One of the most well-known of crocodiles is the Nile crocodile of Africa, who is a fearsome predator of animals and people. Ancient Egyptians saw the Nile crocodile as their fearsome God Sobek. An aggressive God, Sobek represented the power of the Pharaoh. However, He was also their God of fertility and protection. A link to the deep past, the Nile crocodile is respected and feared. As Sobek, the Nile crocodile is a part of the primal strength of nature.
Title:Pagan Portals: Gods and Goddesses of Wales — A Practical Introduction to Welsh Deities and Their Stories Publisher: Moon Books Author: Halo Quin Pages:120pp Price: $10.95 (paperback) Release Date: 1 July 2019
Rhiannon. Pryderi. Pwyll. Arianrhod. Taliesin. Ceridwen. Annwn. In this brief – but informative – primer, Quin explores the primary texts which preserved the tales of the Welsh Gods and Goddesses; analyzes what we can learn about the Deities from these texts; and offers suggestions for meditation, journeywork, and offerings in their honor.
Imagine waking in the hour before dawn, rising in the cool darkness – no electricity, no gaslights, just the stars and what’s left of the moon, and perhaps a candle to light your room. You pull on your clothes, no sound but that of your feet shuffling and the ruffling of fabric. You put on your shoes and grab a bucket and head out in the darkness. You walk down the road, the air chilled and moist. If you pass someone, you nod your head but don’t dare to speak. Their footsteps shuffle away, and the scent of cold earth and dew fills your nostrils as you continue on your way. Soon, you hear the faint trickling of a creek. You come to the edge of it, and the faint light glints on the ripples as you dip your bucket down into the freezing water. You pull it up again, and it’s heavier than before. The faint light glints silver on that, too, almost as if you’ve captured some of the stars in it. Then you head home, the water sloshing softly in the bucket, and still you don’t speak until dawn breaks on the horizon.
Spring is easily my favorite time of year. Fall is a very close second and no one can deny the enchantment of the newly crisp autumn air and the turning and falling of the leaves. But for me it is the bursting color and rebirth of spring that enchants and excites me the most. Being born in April, perhaps I have something of a natural bias.
The Spring Equinox is a time of rebirth and new beginnings. Nature buds and blossoms as the seasons of light and life return, and the Goddess offers up Her mysteries of spiritual evolution to guide your journey of soul.
Here at PaganSquare, I’ll be sharing a spirit animal painting and message from my Elfin Ally Oracle Deck picked especially for the zodiac sign that Mama Moon is currently transiting. Enjoy!
April 1: Loki Day. Loki’s Day is celebrated on April 1st by American Asatru groups and individuals influenced by the old Ostara festival held by the old Ring of Troth, which was a multi day campout that included April 1st when that date fell on a weekend. Loki Day was a day for pranks and jokes in honor of Loki, and toward the end of the RoT women who were awake in the early morning threw their hair-combings into the fire for Loki. When the Ring of Troth broke into two groups, the American Vinland Association kept the Loki celebrations intact, while over the years the Ring of Troth abandoned them due to the influence of new members who were Nokeans (see my post on Nokeans for a definition and discussion.) The Troth recently re-embraced Loki, so the old custom may or may not come back. Also on April 1st: Narrentag (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and the season of the possible date of Alp Aufzug begins (Switzerland.)
If this were a cinematic moment, there would be a scene where the wind blows the weathervane round to signify a huge change in direction. Do you feel it, too? Ever since February (well, for me Imbolc, but for some friends a bit later on) it feels as if the huge ‘stuckness’ of 2018 was unclogged.Whoosh! And that whoosh! is the wind shifting the weathervane round.
Days and nights are equal now that it’s the Equinox, and it’s time to think balance. Green vegetables bring cleansing to the body and help eliminate the winter accumulation we inherit from the cold months. The following recipes can help. It’s good to connect with each season by serving the seasonal fruits and vegetables. This recipe uses dandelion greens, available in markets in the spring and later in your yard all later spring and summer,(though not tasty while they blossom) and either Asparagus or any leafy green such as kale, collards, curly endive, Swiss chard, or spinach.
Our server has been updated. As a result, many of our old links are broken. Fortunately, all that is required to update the links is to add “/entry” between the name of the blog (like “/paganistan” or “/words-to-the-wise”) and the name of the post (which starts with a “/” and ends in “.html”).
We apologize for the inconvenience. We will be working on updating recent hyperlinks to make access more convenient to our readers.
This isn’t a spell to make eggs angry, but to release the anger and frustration we sometimes find ourselves hanging onto. Release the Kraken! Seriously, you will feel much better afterwards. Better to let it all go than allow it to fester ‘coz then things can get really messy.
One of the most well-known of crocodiles is the Nile crocodile of Africa, who is a fearsome predator of animals and people. Ancient Egyptians saw the Nile crocodile as their fearsome God Sobek. An aggressive God, Sobek represented the power of the Pharaoh. However, He was also their God of fertility and protection. A link to the deep past, the Nile crocodile is respected and feared. As Sobek, the Nile crocodile is a part of the primal strength of nature.
I am home. It is Wednesday and I should be at work, but a migraine has commanded otherwise. I felt the first uneasy stirrings last night while hiding candy-filled eggs and overstuffed baskets for my sons, but I thought a good night’s sleep would set me to rights. Nope. Instead of working I am in bed, notebook propped on a pillow, a cool cloth on my forehead, listening to birds outside my window. I suppose there are worse ways to welcome Ostara.
Title:Pagan Portals: Gods and Goddesses of Wales — A Practical Introduction to Welsh Deities and Their Stories Publisher: Moon Books Author: Halo Quin Pages:120pp Price: $10.95 (paperback) Release Date: 1 July 2019
Rhiannon. Pryderi. Pwyll. Arianrhod. Taliesin. Ceridwen. Annwn. In this brief – but informative – primer, Quin explores the primary texts which preserved the tales of the Welsh Gods and Goddesses; analyzes what we can learn about the Deities from these texts; and offers suggestions for meditation, journeywork, and offerings in their honor.
First, if you aren’t familiar with what a blog hop is, here’s the TL/DR version. Bloggers all write about the same theme at the same time on the same day. We have been doing this every year since 2012.
For this Ostara (or Mabon for those in the more southern regions), we were given two themes by our wranglers. For this blog, I chose theme 1 which asked us, “What card or cards would you say represent you either professionally or personally?”
