On the 4th Anniversary of Katrina

John Barry, author of Rising Tide and Influenza is also the Secretary of the Levee Board for the east bank of the Mississippi which includes New Orleans. Listen as he talks about the importance of reversing the damage done to Louisiana's coastal wetlands. Take a look at facts you might not know. For too long we've let engineers determine the fate of southeast Louisiana. It's time to respect the geology of southeast Louisiana and the Mississippi River and work WITH Nature instead of against.

For 4 years the people of southeast Louisiana & Mississippi have worked to recover from the storm. Please take time to share this with your senators & representatives. You may think this does not impact you. But when you look at the facts that John Barry presents you will realize that we are all more connected than we think.

Diana & Dianus Garden Plaques

These are the same size. They were purchased at a local garden/nursery. I liked the fact that the were a matching set and the similarity to the New Orleans Water Meter cover.

Rite of Union

One of the basic components of the branch of Stregheria I practice is the Rite of Union. It is in its most basic form a prayer. But it is also an alignment ritual. The words and gestures are meant to align our physical body with our spiritual selves and with the Gods.

It is short and simple. The instructions for the hand gestures are given on page 115 of Hereditary Witchcraft.
Hail and Adoration to you O Source of my Enlightenment. I pray thee impart to me thy illumination. Enlighten my mind that I may see more clearly all things in which I endeavor. Illuminate my soul, imparting thy essence of purity. I reveal my inner self to thee and ask that all be cleansed and purified from within.

When I first started practicing Stergheria I struggled to memorize all the new bits. I was being taught via the internet and eMail. My teacher was and is great, but far away. I didn't get the reinforcement associated with seeing and hearing someone else do this, nor the benefit of doing the action with others. Because the Rite of Union was both a part of many rituals and a smaller manageable bitesize piece, a Strega's prayer, I thought I should be able to memorize it easily. But I kept getting the words and gestures snarled up. One day I became so frustrated with not being able to remember all the parts of this correctly that I finally broke down and locked my self in a room in front of my Lasa Shrine and repeated these words and the associated actions over and over.

First just the beginning, Hail and Adoration unto Thee O Source of my enlightenment. So many times until it slipped from my tongue without thinking. Perhaps as a result of my initial frustration which became an internal plea, I ended up starting my Rite of Union with my arms raised in an outreaching V with my palms open. Hail and Adoration unto Thee O Source of my enlightenment. Which means for me, I am here. I acknowledge you O Source of my enlightenment. I reach out to you and honor you. And initially, while I struggled, a plea to help me get this, please!

Then, I pray Thee impart to me Thy Illumination letting the action of creating the triangle of manifestation above my forehead bring the wide wonder and greatness of the One into focus. Me on the One and the One on me.
Arms up reaching out Hail and Adoration......... Hands into triangle ........ Thy Illumination. Then on to the triangle over my forehead... until it seemed so practical, so natural. Of course I would want to have my thoughts enlightened. Of course it would be natural for this enlightenment to come to the location of the 3rd eye. Enlighten my mind that I may see more clearly all things in which I endeavor.. Over and over again.

Now what? Why am I here? I am here for my soul, because this is my spiritual path, my center. So the triangle of manifestation goes over my solar plexus with the words: "Illuminate my soul, imparting thy essence of purity.". Not just my mind. Not just in your head. But your SOUL.

And then because there is always the opportunity for more and because I want to bring this illumination into my core, I open my arms saying, I reveal my inner self to thee and ask that all be cleansed and purified from within. Cleansed and purified. Allow me to be open. See my arms are open, I am open. Allow me to start fresh, clean and purified.

Again I did each section over and over again. Until I decided to try the whole thing together and low and behold! It just worked. All the hand gestures all the words flowed as they should and their meaning flowed into me as well. Now I can break into the Rite of Union at any time (well when I'm pretty sure no one is looking or will care). I do it to the Full Moon. I've done it at sunrise or sunset, to an oncoming storm front, to a magnificent bush of gardenia flowers. Or of course as part of ritual. Even when I do my rituals inside because my back yard does not offer enough privacy to do circle casting ritual outside, I always start the Full Moon Ritual by going outside and doing the Rite of Union to a Full Moon. My teacher encouraged this and was, of course, right.

Moonflower

PreBloom and a perfect offering to the God.



Blooming and a perfect offering to the Goddess.

Seasonal shift

I know, right now in other parts of the country and northern hemisphere this is prime summer growing season. I live in New Orleans which has and I hope always will be slightly out of phase with the rest of the world. Now is the start of our inbetween season. Watermelons are ready and the okra is going crazy. But many summer plants are finishing up. Oh the eggplant and peppers will produce into the fall but it is time to think about pulling up the tomato plants. We can start harvesting and keep harvesting basil for pesto until the first frost. But the basil is at its prime now. It is also time to think about planting our fall crops.

While this process can seem wildly out of phase with other parts of our county it is in keeping with the mythos that is part of my tradition. Autumn Equinox is when our God dies. Here in New Orleans we start to see the signs earlier than most. It actually makes sense with our agricultural seasons for the God to die and go into the earth at the equinox. Seed crops like sugar snap peas, dill and root crops like onions, leek, radish, carrot are what we'll plant. We can plant other crops too like kale and parsley.

One of the things that I love about my tradition's wheel of the year is that it works with what passes as seasons here in New Orleans. This year I've decided to go with organic heriloom seeds instead of seed packs from Lowe's or Home Depot. I've placed the seed orders today. The seeds should be here in a week or 2.

Diana's Day Ritual

Keep to the ways beyond all obstacles. My backyard is not as private as I would like it to be. PreKatrina it was a bit more private but I lost some of the taller plants in the brackish water that covered everything for a little over a week. I have great backyard neighbors but when I want to be left alone to do ritual visiting is not what I have in mind. Sometimes I have to visit and then wait to do ritual. And then I remember that we are to keep to the ways beyond all obstacles.

I prepared 2 scrolls with my written petitions. These were a combination of symbols, images related to my requests, and written spells. I rolled these and tied them with white ribbon in preparation for burning.

I created a "lake" from a circular firepit and placed 13 votives around it's edge. I also set up my New Orleans firepit to burn the petitions.

After lighting the votives around the "lake" and the log in the firepit I did the Rite of Union to the Diana plaque I have on my garden fence. I then circled the lake 13 times remembering all those who celebrated Diana's Day or the Nemoralia in the past. I burned dried rosemary and spearmint cut from my garden weeks ago in the pit as incense. I did the Rite of Union to the Diana plaque again. Then I called to the Grigori and asked that they allow my magic to manifest. I then burned my petitions in the fire.



I finished the ritual with one last Rite of Union. This was the first time I have done this outside and even with the still, heavy heat of August and the additional heat from the fire, the ritual was more powerful outdoors. So it looks like I be creating Diana's Mirror in my backyard again next year.

Words of Aradia: Concerning Worship

These words are taken from Italian Witchcraft by Raven Grimassi:

Remember to keep, and observe, all the sacred gatherings. For therein does the power flow, and emanate forth into our Being. Observe the time of the Full Moon, and all the Holy Days of the Goddess.

Honor the Sun and Moon for they are sacred symbols of the God and Goddess(which they placed in the heavens as a token of their convenant with us). But do not workship them, for they are but images of the Great Ones.

And you who are priests and priestesses, remember the times of union (and the rite thereof).

All acts of reverence toward Nature and toward life are acts of worship. So it is too with love and pleasure. Therefore, let each day be your rituals of adoration to the Great Ones.

Times of Gathering
Shadowfest (October 31st)
Winter Solstice
Lupercus (Feburary 2nd)
Spring Equinox
Lady Day (May Eve/May 1st)
Summer Solstice
Cornucopia (August Eve)
Autumn Equinox

The Holy Days
Festival of Diana (August 13th)
Festival of Fana (December 19th)
Festival of Tana (May 1st)

Vinnie Russo on Grimassi and Streghe

Posted with permission.
From: Vinnie Russo
Subject: [traditional_stregheria] Moderator Note - Grimassi & Wicca bashing
Date: Aug 12, 2009 8:49 AM
Hello all,

First, I want to say that I am thrilled with all of our new members and the recent lively discussions. However, I need to step in both personally and as a moderator regarding Raven Grimassi as well as the recent attitude of "Wicca bashings".

