Blessed Samhain & Tamala

 Dear Reader,

I'd have posted these sentiments yesterday but it was a day of errands and a trip to Urgent Care for myself. I didn't even get a chance to sit down at the desk until it was the end of the day. I didn't have the spoons to write an entry into my daily journal. It was exhausting and painful yesterday. Apparently I have bursitis in my right shoulder, which happens to be my dominant arm. It's making things awkward.

Now, why do I bring up bursitis? Because my late Grandfather has been around today reminding me not to push myself too hard, to ice my shoulder, to apply heat, and, most of all, to move things farther than it is comfortable. He has bursitis a couple of times and bone spurs in his shoulders. He's warned me that once you have one bout of bursitis you're at risk for future ones. I didn't like hearing that, but Grandpa has always been honest and plain about the truth.

Samhain and Tamala is the time of year that the dead draw closest to us. It is not only our recently deceased loved ones that call out to us. Our great ancestors do so as well. Those who are our ancestors by way of our blood line, by way of our educational history, and by way of our spiritual heritage all call out to us words of greeting and love. They call to us encouragement to live boldly and with joy. And, sometimes they drop some wisdom into our laps as well.

Blessed Samhain and Tamala.

 Dear Reader,

I am just about over this damned bronchitis. I didn't do anything big and fancy for Samhain (which also is the first day of the Filianic holy time of Tamala). I did wear jewelry that invoked deceased friends for their company as I took my sons out trick or treating for the first time in over a decade. It just has been nothing but bad weather and people being sick this time of year for a very long stretch. So, when the weather was merely cloudy and everyone was mostly healthy, we did it.

The kids didn't get a big haul of candy but they had a great time wishing everyone along the street a happy Halloween. (We took the approach that the houses with their front light on and no candy were the 'trick' portion of trick-or-treat and cheerfully wished them a good evening.) There was a brief scare as a very nervous little dog rushed out someone's door towards my youngest son, but that ended well. He was of the opinion that the little dog was naughty and still learning how to be good after he got past the ZOMG IS IT GOING TO NIP ME!?!

Today is the second day of Tamala, the Filianic festival of the united body of believers both living and deceased. Yesterday was the day of invitation for them to come to us and take part in the celebration. Today is the day of celebration and prayer for gratitude for the community of believers. I also mark today as the day to invoke my ancestors (both familial and otherwise) to honor them and ask their blessing over my family. If I can manage it, I'll be doing something like a Dumb Supper for them. The challenge there is that mice are beginning to get into the apartment. It makes leaving a food offering out over night a tricky proposition.

Tomorrow is the third day of Tamala. On this day, we bid farewell to our guests who have come to visit us through this celebration, provision them for their journeys off to their respective residences in the spiritual world at this time, and celebrate the union of all within Déa. It is not a 'good bye' but a 'see you again soon' and a joyful time where we take comfort that all are one within Déa and not even death may separate us from all whom we love and all who love Déa.

NaBloPoMo 2: Honoring the Ancestors

 Dear Reader,

This post is on a topic that is close to my heart. In most of the United States of America's pseudo-Christian over culture, the dead are forgotten as soon as they're in the ground. There used to be a ritualized period of mourning but this gave way to hurry up and get back to work. It is considered to be morbid or impolite to discuss the dead after their funeral except in passing. This is not because of concerns that it would draw their spirit to you (which is found in many other cultures) but because death is a taboo topic for the majority of my country. Unless you're talking about murdering others in the abstract, the it gets bantered around quite casually.

In the pagan community the time around Samhain (also known as Halloween) is a time for honoring the dead. Altars and shrines are set up to them and rituals are practiced to keep their memories alive. This is not the only time of year one can spend a moment honoring they who went before us. It can be a daily practice such as what I have. Every morning, I brew a pot of coffee and put out a cup as an offering to my ancestors. It is a small act of welcoming, but it can be a big thing.  Small ritual acts build up big energy over time.

