Dame Artemis and the Wild Hunt.

 Dear Reader,

I have spent the last few weeks contemplating Dame Artemis (not to be confused with the Grecian goddess) and her role in the spiritual architecture of Filianism and Déanism. In my contemplation, I saw a connection between this lesser known Janya and the Wild Hunt of Germanic and Nordic paganism (which has been adopted into wider groups of pagan religions). 

Their purpose is much the same. The Hunter goes out in search of the spiritual beings that have strayed from the Way and returns them to their proper places. Additionally, the Hunter seeks out malevolent forces to put down and return to their proper places. It is both a rescue operation and a cleansing.

For the Germanic and Nordic pagan community, the Wild Hunt is active for a season (typically winter). In the Filianic and Déanic community, Dame Artemis seeks her prey on a monthly basis. The fifth day after the new moon is hers. I have found no rites honoring her nor much in the way of lore that says why this day was chosen or describing her role in relationship to the other Janyati.

I use the term Dame instead of Lady, because a Dame is the feminine equivalent of a Knight. In my meditation and attempts to logically understand things, I've come to a few conclusions.

If we take a moment to look at Dame Artemis as the equivalent of a Knight, one may see that she is under the direction of Sai Vikhë. Her lunar aspect also puts her under the direction of Sai Candrë. Considering these things, one might say that Sai Vikhë is her commander and that Sai Candrë is her Lady, whom she holds in devotion and esteem and will align her works with Sai Candrë's desire when not acting on the command of Sai Vikhë.

The life cycle of a myth.

Dear Reader,

I will not be doing a video post today because my living room still looks like a disaster because of how many projects I am working on. I really should have started last January on making things for last Yule. But I had to be foolish and wait until November. Lesson learned, I am not doing that again.

If I were to make a video, it would be discussing today's topic: the life cycle of a myth. There are going to be some who are going to be highly annoyed with me for the views pointed out here. I apologize in advance for any distress I may cause with this post. It is the fruit of literally three decades of study in mythology and religious literature. Some of this study was formally academic, most of it was almost obsessive reading and note taking. 

All myths began as stories to explain the world we live in and how it operates. They became popular with a cultural group because it made sense to them to interpret the world that way. Over time, due to cultural drift (also known as cultural cross-fertilization), these myths grow and change. If we look at Norse mythology we can see an example of that cultural drift in the role that Tyr and Odin play in the most recent record from antiquity. 

During the Migration period, studies of Norse mythology points to Tyr as being the leader of the Aesir. His epithet of Sky-Father suggests that he was originally in the position that Odin is in. Once the Settlement period began and raiding became an important part of their culture, Odin arises as the All-Father. Tyr is referred to as an adopted son of Odin, which is a large reduction in stature from one who was once chieftain of this tribe of gods. It is reasonable to argue that Tyr's loss of stature came from him sacrificing his right hand to the Wolf. Because he is no longer whole, he cannot hold the status of chieftain.

This concept is heavily borrowed from the Celtic peoples, where their mythology has a similar story of the king of the gods loses his arm and can no longer lead. Odin's loss of his eye would presumably make for an argument that he is no longer fit to be ruler. That story, however, presents later in the mythology than Tyr's loss of his right hand. As such, Odin is well entrenched as the head of the Aesir and is during the cultural period where the Nordic and Germanic people are struggling to keep their cultural identity in the face of encroaching Christian influences.

As cultures change, the original stories are forgotten or regulated to fireside fiction. With the arrival of Christianity among these peoples, laws are enacted to prohibit worship of the old gods. This happens regularly with the conquering of one culture by another. Sometimes, a culture gets lucky and aside from folktales and folk magic, there is some kind of documentation of the previous iteration of the mythos. This, however, must be read through the lens of the changed culture that wrote it and the recognition that significant portions are missing due to the passage of time.

Nativity & Yule have passed. What now?

 Something of a personal post today because I have been so busy that I haven't had time to come up with anything for the topic of Divination. If I can, later today, I will post a reading for the Filianic community at large. I had wanted to do one draw each day of Nativity to give an overview of what the corresponding month is bringing next year. That didn't happen. I wanted to do a reading for the heathen community at large and the lokean community, but that didn't happen.

I've been so busy knitting and finishing projects that I haven't had time. When I wasn't doing that, I was cleaning. I'm still in this position because I have a bear to finish for my younger son and a sweater to sew together for my eldest son when it is done blocking. It has all together been frustrating and dealing with crisis after to crisis for the last month has been grueling. Gods only know what's coming next.