I know Raven Grimassi personally. People who criticize his published material often don't have all the facts, have never talked to him, or have jumped to assumptions.

Raven's published material is just that published. You don't really think that he'd actually publish all the material that he has or what he uses to train personal students, do you? It's material that is appropriate to teach the public, he makes that very clear. However, what Raven teaches his students is both authentic and valid.

I would like to quote directly from Raven Grimassi:
"There is a rich legacy of ritual, lore, and magic in the teachings of Italian Witchcraft. It has always been my goal to share this with others in whatever way I can. This has been a challenge over the years because much of the material is protected by sworn oaths to not reveal various elements. I have pushed that envelope over the year and continue to do so today. Ironically this has brought charges from initiates that I am violating the oaths, and it has brought allegations from the public that I have nothing authentic to share and am simply using the "oath claim" as a shield. We are a fascinating community."

"The facts are that I plant the keys to initiate material in my non-initiate material. I use common material as a carrier for the inner workings. All that is required is for a person to sift through my books and join things together. The keys and the doorways are all there, it only takes a focused desire to reveal what resides within the written words. Is this the breaking of oaths? For some people it is, and some initiates feel that I am freely giving away keys that they have had to work for over the years."

"Some non-initiates look at my work, and because it contains some common Wiccan elements they dismiss it all as unauthentic. I guess this is like finding a fly in your soup; it ruins the whole thing. Except, of course, that the fly doesn't make chicken soup something else because the fly is mixed in. It's chicken soup with a fly in it. That's pretty much the situation with Wiccan elements in my writings on Italian Witchcraft. I was particularly amused one time to hear my book on Italian Witchcraft referred to as Wicca with marinara sauce. While inaccurate, the statement is still funny."

"I find that some of my critics invent things about me and work, which is really a misuse of valuable time for all concerned. While I appreciate respectful differences of opinion, and I value constructive criticism of my writings, I have little tolerance for unwarranted allegations and outright lies. But I do realize that being a public figure is going to draw attacks upon my work and my character. It's an unfortunate truth about human nature."
More can be read here.

OK, back to me now. In addition to responding to inaccuracies regarding Raven's work, I want to address the recent "Strega good, Wicca bad" attitude.

What's with all the Wicca bashing? There is absolutely no reason to denigrate or criticize another Path in order to compliment one's own. It is entirely possible to "sing the praises" of what Stregheria is WITHOUT the need to criticize what it is not.

Stregheria is a VERY diverse path and some families and branches have chosen to incorporate some Wiccan elements. So what? I applaud them. They are taking a long term look at things and incorporating elements into their own practices to ensure what they pass is a complete system rather than a fragmented system of lore and folk magic. Bravo.

The very culture of Sicily and Italy is syncretic in nature (Italian, Greek, Spanish, French, African, Phoenician, etc.) and there is no reason that our Craft shouldn't reflect that. As a matter of fact, it would be VERY surprising if our Craft DIDN'T reflect that especially as a living tradition. As many of us are American, English, etc. and NOT native Italian or native Sicilian, it only makes sense that we would begin to incorporate elements of the culture that we currently live in and make those elements our own. Just because something originally can be traced to another culture or Path doesn't mean that it can't also be part of Stregheria. It becomes part of Stregheria (at least in particular families) when the element in question becomes fully integrated into the composite fabric of the Craft.

Further, factual history of the Craft (of any culture) is almost non-existent. Most of the so-called facts are simple oral lore and stories but would not stand up to academic research to ascertain the validity of the various claims. Much of the initial modern Wiccan/Pagan movement started based on a fabrication of history (i.e. tweaking the truth and even outright lies). It's much better now with Wiccans becoming Academics and doing real research that will allow them to take a more honest look at themselves.

I don't want to see us (The Streghe) fall into the same trap that the Wiccans of the 1960's did namely, that of everyone claims to have a personal family tradition going back in an unbroken line for thousands of years; with unchanged material, lore, and mysteries; that is a complete system of magic and mystery; that was always secret which is how it survived; and is oathbound so no verifiable proof can be offered to corroborate. If we follow that path, it only makes us look like attention seekers and children that don't know any better.

So, let's all try to criticize others less and compliment good academic research, good heart, and honest discussion more.

---Vinnie

Festival of Diana - August 13

Take a walk into Lake Nemi as CMC Green, the author of Roman Religion and the Cult of Diana at Aricia describes the setting:
"From here (the narrow road to the crater) the road curves, cresting the crater's ridge, and one finds oneself in a world of incredible remoteness and indeed, sacredness, even while the noise of school children playing has not yet died away. ...

Within the crater the woods are thick and green and birdsong fills the air, and the perfect blue of the lake reflects the sky and the crater's sloping sides. The old (asphalted) Roman road, still slopes gently down from the crest to skirt the lake, moving away toward the sanctuary at a point where the lake leaves a blunt triangle. To pass over the ridge into the crater is a very real experience of crossing a boundary into what is still effectively sacred space.

The crater is steep and the lake 30 meters deep, with only a narrow shoreline. On the northeast side is the one bit of level land beside the lake, roughly triangular in shape. ... Just to the east beneath the sheerest rise of stone, a great spring poured from the crater wall and into the lake. ... The crater is large enough to define a world of its own but not so large that it invites fragmentation of its interior space and in this very contained space, the triangular flatland forms a single orienting point.

The crater is the natural place for a hunting cult. It is the universe writ small, uniting the three cosmic levels - the earth, the canopy of the heavens, and, through the depths of the lake and the caves at its shore, the underworld. It was then, as now, a place of stunning beauty and peace, sacred and remote. ...

It is a small lake, spring fed, ... As there was no above-ground outlet, the lake level would have changed according to seasonal rain or drought although over time such changes would be modertated by the underground outflows. ... This triangle, broad across the curve of the lake and narrowing into the crater walls, is where the terrace for the lower sanctuary was eventually built. It resembled the stubby handle embracing the bottom of an Etruscan mirror. On a calm day the lake reflects the sky and the shoreline with shimmering perfection. The Romans, much more attuned to the visual impact of the setting than we can be, called the lake the speclum Dianae.

The crater has its own microclimate. Violent thunderstorms, earthquakes and thick fogs are all more frequent there then they are in the plains of Latium beyond. Trees - today chestnuts but in antiquity also beech and oak - as well as scrub and the larger woody bushes grew thick on the crater slopes: the area was densely populated with wildlife."

Imagine the ancient celebration as described by Ovid, from his Fasti:
In the Arician valley, there is a lake surrounded by shady forests,
Held sacred by a religion from the olden times...
On a long fence hang many pieces of woven thread,
and many tablets are placed there
as grateful gifts to the Goddess.
Often does a woman whose prayers Diana answered,
With a wreath of flowers crowning her head,
Walk from Rome carrying a burning torch...
There a stream flows down gurgling from its rocky bed..."

One Roman poet, Propertius, apparently attended the festival in the 1st century CE, as indicated in these words to his beloved:
"Ah, if you would only walk here in your leisure hours.
But we cannot meet today,
When I see you hurrying in excitement with a burning torch
To the grove of Nemi where you
Bear light in honour of the Goddess Diana"

Aricia: Diana & Rex Nemorensis

FROM: Ancient Legends of Rome, by Ettore Pais (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1905)
page 143-146:

"This circumstance, added to the torch which adorned the statue of Diana Aricina, favors a belief in the direct derivation of the cult from Diana Phaeelitis (the torch-bearer), worshipped by the Greeks of Rhegium and of Messana. Moreover, it was related that Virbius, on returning to life, assumed the appearance of an old man, and, though remaining unknown to others, was accorded an ignoble, yet immortal, existence near his beloved Diana.