It's like building a cairn. Each small pebble is not much in itself. The entirety, however, can be breathtaking in what is built. There are days where I'm not feeling well or I just don't have the time for that morning offering. I trust that the ancestors are forgiving and understand when I am unable to do my daily ritual. They say that each of us are the result of the love of thousands. That love is deep and can carry us through hardship. Even when that hardship is having a bad case of the flu and being sick in bed most of the day, our ancestors will care for us and lend us the energy we need to be healthy and well.

Some may say, but I'm an orphan, I have no ancestors that I know of. Or I have disowned my family, I can't venerate them. Remember that line about the love of thousands? That means you have ancestors that are not going to be recognized as related to you. That means that you have ideological ancestors who guide you as you try to navigate life in an ethical way. That means that you can venerate the dead and let them reach back to you with the same care you extend to them, regardless of how much blood quantum connection is there.

Happy Tamala & Samhain

Photo from Mita Juraja at Pexels.com

Dear Reader,

Today is the feast of the dead in many faiths. In Wicca, today is known as Samhain. In Filianism and Déanism, today is the first day of Tamala. Within the Janite tradition of the Filianic faith, today is the Feast of the Ancestors.

It is the third harvest of the season. The first harvest was celebrated at Lughnassadh / Chelanya in the beginning of August (in the northern hemisphere). This is the time when the grain is harvested, predominantly. This is a celebration of life's bounty and the fecundity of the earth. Feasting happened with a focus upon the grain being brought in. This was also a time for celebratory games and feats of boasting while the sun still waxed strong in the sky.

The second harvest was celebrated at Mabon / Cuivanya. This celebration comes in the middle of September (in the northern hemisphere). This is much like what one would expect Thanksgiving to be like. The themes of this holiday is the joyous reception of the bounty of the harvest and the blessings of family. One of the names of this harvest celebration is Harvest Home. This is the time when the harvest is in full swing. All manner of produce and fruit are being brought into the home and processed for winter. Great feasts happened because there was (in good years) more produce and goods than one could process on their own and the excess was shared with the community.

The third harvest was celebrated at this time of year. This is one of the 'fire festivals' of the orthodox Filianic faith as well as one of the 'fire festivals' of the ancient Celtic peoples. Daylight wanes during this time of year. Great fires were lit by ancient peoples like the Celts of old for two purposes. One was for the ritual purification of the herds as they were driven past them and the smoke helped to kill off some of the parasites attached to the animals. Second was to extend the amount of light that was needed for the work of culling the herds in preparation for winter.

There were games and celebrations in antiquity just as there are today to celebrate this threshold into the 'dark' half of the year. The fire festival persists in its own way with lighted jack-o-lanterns. The folk memory of the impoverished going from home to home begging for some of the excess bounty of the household persists in children going from home to home requesting treats. And the folk memory of changing one's manner of dress to confuse the spirits abroad this time of year persists in the wearing of costumes.

The intimacy of death with this holy day hasn't been shaken one bit in the passage of time. This is a time of year where the veil between this world and the spirit world is thin. Spiritual beings walk this world with relative ease as they do at other points of the year when the veil is thin. This is also a particularly good time for contacting the dead. That, however, is a topic for another post.

High Holidays: Filianic

Eastre

Florimaia

Exaultation

Rosa Mundi

• Blessed Solstice & Rosa Mundi 2016

Chelayna

• Autumn:Harvest and Creation 2018

Cuviyana

• Autumn: Harvest and Creation 2018

Tamala

• Tamala/Samhain 2018
• A Shrine for the Beloved Dead 2014

Nativity

• Yuletide 2015
• Advent Begins 2015

Lucaid

Amity Day

• Love is Love is Love 2017

Moura Day

• The Season of Moura 2018
• Moura Day 2016
• Moura Eve 2016

Kala

• Eve of Kala Thoughts 2018

Hiatus

• Hiatus and Equinox 2017

This page will be updated as the relevant posts are collated and put here.

