day. Since January, the other three students have, for various reasons, stopped attending our HPS's classes. I am the last one left. It has been discussed between my HPS and I that I am obviously beyond these first year studies, and that I should hold on because second year would be coming. All along I've known that I'd be offered initiation -- it was hardly ever a question in my mind.

But the call came and I still wasn't mentally prepared for it. My teacher called me this weekend to inform me that since I am the last witch standing (hah!), and since I have little need for first year instruction, she would like to begin preparing me for initation now. It hit me slowly over the course of the next few days: I am taking a major leap into this world through initation. It got me to thinking about my baptism many years ago, and all the same feelings all over again. There is peace at the core, but also the nervousness that comes with commitment, and the belonging that comes with being invited to join a group.

I sought baptism as a freckle-faced twelve year old. I faithfully attended every meeting and read every scripture (even the ones that condemned my family to hell). For several months I attended weekly classes and filled out my Bible study cards with pride. No one else in my family was making this commitment and I felt quite special that I had discovered the key to life and immortality.

I carefully chose my best bathing suit to wear underneath the baptismal robes. At the top of the stairs entering the giant tiled baptismal, I stood waiting for my brothers and sisters in Christ to be welcomed into this family just the same way as I would be shortly. Soon I was waist deep in water and my robes were floating all around me. The pastor talked for a moment about how everyone in the community knew who I was because of my big personality and my penchant for hugging everyone. Oh, the moment that I heard the words that I thought were ultimate acceptance: "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, I baptize you," before taking a long deep breath and then a long deep plunge into the waters of renewal.

The same things I felt that day are the things I feel now leading up to my initiation into witchcraft. It has been eleven years since that first acceptance into a spiritual family. This spiritual family is no less accepting, and it feels wonderful.

Litha was amazing and wonderful, just as I hoped it would be. I danced with the Goddess and whooped as the God was danced by. There is more to say but I wrote it all down the way I want it to sound, and my Witch Journal is at home.

My New Shiny

Today I took my second Dragon Magic class. The teacher, a guy I met at Beltaine, is energetic but scattered. Still, the classes are a lovely respite from the world, a kind of semi-sacred space. Just being in the presence of other witches helps me feel less ostracized. I still have to drive an hour and a half to get that home feeling.

I am really very skeptical about the entire idea of dragons. I've never really gotten the fairies, or understood the pagan couple who altered a barn animal to make a unicorn, and bred it to make more unicorns. That sort of fantastic imagination has always escaped me. To get in the mood, I am watching Harry Potter movies, Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings. To further get in the mood, I bought a five headed dragon for my altar:




I also picked up an old set of books from Anne McCaffery, the Pern books. They're all about dragons and really have been the most helpful in getting me in the mood. Point is: this is a stretch for me, for sure. But that is one of the reasons I'm taking something sort of laugable like Dragon Magic. Who knows -- maybe I'll have a spiritual experience and run headlong into a dragon and discover a part of myself I had not yet realized. Or maybe I'll never understand it and after eight weeks I'll move on to some new topic. For me, the point is in the trying.