Virbius (according: to the declarations of the ancients) was the name of a river. Other texts inform us that Virbius was the Sun. The two statements, rather than being mutually exclusive, are supplementary to each other for, the water which descends from the skies is transformed into fountains and rivers. Janus is, at one and the same time, the god of the Sun and of the waters; he is the lover of the fountains Camesa and Juturna, and of the spring Venilia, - that is, of the nymph which represented the currents of the springs. Likewise, just as Hephaistos, among the Greeks was placed in relation with the ocean, so Vulcan, at Rome, was placed in dose connection with the Tiber. Again, the mention of Egerius as founder of the temple of Diana, and, in even greater degree, certain remains found in the area of the temple, prove that the cult of the waters was closely connected with that of Diana Aricina also. On the whole, it seems a probable supposition that the cult of Virbius and of Diana was related with the cult of the nocturnal light, and that it represents one of the many forms of popular and sacerdotal fancies regarding the relations between the Sun and the Moon which illuminates the woods with its nocturnal light.

The most characteristic touch of the cult was, however, that one relating to its priest. As also in other places, he was considered an emanation and a perpetuation of the god himself. The god was considered a divinity which had to lead an ignoble life, and his priest had to be an escaped slave who with weapons in hand for fear of being slain, continually wandered through the woods. Whosoever killed him became his successor, and inherited the name of rex nemorensus that is, the king of the woods. The general metamorphosis of the cult, and the softening of sentiments, brought it about that, to the writers of the end of the Republic, this cult already seemed strange. There was, however, nothing strange in such cult. It recalls the conditions obtaining in the easiest Latin civilization, reminding us of the roughness and the brutality of the Roman Lupercalia, and of the ferocity of the Luperci, or, better still, of the Hirpini on Mount Soracte, These latter, it will be remembered, in imitation of their totem, the wolf, lived entirely by rapine.

Thus the priest of the Nemus Aricinum, as well as the god, is himself called rex. This brings to mind the asylum which Romulus established on the Capitoline Hill, and that other asylum on the Gelian where Tullus Hostilius or Servius Tullhis received bandits and fugitives. The fact that the legend of the very humble origins of Rome was at no time rejected by the national tradition, and was only partly modified and softened in later ages, is in perfect harmony with this primitive phase of Latin civilization. Moreover, even today in certain regions of southern Italy (where forms of primitive social life still survive) the brigand inspires no averse feelings in the farmer, who does not avoid his society. The bandit is more often the subject of admiration than of fear in the mountain fastnesses of Calabria, Corsica and of Sardinia. Perhaps, too, one may note that, notwithstanding so many centuries of civilization and the softening of customs, the country round about Nerni and Gerizano even today recall at times the ferocity of the ancient inhabitants of the Alban hills. Another series of facts illustrates, in still greater degree, the analogies, indeed the identity, of the cult of the lake at Aricia with that of Diana on the Aventine, The Aventine, being the region sacred to slaves and to fugitives of all the Latin nations, was always excluded from the powerittm* On this hill, not only did the slaves and fugitives find refuge (as for instance in the time of the Gracchi), but here, as well as on the Mons Sacer, was the tribunate of the plebs supposed to have been established. And the plebs, in fact, were originally composed of fugitive slaves and of those without masters.

These analogies extend, also, to the representatives of the cult in the two temples,—the one at Rome, the other at Anew. The priest at Aricia was a servus rex and Servius Tullius, sixth king of Rome,, was likewise the son of a slave woman. The servus rex of Aricia had to be a fugitive slave and was obliged to flee continually for fear of assassination by the aspirant to his office,. He was, indeed, the representative and the emanation of that Virbius represented as an aged man, who, under the name Hippolytus, had been trampled upon by the chariot-horses. Similarly, the old , Servius Tullius in vain endeavored to flee in a chariot, and was trampled upon in the Clivus Orbius (or Urbius), where the temple of Diana was situated. Indeed, the Clivus Virbius of Aricia was the street inhabited by beggars, and leading to the temple of Diana. Even today, in the popular speech of Italy, the Sun is called the father of the poor.

There are other points of contact still more remarkable. It is expressly said that Virbius was the Sun and the lover of Diana Aricina. This goddess was worshipped on the ides of August, in other words, in that month which the ancients gratefully placed under the guardianship (tutela) of Vulcan. The ancients also said that Servius Tullius was the son of Vulcan, or of the Sun. To him were sacred the Nones of each month, and his birth was said to have occurred towards the Ides of August. This day, a festal clay of the servi (slaves), was, too, considered the day on which King Serving Ttilltu* dedicated the temple of Diana on the Aventine. Though Virbius was the lover of Diana, Servius Tullius was beloved by Fortuna. In the sacred narratives officially accepted by the Roman priesthood, it was stated that Fortuna secretly visited Servius by night, entering: by the door called Fenesta. It is, therefore, easily understood how the various temples of Fortuna, and particularly that one in the Forum Boarium, were said to have been consecrated by Servius, The divinity worshipped in this temple seems to have been identified with Pudicitia Plebeia, a fact recalling the cult of Diana, which also at Aricia assumed special forms. So true is it, that she was there called Vesta, which reminds us of the Lares discovered in the temple of the goddess, and also of the fact that Servius was considered the son of the domestic Lar, or else of Vulcan.

At any rate, it is certain that chaste Fortuna, who was accustomed to pay her visits by night and veiled, is strongly reminiscent of Diana approaching the sleeping Endymion. To this must be added the fact that the Dianium, which was situated near the vicus Urbius (the later called sceleratus) and which was inhabitated by Servius Tullius, does not seem to differ from the temple and the sanctuary of Fortuna, or of Pudicitia Plebeia, who assisted Servius in his dying moments. The bones of Orestes (which were transported from Aricia) were not buried in the Dianium on the Aventine, but beneath the temple of Saturn in the Forum. The thought naturally arises that there may have been more or less similar cults in the different Latin cities, and that the two temples of Diana (at Rome and at Aricia) were not closely related to each other. Nevertheless, it must be remarked that Roman tradition is consistent in stating that the Aventine was inhabited by the Prisci Latini, and that the temple of Diana Aventinensis was erected by the entire Latin confederation."

Rex Nemorensis is a part of the history of the area. But other than the knowing the story is in Frazer's Golden Bough and mentioned by other classical historians, it does not play a strong part in the pratices associated with the tradition I follow. We do have a strong link to Diana's Day/August 13th. This celebration, known as the Nemoralia by others, is one of our Holy Days.

Roman Religion and the Cult of Diana at Aricia

Anyone interested in digging into the ancient links to our ways should read,
Roman Religion and the Cult of Diana at Aricia.
The book is expensive, published in 2007 by Cambridge Press and "academic".
The author is CMC Green of the University of Iowa - Professor of Classics. (Scroll down to see the author... CMC Green.)

We are so dependent on ancient sources and because of this we are also dependent on translations and associated interpretations of these ancient sources. The woman who wrote this book does her own translations, she reads and speaks latin and greek. She quotes, Livy and Dionysus, Varro, Cicero others (and Greeks), she provides the original latin and then her translation and, most importantly, provides detailed historical context for the quotes.

Historical Context: Italic Penisula? Greek? farther East?
Here is a quote from page 85
"There was always an undercurrent of competition between Rome and Aricia over Diana. One curious fact: Romans and Aricians both acknowledged that their cult statues of Diana were borrowed - but not from Greece, except secondhand through semibarbarous Greek colonies. The Massiliote Artemis whose copy was placed in the Aventine temple was itself a copy in turn of Ephesian Artemis, whereas Aricia's Diana came from Tauropolos - a mythical place generally held to be somewhere on the Black Sea. These acknowledgements of barbaric borrowing become even more interesting in that there is no corroborating evidence for either claim."

Hecate too was not Greek but borrowed from Greek colonies. Hecate is The Great Goddess, the Ancient of Ancients and a triform goddess. The Triform Arician Diana is ancient too and is said to have links to Tauropolos, in which is somewhere around the Black Sea - think of Catal Hoyuk, said to be "the 1st known city". Think of those bull heads and ask yourself if Tauropolos could be another name for Catal Hoyuk. Even if it is not, what is reinforced is that humanity's connection to these goddesses is ancient, going back far into prehistory.