Tamala/Samhain

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger from Pexels

Dear Reader,

Please forgive my lack of posts over the last few days. I have been sick with a cold. I seem to be on the mend, thank the good gods for that. I'm going to make something of a personal post here about this holiday. Samhain (pronounces sow-en) has always been a special time of year for me. Partly because I love how it is one of the few pagan holidays embraced by the over culture (albeit in a very shallow and materialistic way). Partly because I find it easier to spend time with my beloved dead.

I keep a shrine for the dead and give them daily offerings (when life isn't too hectic and I remember). I talk with them regularly. It's like sitting down with them over a cup of coffee and just keeping them up to date about what is going on in my life. I treat them, in many ways, as though they are still alive and with me. Because, death is but stepping through a doorway into another room that we can not follow through in life.

In the last few years, the secular aspect of this holiday has begun to grate on my nerves. Perhaps it is because the weather's been poor and the kids didn't get to go trick-or-treating. (With young children, that equals a meltdown of epic proportions after a day of school getting them hyped up for the hunt for treats.) Perhaps it is because I want to do more formal observances but it is hard because I have young children. In either case, I've been feeling less joy and more curmudgeonly annoyance with it all.

As people around me focus on the 'spooky' elements, I get annoyed. Skeletons are cool and all, but the likelihood of them rising up from the grave is pretty small. Dragur are spiritual beings, not physical. The images of blood sucking vampires are laughable in their grotesqueness. But they don't mention anything about the fact that there are spiritual beings that are about this time of year that are pretty nasty. Some of the stories about how Samhain is the 'devil's night' hold a little bit of truth to them.

Haunted locations become more active. The spirit-bothered people get to deal with even more clamoring for attention. Strange things happen this time of year just because the energies are running weird compared to the off season. But, people get so focused on gorge themselves with candy and throw wild parties that they forget that randomly playing with magic is a bad idea. Those stories about the person who played with a ouija board and wound up with the thing getting haunted, at least 80% of them took place around Samhain. Because the veil between the physical and the spiritual world is thinner and pretty much anyone can move between them regardless of aptitude for such magic.

This is how people get spirited off by the fair folk. I'm absolutely sure that some of the missing people are off in another realm because they got lost. And their bodies, inhabited by changelings who wanted to see what human life was all about. So they're off living another life with out little if any recollection of their life before because they've been taken over by a spiritual being. I may get looked at as weird for this belief. I've seen enough weird stuff, however, this belief actually looks kinda logical.

♥

Autumn: Harvest and Creation

Image courtesy of Pexels.com

Within Filianic and Déanic faith systems, the season of autumn is a celebration of harvest and of the
creation of the universe. It is the central portion of the 'Mother' half of the year (which is considered to begin at the feast day of Rosa Mundi, Midsummer and end at Nativity day). The major feast days of this part of the year celebrate the whole of Dea. The first harvest festival of Chelanya is the feast of Regeneration. It mirrors the Eastre cycle and is during the second month of Summer (Kerea, named for Ceres) and corresponds with when the harvest of produce begins in earnest. Some consider it the unofficial start of autumn.

The second harvest festival falls during the month of Abolan near the Autumnal Equinox. It is called Cuviyania. This festival is consider the proper harvest festival and is during the height of harvest time. It celebrates Dea as the Ground of All Being, or the fundamental cause of all existence. All three aspects of Dea is celebrated but greater emphasis is placed on the Bright Mother as the benevolent and abundant giver to all of creation. The major meditative focus for this celebration is the mysteries of creation.

The third harvest festival falls during the beginning of the month of Werde and is a three day celebration. It begins on the 30st of October and continues until the 1st of November. Known as Tamala, it is a celebration of the soul's reunion with Dea. It is also a time where the Dark Mother aspect of Dea is celebrated as the comforter and consolation of the dead. Tamala is very much a time for the meditation upon those who have gone before us and for the celebration of the bonds of love that ties us to them, as well as the bonds of love that tie us to the Dark Mother, Deam Mysterium.

Video Post - Two for One day!

I encourage everyone to be safe and smart with their magical workings this time of year. The waning moon throws a lot more energy into 'dark' workings than usual because of its proximity to Samhain/Tamala/Halloween. The psychic tides are still fairly high because of the recent full moon. If you are going to be doing magic over the next several days, make sure that your personal protections are firmly in place and you are following your procedures closely.

Remember, every action produces a chain of effects. Somewhere along the line, some of those effects are going to include you.What ever magical working you do over the next little while, make sure that you are prepared to handle those consequences. Also, all of the safety measures you take with dealing with invoking the dead should be taken in dealing with spiritual beings. More about this in the next video below.

This is the time of year that many people will try out evocation for the first time. Generally, the first attempt at evocation is necromancy because they're trying to summon the dead. Evocation is not as hard as some people would describe it. The truly challenging part is discerning if the being answering the call is whom you summoned. This is one of the reasons why necromancers prefer to use something that had a connection with the dead. It can be anything from a lock of hair to a gift they had given the client or a prayer card. The item works as a beacon and strengthens the call to that specific spirit.

Be advised, there is a change that what answers the call is not necessarily who you intended to summon. Most of the time, the imposters are there to play some sort of a joke or other wise present something false but relatively harmless. There are times, however, that a truly malevolent entity will seek to cause distress and harm to the unwary practitioners. This is why it is vitally important that you keep your personal safety protections in place and keeping your ritual space well protected as well. This is the reason why so many occult practitioners use a magic circle. It acts as a sphere of protection for all who are within it.

There are three rules to evocation.

1. Don't call up what you can not lay to rest.
2. Be precise in your summoning. The more detailed and specific your evocation, the better.
3. Don't jump to do whatever the one you summoned tells you to do. Use your critical reasoning skills. Think before you act.

Witchy Life - The dead of the Great Lakes, remember them.

I thought about it last week, and I realized that I really should start telling you about what it is like in my life. More specifically, I should let you know about some of the weird, wonderful, and witchy things that happen around here on a daily basis. I don't know how my experiences will compare with someone else's but that will be shown eventually, I suppose.

As I may have mentioned earlier, I am a necromancer. Some people get alarmed when I say that. They assume that I am playing around in graveyards, desecrating the resting places of the dead, and generally doing gruesome things. That isn't exactly what happens. Have I done magic involving death? Yes. I have even performed a ritual wherein something was killed for the purpose of the spell. (It was a mosquito, by the way. When I need to do some sort of spell where death is involved, I opt for lifeforms that are generally pests. Most often, it is some insect, like the mosquito. And, no, I don't do those rituals often.)

Have I done magic in a graveyard? Yes. It was an evocation of a dead man's spirit for the sake of getting information. Offerings were given and he was paid for his time. (Payment being the cleaning up of his grave site and encouraging others to tend the graveyard.) Most of my time, I am involved with evocation on a case by case basis. Usually, the dead come to me with out much coaxing. I think it is because they get lonely and yearn for contact with the living. If you can hear them, then they'll show up and talk your ear off, unless you set some boundaries.

I think the most memorable example of an evocation was one that happened on the shores of lake Ontario a little over ten years back. I had gone to the lake with some friends around the time of Samhain. While they were busy marveling at the waves coming up from the brisk breeze, I decided that I was going to call out to the dead who were beneath the waters. I silently asked for one of them to come and tell me what might be done to honor them where they lay.

Honoring the dead is a big thing for me. I have an ancestor shrine where I interact with my ancestors every day. I give them offerings, talk to them about what is going on in life, and generally treat them as members of my family, because they are. This will play into my story, trust me. I had wandered off away from the group a little bit after my call to the dead.

I found myself standing at a spot where there was dead fish, seaweed, and a dead gull. It smelled appropriately awful. I was about to go back to the group when I heard him. He was an older man. His manner of dress put him somewhere in the 19th century as a laborer of some sort. I think he worked on one of the ships that crossed the lake back then. He was dressed for the weather with a heavy sweater and a knitted cap, both dark blue. His pants were a tan color and he was wearing boots. He had grey eyes and a full, bushy black beard.