The Goddess link to the Moon.
Quote from p 117-118
"The Moon was "feminine" and the cosmic source of all moisture, and was particularly the source of dew, which she brought at night. The nutriment of the moon was contained in bodies of fresh water, as the sun's was contained in salt water. Thus the lake in the crater by Diana's sanctuary, the speculum Dianae,was not simply ancillary to her worship. The lake "fed" the mooon, even as it reflected her and by feeding her moisture served to help her assist the hunter. The moon was the hunter's goddess because without the dew and the damp to hold the scent of a hare or deer or boar, the hunter and his dogs had little hope of ever finding their quarry. The hunter needed the moon; and the moon , by bringing the damp, captured the scent and thus "captured" the animal, leading dogs, who led the hunter straight to the prey. From time immemorial, the moon *was* the huntress."

"Thus there was no time among the Latins when the moon goddess was not also a hunting goddess, or when the hunting goddess Diana was not also the moon. There is no either-or, no decision we must make between Diana the moon goddess and Diana the huntress. Diana was worshipped in the wild, in a crater beside a lake, because that was where her elements - the moon, the wild, the water - could be worshipped together."

Diana, Hecate, Goddess of the Underworld
Quote from p 134
"It is unlikely that we shall ever know the real Latin name of Diana in the underworld - if indeed there was one. The moon at the dark was called silens - not by the poets but by the technical writers, such as Cato (luna silenti) Columella, and Pliny. The dead were known as the silentes (the silent ones). This pervasive silence indicates not just that there was a relunctance to name these deites amount the Latins but that, for the Latins, the very silence of the underworld precluded naming. Ovid approprirated epithets like Tactia (Silent One) or Dea Muta (The Mute Goddess) for underworld feminine deites. He also seems to suggest that the ghosts of the dead could only moan, not speak. Lucan's Erictho make much of the fact that she needs a just-killed corpse for her predictions, possibly on the grounds that those who had been dead longer would do no good because they were unable to commmunicate. In Aenied, Vergil makes much the same point with the silence of Dido,the moaning and the wordless whimpering of the Trojan shades. Aeneas is allowed to speak with Palinurus, who has not crossed over the river, and Anchise, who dwells in the Elysian Fields."

"One characteristic of Latin religion is that it uses Greek mythology as a rich source of protective euphemism. Thus Hecate or Proserpina (the Latin form of Persephone) are used as names for Diana in the underworld."

This is why we *know* Diana to have underworld elements but we have no name for this goddess, but shade or shadow, Umbrea or we've borrowed the Greek.

Footnote pg 133
"Hecate was, at least in Greek theogonies, a separate goddess. The name, like that of Proserpina, was used to express Diana's underworld character. This is not to say that Hecate was Artemis (or Diana), only that it was useful for speakers to employ the name when speaking of the goddess in the underworld."

pg 134
"Diana, then, was Diana Triformis: Luna, Diana, Hecate. These were neither different goddesses nor an amalgamation of different goddesses. They were Diana, well represented by the triple statue of Diana n the coin of P.Accoleius Laricolus, Diana as huntress, Diana as the moon , Diana of the underworld."

There have always been questions regarding "our" use of Greek names for our Deity concepts. What the chapter titled The Many Faces of Diana indicates is that while the Latins/Romans, and the author uses Latins to specifically separate the religion of the people from the Roman state religion, *knew* the goddess and all her aspects, the Greeks gave form and name to what the became recorded by Latin/Roman writers of the time. And this is what we have today as "history".

Remembering my friend on her birthday

Today was Dana (Polly Surette) Pastori's birthday.

On July 27,2009 via a front page newspaper article I found out that she had been murdered in 2002, her body discovered in October 2005 in the PostKatrina chaos, and her boyfriend arrested on a million dollar bond in June of 2008. He was convicted of her murder last week as well and sentenced to live in prison without parole.

To say I was deeply affected only begins to describe how I felt. Some will ask, "But if you had not heard from her since 2002 how close could you have been?" and this is a reasonable question.

I met Dana (before she changed her name to Polly) in the early 90's. She moved to New Orleans after she left her husband. She was with me when I was still searching for my path. She was Italian in some of her heritage and definitely in her looks but Norse, very strongly so, in her pagan practices. She wanted us to be able to work together. She hoped that I would, with my Germanic background, find a home in the Norse/Odinic tradition. We shared a love of learning and talking and practicing what we learned. But we walked 2 different paths.

In me Dana found someone who was open and accepting of who she was, all of her facets and I found the same. With each other we could be fully ourselves. She said once, and I knew when she said it that she was right, that I would always be lonely, even with people who were my friends if I didn't feel as if I could share all of who I was: the corporate woman, wife, mother, scientist, and witch. Dana was my friend because we shared all the aspects of our lives with each other and we trusted and could depend on each other.

I remember telling Dana that I was going to try to have (my daughter) a baby. I said (and this was before Raven Grimassi had published Ways of the Strega) that I wanted to invite the souls of those who had passed but who had positively influenced me a place to reincarnate. Dana asked me, quite surprised, where I had read this. I had to think about it but I said, I really hadn't read about it, but it seemed reasonable that if you believe in reincarnation that you'd want to offer a positive environment for your soul family. She just shook her head at me quite amazed.

I also remember the Shadowfest/Halloween in 1994 when we did a ritual to call this soul family while the veil was thin. Dana carved the rune for fertility on the white candle we burned. I was pregnant by the 1st week in December and 34 years old. I have always believed that the power Dana had as a witch helped make my life what it is today.

Dana loved her daughters. She was separated from them by her powerful and mean spirited ex husband. She had visitation rites before she ended up "stealing them". I saw her 2 daughters. I watched and comforted her as she tried every legal means possible to get "the state" to protect them and give her custody. When she took them they were shadows of what children should be, too thin and needing her.

She was able to protect them for years. But her contact with an old friend from the Czech Republic, lead to the police finding her. She was convicted and sentenced to probation, which she served out in New Orleans. She lived with me and my family until she could get back on her feet. Her solace in all this was that she was able to have time with her children when they were young. They got to know their mother. And as a result of her taking them they were watched by the state to ensure that their father would do right by them.

Dana had a complex life. Her father, the man her mother was married to, abused her when she was young. This of course affected her for life. But this man was not her biological father. She didn't know her biological father until later in life. But once she found him was able to connect. He was always good to her and I know that she loved him and his family. I want to be able to remember the good that there was in her too short life.

I wish she had been able to go to the Czech Republic as she said she was in our last conversation. She was getting away from New Orleans, from the US, until her daughters were old enough to be able to ask for her. It was always her hope to be able to reunite with them.

To "seal our friendship" and thank me for the being there "when there was no other", Dana/Polly gave me a magical box, filled with magical charged items. One of the things in this box was her first pentacle. It was made by a pagan from a piece of her jewelry, a peridot (our shared birthstone) earring. She said it "showed me my craft". I wear it to remember her and to strengthen my pagan practice.


One of the things in the magical box was a bird nest "plucked from a tree by my love", the man who killed her. She said I should use it if I ever needed to renew my life. Just yesterday I took the nest to the Mississippi River and tossed it in. I do want to renew my life. I'm sure Polly understands this perfectly. I also wanted her and me to be free of any connection to her murderer. Watching the nest sink into the river helped me release my friend.

Before her divorce she was in a terrible accident and literally died at the hospital. She always said this changed her. It opened her to the pagan path in a powerful way. I'll always be glad that she and I shared a small part of this lifetime together. She was a unique individual who never stopped learning from her experiences even when they weren't all good. I hope to meet know and remember her in another lifetime to come.

Cornucopia

August 2nd is Cornucopia. It is the time when Streghe celebrate and give thanks for the gifts of the harvest. Also, most appropriately, the following week is (only the 2nd ever) National Farmer's Market Week. So get out and celebrate the gifts of the harvest by visiting a local Farmer's Market.

We are physical beings so we can and should learn from and appreciate the physical. But all of our Treguenda have spiritual elements. This is the time when we review our lives and look for what can be harvested and appreciated and what should be weeded and removed.

As the words from the ritual say:
"Now hear the words of Arardia: 'Know that every action brings forth another, and that these actions are linked together through their natures. Therefore, whatsoever you send forth, so shall you receive. A farmer can harvest for himself no more than he plants. Therefore, let us consider what is good in our lives, and what is full. Let us also consider what is bad and what is empty. And let us meditate upon the reasons for all of these things."
Taken from Raven Grimassi's 'Ways of the Strega', republished as "Italian Witchcraft".

So take some time to enjoy the harvest and reassess your life. By doing this you are aligning yourself with the energies of the Wheel of the Year.

Aspects of the God

My tradition recognizes that the God has multiple aspects and forms.
Goddess aspects are often refered to the Maiden, Mother, Crone. In our tradition we refer to the God aspects as the Horned One, the Hooded One and the Old One.

The Horned One represents our primal connection to vibrant and direct male creative energies. This is the energy of the era of hunters & gatherers, when humans lived closely with the cycles of the seasons and the animal cycles of migration and birth and death. It is where our understanding of predator and prey resides. This aspect of the God has a deep and ancient connection. Lupercus is the Wolf God and a predator. Cern is the Stag God and prey. Together they are the Twin Gods in Stregheria that keep these ancient bonds alive and a part of our tradition. The Wheel of our Year reminds us of this connection most vividly at Lupercus on February 2nd . But this ancient link is also woven into our Spring & Fall Equinox rituals and the Winter Solstice, where Janus God of 2 Faces, the twin Gods Lupercus & Cern, makes his presence known. The God Lupercus is charged with completing the 12 astrological labors. This is the God aspect who must also shoulder the burdens and fight the battles necessary to complete the Wheel of the Year.

The Hooded One represents the mature, agricultural, nuturing aspects of the God. The aspects of the God are associated with the stages of human development. As humans transistioned from a Hunter-Gatherers to Farming & Herding we further separated ourselves from the wilder, uncontrolled by man, aspects of nature. Anyone who has ever planted a seed outdoors understands that Farmers & Herders must have a strong relationship with the changing seasons of the sun and with the breeding seasons of animals. But this relationship is one where humans are not just working with the cycles of nature but also controlling various aspects that previously only nature controlled. When does the seed get planted? When is the bull allowed to mate the cow and which bull? This aspect of the God is a careful, focused, aligned, controlled. The Hooded One is who holds the secrets of the seed and knowledge of the cycles of birth and rebirth. This is the God that is 'hooded in the Green" and who has ties to the Green Man.

The Old One is the Wise One. The One who has the experience necessary to assist with a decision's longer term aspects. This could be the warrior who fights, but only when necessary, or the elder entrusted with justice, or the scientist who tracks the movement of the stars over centuries by ensuring that wisdom is passed from generation to generation.

I started this post in response to a question on PaganMen about "The Green Man". As I see it The Green Man has aspects of both our Horned One, the wild natural, unbridled, exuberant aspects of the God along with aspects of our Hooded One. In many ways ancient traditions probably didn't feel the need to have the clean, tidy definitions that we do in our "knowledge based" society. The Gods were aspects of what the ancients experienced via the natural and primal forces. There was no need to have tidily matched Maiden / Mother / Crone aspects of the Goddess with Horned / Hooded/ Old aspects of the God. The stories, our mythos, were what they needed to be to capture the essense of the experiences and the ancients. Consistent experiences helped solidify the stories and associated God forms. Older gods are incorporated into the newer gods. In our Tradition, some aspects of the Horned One can be seen in the Hooded One. The Hooded One, the Green Man, presides over field and vine, and reigns in the woods. In the field, he is as quiet as the field's growth and as the sun's rays; in the vines, he is not (Bacchus); and in the woods, he can raise your hackles if he so chooses. The essence that can do that is wild and and very primal.

The God (of whatever era) is born, lives and dies through the seasons of the Wheel. He makes the Wheel what it is. Our Goddess is the Moon, throughout all her phases, and the Moon weaves her way through all the seasons of the Wheel, and therein, we see the Eternal Dance of the Gods.

I also know that there are many males out there who are drawn to the warrior archetype. Rex Nemorenis is the warrior/slave who takes on the responsiblity of protecting the grove and the priestess of the temple complex at Aricia on Lake Nemi. While this story is a part of the history of the Italic penisula, this story is "new" enough that it is did not become a part of my tradition's Wheel of the Year. Stregheria (again the tradition I practice) does not really have a "warrior" aspect of the God as part of our Wheel of the Year mythos. Think about that. No warrior aspect of the God. Why? Because the links of this tradition are so far in the past that "warriors" weren't critical, therefore the God doesn't have this as a key aspect. There is death in the mythos and the God has an underworld aspect in Dis. but other than Lupercus 12 labors there is little of the warrior in the mythos. That said, I have tried to mentioned how the warrior aspects fit into the 3 primary aspects of Horned, Hooded and Old or Wise One.

Words of Aradia: Concerning the Law of Return

These words are taken from Italian Witchcraft by Raven Grimassi:

Every act which you perform will draw to itself three times the nature of the act. Such is the Law.

This effects not only the acts of each day, but reaches into the future as well. Here the Law establishes those debts which must be paid.

Therefore consider well your actions. Nothing escapes the Law, nor is anything hidden from it. The Law does not punish nor reward. It only returns the intent of each action to its origin.

If you step off from a high place you will fall, and this is consistent. There is no intent, there is nothing good or evil. It may be good to leap upon your enemy from a high place and surprise hime, or it may be bad to fall and be injured. But the nature of the descent it only a law. So too is the nature of the Law of Return.

Queen of the Night - Cestrum Nocturnum

Of course, just after I finish my post on Summer Shrine Offerings, the Queen of the Night starts blooming like crazy. This plant has such a heady scent, especially in the evening when the flowers open, that it can cause repiratory issues in some folks. Thankfully it does not affect me or my family or my neighbors in this fashion. The clusters of star shaped flowers makes this plant a perfect Lasa offering. The white flowers blooming in the night make it a great Goddess offering. The shape of the closed flowers make it work as a God offering. Just as the scent draws neighbors and visitors to try and find the plant, I can imagine it drawing in the Gods.

The flowers remain closed during the day. One cluster was "working late today" so I was able to get a picture.


The plant is a postKatrina volunteer. And we are grateful for it, just as we are all the postKatrina volunteers who have given us so much.

Music recommendations from another Blog

http://ancestral-celt.blogspot.com/search/label/music

Shrine Offerings - Plants & Flowers

It's summer, deep hot summer. During the cooler months it is easy to find offerings for my Lasa/Lare Shrine and God & Goddess Shrines. But in the deep hot summer, it's not so easy. I like flowers as part of my offerings but it has been my experience is that scent is an important part of the offering, it pleases the spirits. So plants with aroma, primarily herbs, are what I have focused on growing.

One plant that actually produces flowers better in the heat than in the cooler times of year is Pentas. These bushy plants have large flower clusters and the flowers come in pink, red, white, purple. The only color I haven't seen is yellow. I like the many 5 petaled flowers, because they remind me of the pentacle and stars which I associated with the Grigori. In many ways the Grigori are like Lare who watch over all Streghe. I tend to use these flowers more in my Lasa Shrine but have also used them in my God & Goddess offerings when other offerings aren't as readily available.

My yellow Shrimp Plant is also a consistent flower producer in the summer months. I use it's flowers almost exclusively on my God Shrine.

Zinnias tend to do well in the heat and make great cut flowers. My problem has been in getting them to consistently grow from seed. I did manage to ge a few this year. I'm beginning to think this was because we had a very dry early to midsummer. I'm going to try again next year and water the seedlings less and see if I can be as successful. Zinnias work well for Lasa, God & Goddess offerings. I tend to use the orange & yellows in the God offerings, pinks for the Goddess and purple for the Lasa.

Many roses stop blooming in our summer heat. The exception is the Europeana Rose. I've never seen anything like it. It literally blooms year round, not as prolifically in the summer, but it still blooms. Additionally, unlike many modern hybrids, it also smells like a rose. I'm working on growing more via layering because this rose is so fantastic in our summer heat. Roses work as offerings for the Lasa, Goddess & God and when there are lots of Roses I'll use them in all 3 offerings. But when there are fewer roses I confess I tend to use it more on my Goddess Shrine.

Another herb that offers its white flowers in the summer is Greek Oregano. This plant is hardy and heat tolerant. It leafs out in the spring and by midsummer has begun to flower. After it flowers I cut it back in the last summer and dry it to use in cooking and the remaingin naked sticks go into fall bonfires. Like all the other herbs its scent is part of the offering. Once the scent is gone from any herbal offering it is time to replace with something new.