As he stepped out from behind the outcropping of rock I was near, I was a little surprised. I honestly didn't expect anything to come from my call. But, as I was making ready to go back to the group I was with, I heard him say, "Wait a minute." Then he stepped out from behind the rocks and stood in the one clear spot in the middle of all the dead things. "You wanted to see me?" he said, sounding mildly surprised.

I asked him if his rest was peaceful. He shrugged and responded, "Peaceful as it can be. The waters are never still. Old bones lie deep but they get disturbed." I then asked him what I could do to make his repose and that of his fellows in the lake better, more comforting. I asked him what the living could do to make sure that the dead got their due. He looked genuinely surprised and touched by my question.

He said something about how he had been there for a hundred years (this was in the late 90s) and no one ever spoke to them. He insisted that there was nothing that they needed, that they were as well as they would be. I pressed the issue and after a sigh, he said, very simply, "Remember us. No one remembers us anymore. Lake Erie, they remember the Edmund Fitzgerald, but no one else." I was going to ask him how he wanted to be remembered but I got distracted by my friends calling to me. When I looked back, he was gone.

Every year in October, I remember him and all the dead of the Great Lakes. I want to do something more for them, but life always gets complicated and I can't find the time to get up to the lake. Or I run out of candles. Or something else goes sideways and I just don't have the means to do more than remember them. I think he is the reason why that happens.

He was a very quiet, humble man who died just doing his job. All he really wanted to do was to do his job and live a quiet life. I think the idea of my giving offerings or doing more than simply remembering them strikes him as too frivolous. But, when the autumn storms start to roll across the lakes, I remember them. One of these days, I will get up there again. And I will pour out a bottle of beer for them. Because I'm stubborn and I think he may be willing to share a drink for another conversation.

Moura: Week I

It has been somewhat difficult over the past week to keep to the planned refraining from sugary things. I have been working to replace the sugar I have been craving with different flavors but I keep going back to sugar. I decided that I was going to cut out sugar from my diet for the whole of Moura. It hasn't been working out too well because when I get stressed out, I start eating sugary foods. (I'm looking at you, chocolate.) When I have a migraine, I crave sugar. And when my PCOS starts acting up, I crave sugar.

The stress levels were a bit high at the very beginning of Moura because I was desperately trying to finish that book of meditations manuscript. I had set my deadline to be Moura Eve and wound up completing it three days into Moura. Considering that over the course of the time where I was working on the manuscript I was dealing with a depressive episode, lost a few days work time to snow days for the kids, and a week to the boys having winter break, finishing three days past deadline isn't half bad. At this time, I am in the editing process and I am looking for people to read through the manuscript. If you are interested, contact me at the email address I list at the bottom of this post.

I wanted to post on here for a few weeks but I was so caught up with the manuscript that when I had time to post here I was mentally fatigued and simply unable to concentrate. I had a very stern talking to from Freyr about my perfectionist tendencies and how I am hyper critical of myself with my writing. I have to admit, when a deity tells you that you have a problem and you need to fix it, then the problem is serious business. I have been told not to work on any major writing projects for a while. He didn't tell me how long I am to keep from working on books. I have a fantasy novel in the final phases of editing, a science fiction/romance monster of a manuscript that needs editing, and the manuscript I just finished ready for the first round of real edits. But Freyr has put his foot down and barred me from working on these things until he has decided it is time for me to do so.

It may sound a little odd for me to say that I'm getting told what I'm going to do with my writing career by Freyr but he has taken a definite interest in what I am doing and how I proceed with it. He was considering making blog posts and journal entries taboo for a period but Loki talked him out of it. I am, however, under strict guidelines as to what I am permitted to work on. My religion related posts on here and on my other blog are approved as long as I don't get into topics that stress me out. I am also encouraged to do the reams of journal writing that I do for the sake of my mental health.