My spearmint is beautiful in the spring with its lush deep green leaves. The smell is heavenly. I use it as a ground cover so that I can step on it on purpose and release the scent. But do not plant mint unless you are willing to let it run. You can not easily contain it. Even when planted in pots if these pots are on the ground in a gardent the mint manages to escape and spread. As the heat of summer progresses it puts out white flowers shaped appropropriately like a a spear tip. In late summer first the leaves and then the flowers begin to die back. I use the mint leaves in the spring and the flowers in the summer and then in August I will cut it back hard and save the cuttings for fall bonfires. Mint can be used on as offerings for the Lasa/Lare as well as the God & Goddess Shrines. The spear shape works for the God. The white flower looks great in all white flower (mint, oregano, white pentas, rose if I'm lucky) Goddess Offerings. The leaves and flowers and the heady scent work in the Lasa Shrine.

Pennyroyal is another mint that grows well in the south. In the summer it blooms lovely clusters of purple flowers along its rambling tendrils. It works especially well for me in my Lasa shrine. It is also great as a flea repelent on pets. Break some of the runners of of the plant and rub it down your pet's back. Pyrethrin is a key ingredient in many flea soaps and comes from pennyroyal. This doesn't seem to affect the Lasa at all. They seem to enjoy the small globe clusters of flowers and the scent.

In the summer I can count on Russian Sage . I planted this looking for a purple flower that could stand the heat. The plant can stand the heat but I rarely get the lovely purple flowers. It does however have a strong sage scent.
I also have cooking sage as long as I keep it in the shade under our Bradford pear tree. The Lasa dislike sage and it doesn't seem to work well for the Goddess either, so I use it only on my God Shrine.

Spanish Tarragon is a wonderful addition to deep south gardens. It blooms happy yellow flowers late in the season. I like to use the yellow flowers for the God Shrine. The scented leaves work also work well for the Lasa & the Goddess. I've tried to grow French Tarragon but I've not been successful, yet.

Lavender blooms in the spring, but the leafy plant can be used all year round. I just have to cut offerings more sparingly in the summer as the plant doesn't grow as fast nor is it as hardy in the heat of the year. I have a number of different types of Lavender. Sweet Lavender with its tall flowering spikes is great in the spring but it is the Allardi Lavender that I can count on for fragrant leafy offerings in the summer. Spanish Lavender & French or Denticulated Lavender seems to be most sensitive to our Gulf Coast climate changes. I typically reserve Lavender as offerings for the Lasa & the Goddess. The greyish tint of the Allardi Lavender leaves goes well with the all white full moon Goddess offerings.

I can grow Fennel easily from seed. Once established this plant can last 2 or more seasons. Fennel is extremely connected to the Lasa and Fata. As an offering in the vase on my Lasa Shrine, nothing seems to make them happier. The fennel has a nice licorice aroma and the delicate fronds create a soft comfortable environment in the vase. I haven't been successful in growing stalk fennel but have been highly successful with "bulb" fennel. In the Mediterranean California climate fennel grows wild along the coast and is perfect for the type of stalks necessary for the Summer Solstice ritual.

I'm also trying to grow asparagus. And while we've had only a few tasty asparagus shoots, the plant makes frondy, frilly offerings that are great in the Lasa shrine or as fill in God or Goddess offerings. Cutting back the plant also encourages root growth which is just what I need.

Basil is a strong summer plant in New Orleans. It must be planted in spring when the weather is cool but thrives in the summer heat. Its fragrant green leaves can be used as offerings. But so can any flowers. The Basil plant will weaken once it starts to flower because it's thinking about creating seeds. So cutting the flowers from basil plants helps them grow more leaves and stay strong. We can harvest basil for offerings and cooking all summer but have to make sure that we harvest most of the plant before the first frost. So pesto is often a home made Solstice/Christmas gift from our house. Thai Basil or Queen of Siam Basil or Cinnamon Basil flowers added to vinger create a flowery pink tinted vinger that is also good as a homemade gift. When you open a bottle of Cinnamon Basil Flower vinegar in the winter brings the smell of summer flowers into the room.

When I am placing offerings in my 3 shrines I like to use one herb or flower to "connect" the offerings on all 3 shrines: Lasa, Goddess, God. So I might have Fennel and Pentas in the Lasa Shrine. Roses and Lavender, with a sprig of fennel in the Goddess shrine. Tarragon flowers & Russian Sage, with a sprig of fennel in the God Shrine. I keep my offerings in small vases and change them regularly.

Lasa Shrine - Summer

Goddess Shrine - Summer

God Shrine - Summer

Pines of Rome

Pines have a special place in my memory. While I am a native New Orleanian, my father's family was from the Mississippi Gulf Coast. We spent our weekends in the pines, along the railroad tracks picking blackberries, or on the sandy beaches in the shallow waters of the Mississippi Sound. I remember holding the lantern in one hand and my dad's hand in the other and shuffling my feet just right so the sting rays wouldn't get me and so I wouldn't scare off the flounders he was gigging; or being up in the predawn, with my mom & grandmother preparing for a morning of crabbing on the seawall, with crabs for dinner and sugared blackberries and cream for dessert. After dessert we'd go out in the clearing on the edge of the pine trees and marvel at the night sky and the Milky Way and the fire flys and the satelites which were always called Sputnik even though Sputnik had been out of the sky for years before I was born. New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast has had a link to Space Manufacturing. People know about Houston & Florida but forget about the other space worker bees in on the Gulf Coast at Michoud & Stennis. After Hurricane Camille there were many large, 3 to 4 feet in diameter, trees down on my grandparent's land and the surrounding land. These were eventually harvested by loggers and helped pay recovery costs for my grandparents and others after the storm. But not right away, we had almost a year of being able to play in the downed trees. Trees that were formerly just rough bark with unreachable tops were suddenly our own jumbled world of pine & oak pickup sticks, our play ground. We could walk the trunks like bridges and jump from tree to tree. It was like being in the tree tops. And the resinous pine sap smell was stronger than ever. We always went home sticky, exhausted, exhilarated.

Featured in Walt Disney's Fantasia 2000, the Pines of Rome is beautiful and haunting and written by Italian Ottorino Respighi. Today is his birthday. It was only on future research that I discovered that the Pines of Rome is actually part of Respighi's Roman Trilogy, three symphonic poems evoking Roman places and times of day. The first in the orchestral trilogy is the Fountains of Rome, the second is the Pines of Rome and the third is Roman Festivals.

Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome) (1915-1916)
Taken from Wikipedia with slight modifications
The first movement, "La fontana di Valle Giulia all'Alba" , shows this fountain at daybreak in a pastoral landscape, in which cattle pass during the morning. The fountain is not actually in Rome but in the countryside surrounding it. In the second movement - "La fontana del Tritone al mattino" - Naiads and Tritons dancing in the morning light, as figures of the Bernini fountain are seen nearby. Gods and goddesses using conch shells are portrayed by the French horn. The third introduces "La fontana di Trevi al meriggio" and is ushered in by a triumph giving news of a recent victory by the god Neptune shining in the noon light. The final movement, "La fontana di Villa Medici al tramonto", gives a much more melancholic atmosphere, as the brilliance of the sun fades.

Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome) (1923-1924)
Taken from Wikipedia with slight modifications
Each movement portrays the location of pine trees in the city during different parts of the day. The first movement, called "I pini di Villa Borghese", portrays children marching and playing in the pine groves of the Borghese gardens. The second movement, "Pini presso una catacomba" has a more melancholic tune, representing pine trees close to a catacomb in Campagna. The third part, a nocturne, "I pini del Gianicolo", is set at night, near a temple of the Roman god Janus on the Janiculum hill. Double-faced gods open large doors and gates, marking the beginning of a new year. A nightingale is heard, giving Respighi the opportunity to include real life bird sounds in his work, a feat unachieved before (the score mentions a specific recording that can be played on a phonograph: the Brunswick Panatrope). The final movement, "I pini della Via Appia", portrays pine trees along the great Appian Way. Misty dawn: a legion advances along the Via Appia in the brilliance of the newly-risen sun. The grounds trembles under the footsteps of his army and the consular army rises in triumph to the Capitoline Hill. I could link you to pictures on the web but think its better if you listen and let the music paint pictures for you.

Feste Romane (Roman Festivals) (1928)
Taken from Wikipedia with slight modifications
This is the longest of the trilogy and depicts scenes from Ancient Rome of the Roman Empire. It is also the least known of the three. Within the first movement called Circenses or Circuses, the music presents the theme of an ancient contest in which gladiators battle to the death. Next, the Gubileo, or Jubilee, portrays the fiftieth year of festivals in Roman tradition. Pilgrims approach Rome catching a breath-taking view from Mt. Mario, as church bells ring in the background. L’Ottobrata, or the Harvest of October, represents the harvest and hunt in Rome. The final movement, called La Befana, or the Epiphany, takes place in the Piazza Navona and depicts Roman songs and dances, including a drunken reveler.

The Grigori, The Watchers

I was doing some websurfing today and ran across this very interesting rumination on another blog. The author has some interesting insights into the Grigori based on his readings in Journey of Souls, by Michael Newton. His insights are in keeping with my own personal experiences with the Grigori.

Words of Aradia: Concerning Freedom

These words are taken from Italian Witchcraft by Raven Grimassi:

We have been enslaved. We are persecuted, hunted,and murdered by the Christian Church.

We are outlaws.

Because of our plight we have come to know the meaning of Freedom. To be free is the essense of life.

Freedom allows the minds, body,and spirit to be rid of shame, guilt and restriction (which the Christians teach).

The freedom to act as you desire, harming no one by your deeds, is the gift of Freedom. The Old Ways free us from the restrictions of society and the expectations of other people.

Therefore you shall be free. And as a sign that you are truly free, you shall be naked in the your rites. And you shall sing, dance and make love.

Why Stregheria is for Heterosexual Pagan Men

Wierd title huh? I'm actually counting on the power of google and the Gods to get heterosexual men to take a look at Stregheria as a potential pagan tradition. So I intentionally crafted the title and lit a candle.

First let me make one thing perfectly clear: Stregheria isn't only for Heterosexuals. Please take some time to look at and think about Aradia's Words concerning sexuality.

But this is a tradition that works best when there are an equal number of heterosexual men and women in a group. From Shadowfest until May Day the God rules and the High Priest leads the rituals. In our rituals men and women often come together to honor and bless each other. Sexual energy and tension is a part of our worship and the power we raise. Our initiations require males initiate females and females initiate males. We understand the wholeness of Deity but because we are human we conceive of Deity as both male and female, God and Goddess.

Without few good pagan men, Stregheria as I have been taught it will fall deep into the hidden shadows. I don't want that.

Take a look at an interview I did with Christopher Blackwell in the Fall of 2008 and if you are interested dig around this website a little.

Hot times in the City

It's has been a while since I last posted on this blog. I am also a neighborhood activist in the PostKatrina World, wife, mom, fulltime professional for a big corporation and sometimes pagan blogging has to take a back seat.

We had a marvelously cool spring and early summer. This is practically miraculous.

The school year is out and my husband and daughter are both home from school, him from teaching and her from 7th grade. We are thankful for friends with swimming pools and for dark cool theatres. I've always thought that our theatre season should be the summer because of the appeal of dark, cool theatres. This weekend we went to 2 plays (a premier & Shakespeare), as well as seeing the classic CasaBlanca on the big screen at a 1915 movie theatre. It's important to teach the kid "cultural literacy". We also saw CarrotBlanca with Bug's Bunny and a cast of old Looney Tunes characters, which made me think about how much of my own cultural literacy can be attributed to Loony Tunes & the creative genius of Mel Blanc & Warner Bros. But I digress.

Summer is our harsh season. In other parts of the country and world the winter season is the harshest season, the season where folks prepare to go outside and say WHEW! when they finally get inside. In New Orleans we prepare for a summer's day the way folks in Maine prepare for a walk in the woods in January. If there are outside chores it is best to do these before 10AM. You want to be inside, cooled off, showered and with a cold drink by 10:30AM. Then you wait out the heat of the day, until the evening. The evening is that short time between when the heat has begun to dissipate and before the mosquitoes come out to carry you away.

Because of how my house sits on its lot, I need to be out working in the front yard at daybreak and done as early as possible. I can then move to my back yard where the house shields the back patio for an hour or so more. Then I have to hide out in the shade or indoors until later in the evening. If I absolutely HAVE to do front yard work in the summer, then sometimes I can get a hour in after 5PM when the front yard is mostly shaded.

We don't live in the desert BUT, in New Orleans, we do completely respect the sun's power. This is why music gigs in New Orleans rarely start before 10PM. It is just too hot to go out before then! I'm also a believer in early rising and after lunch naps whenever possible in the summer. Siesta time makes a large amount of sense in the heat. And summer is when I remember that shade trees are a true gift from the Gods!

It has always bugged me that the Summer Solstice is called by many "the first day of Summer" when in reality it is "MidSummer", or Summer's turning point, well for most places. In New Orleans it is officially summer on the first day that the temperature hits 90 degrees. This happened this year in early May but then we got another reprieve of days that were in the 70s & 80s. So we are practically spoiled now that it hits 90 degrees or better everyday and probably will until September or October. The Autumn Equinox is a marker that allows us to hope that the heat will break but it doesn't typically mark any true change in the basic summer weather patterns. This is also why the hurricane season doesn't end until November.

How many people do you know who consider Air Conditioning as a productivity tool? It is here. It can also cut people off from the seasons and the earth. When you are cocooned inside your totally climate controlled house & car you can definitely loose connection to the greater world. Sometimes I think if there were no A/C that a lot more people would be taking climate change seriously. When you step out on to your porch and the heat and humidity punch you in the nose, you learn to respect it.

So if Summer is not your harsh season be thankful and get out and appreciate it!

What a Wonderful World

Listen to native New Orleanian Louis Armstrong sing
Then sit outside today and think to yourself.

I see trees of green........ red roses too
I see em bloom..... for me and for you
And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue..... clouds of white
Bright blessed days....dark sacred nights
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world.

The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky
Are also on the faces.....of people ..going by
I see friends shaking hands.....sayin.. how do you do
Theyre really sayin......i love you.

I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow
They'll learn much more.....than I'll never know
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world

(instrumental break)

The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky
Are there on the faces.....of people ..going by
I see friends shaking hands.....sayin.. how do you do
Theyre really sayin...*spoken*(I ....love....you).

I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow
*spoken*(you know their gonna learn
A whole lot more than I'll never know)
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself .......what a wonderful world.

Lyrics provided by LyricsFreak

Shadow Working is said to be a part of magic working in Stregheria.
Watch as the aritist works his magic and the audience goes from laughing to inspired.

Christian Mystics, please not Christian Witches

This is my point of view in response to an article recently published in PanGaia under "Point of View: A Mystical Witch: My Journey to Spiritual Harmony".

I can respect and understand what Wood Stone relates in her article. But I wish that she would choose a different way to say it. Pagans and others, mostly non-Christians, have worked hard to reclaim positive associations with the word Witch. Now that Witch has these positive connotations Christians who like certain aspects of Paganism are willing to share these associations. If Wood Stone wishes to see additional dimensions to Christianity, I'm all for that. If Wood Stone and others like her (because I am sure there are others like her) does not wish to give up the title Christian, because of the value and worth they place on the teachings of Christ, then I wish that she could be satisfied with calling herself a Mystical Christian or a Christian Mystic, instead of (and this may be perceived as a harsh word) usurping the title of Witch.

This is essentially the same as having the opinion of NO, Satanists are not Pagan. Mark Foley and Ed Mayberry's responses in PanGaia 50th issue were perfect. There is no Satan or devil in Paganism. Satanism is so linked to Christianity that it can not be said to be Pagan. Pagans have had to work long and hard to get to a place where the first thing someone thinks when we say Witch or Pagan is NOT that we worship Satan. So much of what we do when we build community is to have to say what we are not. So those who blur the lines, like those who want to call themselves Christian Witches or who are willing to call Satanists Pagans, only serve to make the rest of a very large and already diverse community work harder. Is the discussion healthy? Absolutely. But my hope would be that just as we can respect the rights of others to follow the path they choose, that we can also begin to be consistent with how we view the labels we use to communicate who we are.