When Freyr said to me last year that he wanted me to write for him, I at first thought he wanted me to write things specific to him. Then I thought he wanted me to compose things in his honor. I'm beginning to realize that what he is looking at in my writing covers all the topics I touch on. I find myself wondering if he is going to be taking an active hand in the business aspect of the writing stuff. Loki tells me to just relax and go with the flow. I'm trying to but I keep stumbling over my own anxieties. They both assure me that is something that will improve over time.

At their urging, I saw my psychiatric care professional and had an adjustment to my medical regime. The effects of this change has been enormously positive. I will say this officially, for the whole world to know, Loki was right and I should have listened to him in the first place on this matter. World-breaker has been shaking things up a bit for me over this last week. My planned things to do have been getting swept aside and I find myself spending more time knitting and resting then doing anything else. I suspect that this is going to be the theme of Moura this year.

Loki, Freyr, and Odin have all been strongly encouraging me to take up the divination for hire stuff that I was doing through Keen. I have been attempting to be available during the times when the kids are at school. (That's between 8:30 am and 3:00 pm eastern time, for you folks who are curious.) If you decide you want to take me up for a reading that's awesome and I am more then happy to work with you. I do more then just tarot readings, which you will see on the page I linked to. I am also quite willing to work with you if you find payment difficult to do. There are folks that I have been doing free readings for on a regular basis as part of the spiritual guidance I've been giving and other folks who I have bartered readings in exchange for other things. So, I am really flexible on the payment front.

I know, however, the real reason why the three of them are pushing me to do the readings for hire is because I need to work through my social phobia. I don't get out of the house much, especially this time of year with all that snow out there. So, my social outlets are Facebook, blogging, and (on a good day) Keen. Odin has taken a special interest in my divination studies and he wants me to branch out into doing spellwork for hire. I get a little nervous at this idea but he's been presenting some very good arguments. So, I may reboot my failed Etsy shop and focus on metaphysical things.

In the last few days before Moura started, I worked up a new altar cloth. It is a really, really simple doily pattern. If anyone is interested, I will post it up on my other (mundane) blog tomorrow. In keeping with my intuitive sense of things, the colors dominating this season/month are dark blues and black. I think the lightest shade of blue that I have been wearing is a royal blue. I also have made a point of having a purple candle on the altar. Quite a few folks in the Filianic/Déanic community use purple as the liturgical color of the season, thus the purple candles.

The dark blue is a tie back to Tamala, which is the time of year in Filianism where the dead are honored. The connection to Tamala should not come as much of a surprise to someone who has a bit of knowledge about Filianism. At the end of Moura, the Daughter is slain by the Dark Queen. The dark blue color of my veil, headscarf, and snood that I have been wearing when I cover out of the house are all in anticipation and recognition of the coming death of the Daughter. The black is in recognition of her journey into the Nether World, the realm of the dead, which is a voyage into darkness away from the light of her Mother.

When I haven't been resting or doing restful things, such as knitting, I have been spinning. Now, spinning is to some extent a relaxing thing for me. It is also a way that I connect with my ancestors. And it is how I do magic. In the light of the horrific things happening in the world, I have been spinning with intent for protection for the defenseless, justice for the wronged, and peace in war torn places. These threads are then wound into skeins that are put on my altar for a period of time. During that time, the magic is sent into the world and the offerings associated with it are given to the gods. When my intuition tells me that the magic has dissipated from the thread, I take it off the altar. I don't know what I'm going to do yet with the thread but I am sure something will present itself.

But, that is my report for how week one of Moura has been for me. Tomorrow, I will try to get a post up about some of the other associations that this season has for me. I don't talk very much about how I work with the Norse pantheon and this time of year, I actually am pretty active with them. This year a bit more so then last year. I have a feeling that this, however, is the beginning of a pattern in my life. Freyr has been stepping up and making his presence know a great deal more since the autumn equinox. I expect that the spring equinox will be especially interesting. I'll talk a bit more about that in tomorrow's post.