Those who follow the path of Stregheria have the Words of Aradia to guide them and there are specific Words Concerning Christianity. As a teaching priestess of Stregheria I have had to have many conversations regarding how we as Pagans can relate and communicate with Christians. The number of times I've had this conversation has caused me to try to capture my starting point for coexisting with those of the Christian faith.

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A Priestess View of Aradia's Words Concerning Christianity

Concerning Christianity

“You have heard the Christians say that only through Jesus Christ can you enter into the Great Realm. So I tell you that Jesus was the spirit of love, and only by love may you enter in.”

I think it is important that Aradia starts with this sentence. It should color everything that follows. Only through love can you enter the Great Realm.... or touch the Divine. This means love and acceptance of self, warts and all as well as love and acceptance of others....warts and all. I have found that first you have to love, accept and be able to laugh at yourself, only then can you truly approach others or any problems with an open mind and a loving heart.

“You have heard the Christians say much concerning the teachings of Jesus, but how many have you seen follow them? So I say to you that Christianity, as Jesus taught it, died with him on the cross. Even his own disciples were more concerned with their self-images and self-importance.”

I was raised Christian. Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. German-Americans. Maybe this means something to you. Maybe it doesn't. Of all the Christian religions, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod is the absolute farthest from anything close to paganism. When I was young, which I freely admit was a while ago, these Lutherans considered the Catholic Church's use of saints, pagan. Yep. Really. "There is one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ." Praying to saints may as well have been praying to Diana. I attended Lutheran Grade School with an hour of religion every day. I attended Sunday School. I attended catechism for 2 hours every Saturday for the year before my 14th birthday. I attended a Lutheran High School with an hour of religion every day. I know my bible. I know all the bible stories. I love learning. I liked religion class. I made my teachers and pastors crazy with probing questions that even they knew they weren't able to really answer the way the Church wanted them to answer. The only time I was ever kicked out of class was a religion class where I kept hammering a teacher when he knew that every time I asked him a question he was digging his hole even deeper. And he knew that I knew. I took a course called “The Bible as Literature” in college, figuring it for any easy class with my background, but also hoping for another way to view the "good book". It was an excellent class.

So, with all that, here is what I know. If you really look at ONLY the teachings of Jesus there is very little in conflict with most pagan religions. It is only when the Old Testament and the New Testament teachings of Paul get mixed in that the real problems begin. And the longer there is Christianity the more mixed in and mixed up it all gets then the worse it seems to be able to get. When I first read this section of Aradia’s words, I totally got what Aradia was saying. What I thought was: "You go Aradia". Finally some pagan said what needed to be said about how many Pagans feel regarding the effects of organized Christianity. But now that I am 15 years a strega and have the strength of my own path to lean on, I am willing to say that "Christianity as Jesus taught it, died with him on the cross" is no longer, in my experience, completely accurate. I've known Christians who followed Jesus teachings, who could be open and respectful. Sadly not many, but enough.


“The Christians say that we are evil and dangerous, but who is more so? “

Look at all the harm that the Catholic Church did to indigenous peoples of the New World. Look seriously at the history of the Church Catholic and then Protestants in the Old World. There are many abuses, much which was/is political and power-based in nature and that has absolutely nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ. Look at the damage done because of the insistence, driven by "Christian morals" on abstinence only approach to pregnancy and AIDS prevention. Look at the damage done to women by the Adam and Eve story and the Old Testament teachings that women are evil and how sin came into the world and for which they are destined to suffer. I could go on, but won’t because it still can raise my blood pressure.

“They believe the world will end and teach others concerning this, speaking of destruction which their God will bring. The mind has great power, and many minds of one belief have much power (even to accomplish great destruction). So I say to you that there shall indeed be a time of sorrow.”

Aradia acknowledges the power of "prayer" and common vision. And shows us that it can be dangerous and will lead to problems and that we should acknowledge and respect this and be prepared for this.

“But out of the ashes shall arise the new World of Reason. For the Great Ones shall use this to fulfill the Plan, through the teachings of the Daughter.”

Paganism, Stregheria teaches balance and the wheel always turns. So Aradia indicates that we should have hope. Some might say that she foretells of a backlash against Christianity. Are we finally beginning to see this? I think we should hope for and strive for a better future based on ways different from those we have seen the masses, Christians and others, follow. As Aradia says: "the mind has great power and many minds of one belief have much power". This is true for Pagans as well as for Christians.

“There shall never be peace between our religions, for they ever strive against us. “

Christians are charged with proselytizing. It is their duty to try to convert others to their way, the one true way. This more than any other belief is what will always cause them to "strive against us" and this more that any other Christian idea is what prevents peace. We, as Pagans, must simply understand this, accept this and be true to our own beliefs. I have found that if I go out of my way not to use specific pagan terms, but instead respond truthfully and generically that many times Christians will actually agree with me. Do I believe in the power of prayer (the mind has great power)? You bet. Do I believe in original sin? No, I don't. Having looked down on my newborn daughter it is impossible to believe that she was born sinful and in need of cleansing. The newly born are as close to perfection as physical human beings get. They can talk until they are blue in the face. I let them. But when I comment on how I felt about my newborn, what can they say? Children are born evil!?!! Please. If they insist and get worked up most folks will think them the ones who are a little off. I don't fight back. I just agree to disagree and smile. Do you believe in God? Sure. I don't need to elaborate. They believe in a deity. I believe in deity. Unlike Christians I do not think there is only one way to connect with deity. The key is to avoid giving them any hook, handle or solid footing with which to work on converting you. Find the places you can agree. Especially when you will probably never see them again. If you will see them again, for instance they are family, then it is even more important to find the places you can agree. Once you establish where you are the same... and you are the same in many places if you look at it the right way, then you build a foundation to maybe, one day, have a conversation about the more challenging stuff. Pagans have no need to "convert" anyone to our beliefs. So when Christians push, the key is NOT to push back.

“It is useless to attempt to reason with them, for they have never been know or their ability to reason. They choose to have faith in place of understanding.”

Now either Aradia got a really good dig in here (and I must say 15 years ago this line really made me smile and say "Yes!") or she is trying to get us to see that a Christian's approach to things spiritual is different. As Streghe we believe that "Nature is the Great Teacher". This causes us to be open, to really look at things, to ask questions, to wonder, to seek. This is very different from the Christian approach that you "must have faith" and "believe". These approaches are opposite ends of the spectrum and that is what makes "reasoning" with Christians difficult. These are the same reasons why Christians can find it difficult to find agreement and alignment with science.

“Therefore it is best to avoid them so as not to anger them. For anger always follows lack of understanding. “

For folks raised as Christians who have found Paganism to be their true home, this is really healthy advice. I remember being angry with what I was taught and how it caused me to live my life and how judged and harmed by these approaches I felt I had been. I didn't understand how “they” could be "that way". This made me angry. Because I was angry, and because I knew so much scripture that I could throw back at them, I could very easily make them angry. And to what end? What good would it really do anyone? Avoidance was easier. Avoidance allowed me to grow in my new path and heal from my early indoctrination. Not everyone is in a position to really avoid all Christians. My advice instead is to avoid the confrontation, avoid the topics that will cause the confrontation and focus on finding the places where you can agree whenever possible. Another option when pressed on your feelings or faith is to say thoughtfully, that you've thought about it but you are not sure. Sometimes this is difficult. Especially when you are sure of your beliefs. But remember where we started this post: "only by love".

“Remember also the time of persecution to come and reveal nothing to them that shall harm our people or our ways.”

And the always available option is to say nothing. Don't cop to being pagan with a Christian. What good does it really do for you or for them or for the relationship you may need to have with them? Our ways are different. Period. Look to nature and see all the different things that share the world. Christians and Pagans can as well.

“It is sad that our ways of spirit cannot extend to, nor be shared with the Christians.”

Yes it is sad that our ways of spirit can not be shared openly with Christians. But I have found that we can, for the most part, peacefully coexist. Until the wheel turns.