As always, if you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please post them in the comments and I will address them as quickly as possible. Also, any suggestions for future topics are deeply appreciated.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Pattern for the doily is up on my other blog.

Devotional Polytheist Meme Question No. 12

What sort of festivals, memorials, or seasonable observances do you keep through out the year?

I honor early spring, when crocuses and other early spring plants come up. This is around the time of Imboleg/Luciad. I honor the goddess Brigid, whom I have had a long standing relationship with. For this celebration of light, I will bless the candles I have (including the electric ones). I am planning on introducing my children to the idea of Bride's Bed and making something sweet of the day as well.

On the 19th of February, I observe Moura Eve. I try to finish up whatever devotional tasks I have left to do for the spiritual year. If I am preparing a special project to do during the 'season' of Moura, I spend some time Moura Eve to get it ready. On the first day of Moura, I do a modified fast. While my taboo and my health concerns do not permit a full fast, I abstain from intoxicants and sweets this day. Generally, I keep the abstinence from sweets until the equinox.

The day that I get a reprieve is mid-Moura (March 5/4). This is a day where the restrictions of Moura are lifted to give believers a much needed rest from the austerity. Moura is a time of discipline, sacrifice, and purification. Mid-Moura is, in my mind, a quick breather so that we have the focus to continue on towards the end of this period that is often equated to the Christian Lent.

The last day of the spiritual year is Kala (March 19/19). Kala is a day of mourning for the Daughter. For in the mythos, Kala is the day that the Daughter dies. I cover my icons of the Daughter. It is my plan that for Kala and Hiatus, I will have a special headcovering that I wear only for that time (and times of mourning). It is still in the planning stages, but it is a goal that I'm working towards. I am also seriously considering fashioning a piece of mourning jewelery that I can wear during this period. Oh, I forgot to mention, but I also extinguish the candle that I have lit for Dea at this time.

Hiatus is the time between Kala and the vernal equinox (Eastre). Within the filianic faith, this is a time outside of time. Thus, I am under a taboo not to consider future events. It is considered a time when all worlds have ended. One of the things I meditate on during this period is Ragnarok. I abstain from doing divination during this period because I don't want to accidentally reach forward in time. It is a bit harder then it seems to think only of the present. I also try to spend Hiatus doing no unnecessary work. This means, I make my meal plans before Kala and put by what I need so that I can focus on each day in turn.

In late March, I observe the beginning of the agricultural year. While I haven't a plough to charm, I invoke Freyr's blessing over my meager garden and my gardening tools. I also ask him to bless my household with prosperity and health through the growing season. This is also Eastre, the day of the resurrection of the Daughter. I uncover my icons of the Daughter and put the cloths away into storage for next year. I will also ritually relight Dea's candle. I give my children sweets and do what I can to make the day pleasant.

On the first of May, I observe the exaltation of the Daughter. I also make something of a nod towards Beltaine. Having spent most of my spiritual life observing that holy day, I still feel a pull towards it. It is a day of fertility and great blessings. The summer solstice, I observe the feast of Rosa Mundi and Litha. I fall more heavily upon Rosa Mundi's side of the ledger. In either case, I focus upon celebrating the very essence of being alive. Following this, comes the first of the harvests.

When the first crops are harvested around here, I observe and give thanks for it. It usually happens around the time of Chelanya/Lughnassadh. I celebrate and give thanks as the harvest season progresses. When the autumnal equinox comes, I observe Cuivanya/Mabon. This is another, fuller harvest festival. For me, Chelanya is a celebration of the labor of taking in the harvest. Cuivanya is the celebration of the fruits of the harvest.

Tamala/Samhain comes next. It is a time where I focus upon my ancestors and those who have come before me. I also meditate upon Deam Mysterium. She who is the prime source and the destroyer of all existence is sometimes difficult for me to contemplate. But I strive to do so anyways because I feel it is important that all three aspects of Dea be honored. I also consider this to be the final of the harvest festivals (as this is when, in ancient times, the herds were culled). Through out all the harvest festivals, I meditate upon Freyr's sacrifice. It is particularly hard at Tamala because there is so many reminders of death around me.

I have begun to celebrate Advent (11/28-12/25) because I am finding it something that buoys my spirits during the darkness of winter. I also celebrate the winter solstice as Mother's Night/Yule. On the 25th of December is Nativity. My celebration of Nativity and Yule are much like most people's celebrations of Christmas. Except, I keep the celebration going between Yule and Nativity. This is the only time of year that I will play 'holiday' music. At the beginning of Advent, I start to put my decorations for the season. I have them all up around the time of the feast of Conception.

After Nativity, comes Sai Herthe's day. Sai Herthe is the angel of the home. I spend a bit of extra effort on cleaning up the house for this day and generally do my best to focus on the domestic aspects of my life. This sort of extends itself to Epiphany (which is also Distaff Day). On Eipiphany, I have a day of rest and celebration. This means my crock pot gets used and I avoid housework (which is hopefully completed from the previous few days of work).

A Shrine for the Beloved Dead.

There are many reasons a person would set up a shrine for their beloved dead. One common reason is to honor the deceased and the relationship that you had with them in this life. Many people believe that the dead have the capacity to influence the world and to petition on the behalf of the living with the deities. Some shrines are elaborate affairs and maintained by the community. This would include things such as memorial garden established in the community, a memorial monument, such as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, or a graveyard. Other shrines are very private and simple. This could be a collection of photos of the dead, the regular placement of flowers, and the burning of incense or candles.

Most commonly, people will honor their ancestors and departed friends. There is, however, an established habit of roadside shrines being hastily constructed by the community for persons who died of violence or from a particularly egregious car accident. One does not need to only focus on the dead whom they are related to or have had some sort of personal connection to during their lifetime. It is also possible to honor deceased persons who have been highly influential in one's life by way of their works or otherwise have made an impressionable impact on their life. There is also a sub-practice of establishing a memorial shrine that includes deceased pets.

The simplest ancestor shrine is the placement of a memento or an item that symbolizes the dead. More complex shrines can be made into free standing structures or special cases that hold mementos of the dead and offerings to the dead. My personal ancestors shrine consists of a shelf. On that shelf is an assortment of items that I associate with my familial dead and deceased friends. There is a small vase which I will put an offering of flowers in on a regular basis. I also have an electric candle that I keep lit all the time for them as well. (The lit candle, in my usage, is a beacon that helps the bring the kindly dead to me and show my beloved dead that they are welcome in my home.) I also have a little box that I will put physical offerings in.


As you may have intuited, one may leave offerings for the dead. There are a variety of ways to do this. One can lay flowers at the deceased's grave site. This is a very common offering for the dead. Another thing that can be done is to light candles or burn incense for the dead. The candles are found quite frequently in Christian Catholic influenced settings and faith systems (such as Santeria or Voudon). The practice of burning incense for the dead has been done as long as there has been recording of people burning incense. There are some people who will give food offerings to the dead. (In urban America, there is a semi-regular practice of pouring out a bottle of alcohol in memory of the dead.)

In addition to leaving offerings for the dead, a person can pray to and commune with the dead. This is actually a very common practice. Within Christian belief systems, one will find frequent reference to praying to persons who have deceased and believed to have joined the company of their deity in the paradise referred to as Heaven. The Catholic community refers to these deceased persons as saints. (Saint is a generic term for the deceased who are in good standing within the faith. Saint as a title refers to deceased persons who are especially blessed and believed to have considerable intercessory powers and capable of performing miracles for those who petition them.) Praying to the dead and giving them offerings is a practice that helps strengthen familial ties and bolster one's sense of filial duty, when the veneration focuses specifically upon family.

Maintaining a shrine for the dead can be quite complicated. At it's core, maintaining a shrine requires the regular cleansing of the shrine and ensuring it is in good condition. It also includes the disposal of the remains of offerings in a fashion that is in proper accordance with the beliefs of the persons who are maintaining the shrine.