Hawthorne's Blog (130)

In honor of April Fools Day, our theme this week is: The Trickster and Fool. We'll take a look at the history of April Fools Day, as well as the Role that the Fool and the Trickster play in Earth-Based religious practices.

And in case you didn't know, Easter occurs on April 1st this year. I have a spoken word piece by Matt McCormick,: "The Salem Witchcraft Argument Against The Resurrection Of Jesus". Matt McCormick is a professor of philosophy for…

This week on The Spiral Dance we celebrate Eostara; The Spring Equinox

Astronomically, the Equinox occurs on Tuesday, March 20. We'll be talking about the history of Spring Equinox - the role that it has played in cultures down the ages:

So, we'll talk about the Norse Goddess Eoster. Is she a bonefide Goddess, or just a fiction created by one author? Does it matter, really?

Plus ya can't talk about this time of the year without mentioning…

The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was formally establihed on March 1, 1888. It's had a tremendous influence on Western Occult thought over the past century. Indeed, it's easy to say that without the Golden Dawn, Wicca - and therefore the whole Pagan revival - might never have seen the light of day.

It's really too bad that today in Greece there is a neo-fascist group calling themselves Golden Dawn. So, I think for that reason alone, since we've just had an anniversary of…

Urban myths; why do we tell eachother such stories? They're always so extreme and fantastic that, really, the rational mind knows they can't be true. But not only do we tell them anyway; we, in fact listen to them as well. Maybe these fantastic set of circumstances just might be real afterall!

The Urban myth has alot in common with traditional myths and folklore, in the way they satisfy a need for storytelling. It may be that the Urban Myth expresses a feeling that we live in…

In the general neoPagan community people - not everyone - who work with animal spirit guides talk about Animal Totems.

Purists will tell you that that's kind of a misnomer. Totems are not really spirit guides and spirit guides are not really totems.

Where do YOU stand on this immense question??

Well, I'm here to untangle the whole mess and by the time we're finished we'll all know what really is…

After we Give Thanks to the Earth, we're going to look at Earth Magick; specifically the Element of Earth - what that's meant since ancient times and what it means in ceremonial magick today. And we'll look at the tradtions of Gnomes, the Fay and Lay Lines.

And since we're celebrating The Earth, we'll celebrate the Earth Mother and specifically the Goddess Gaia.

And just to liven up the soup - Salt!

And we'll finish up with an Earth Meditation…

They say that February was made the shortest month because everybody wants it to be OVER WITH!

But February is one of the most primordial months. It's all about extremes. And, like the sabbat Imbolc, it's just as much about Fire as it is about Ice.

In the Norse Tradition, Fire and Ice are the Primordial elements that formed to create our world. So this is a good time to think a bit about the Nordic Tradition; just what is and what it means.

The…

We're at the midpoint between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Perfectly natural to want to jump up and down and start acting like Spring is Here! Folly, pure folly! Watch out if the weather is fine on Imbolc - you might find yourself shoveling the driveway on Eostara!

But before that, let's take some time to honor the Goddess Brigid, the Triple Goddess of Poetry, Healing and Smithcrafting.

And we'll enjoy some Tres Leches cake…

Are you among the Shiny Happy People? Or does the thought make you fear that you could be labled a fuzzy bunny Wiccan? Perhaps you are genuinely happy with your Dark Magicks!

Happiness is amorphous. It's hard to define, and sometimes it's hard to know if we really have it. But when we DO have happiness in our lives it truly is a Shiny thing.

So this week we're going to look at just what is meant by "happines", and we'll look at it from different perspectives -…

All Along the Watchtowers

We've all done it; we've created Sacred Space by calling the Spirits of the Four Directions. We stand at each direction and draw the appropriate pentagram and we Invoke the Spirits that have the appropriate character.

But where does all that mumbo jumbo come from? Some say Gerald Gardner, which is correct to a point. Others say that Witches have been doing that on their own and in secret, like, forever - which is really not at…

Just what IS the Philosopher's Stone? Where does it come from? Is it even a Stone?

This question has been bothering people for generations. Some people just give up and say it's just a lot of poetic rhetoric. Others say, "No, look! I've done it! I've got it right here!"

Some say it's all Devilry, others say it's all God stuff. Well, you can choose as we try to sort it all out.

Some of the music you'll hear on this weeks show include…

Let's gaze at the clear cold night sky as we honor The Stars of Winter. We'll look up to find The Winter Triangle. Stars that are part of the Winter Triangle teach us that their forces can aid in the service to those of us who are spiritually attuned.

And we take it a step further as we honor two special "stars" of Winter; the Norse Goddess Skadi, and the Norse God, Ullr.

Now, did you know that Scandinavia may have been named after the Goddess Skadi. Some…

Christmas, a humbug?!

Personally, I wouldn't mind spending Christmas on Christmas Island or anywhere far, far away!

Are you tired of hearing about the miracles of Christ by now? Well, I sure am.

It's a humbug, I say, and a humbug still!

So this week, let's take a good close look at how Their Savior, Jesus Christ, Their Lord never actually existed. Let's compare his story to the hundreds?, thousands? of Pagan Savior Gods who bear remarkable similarities to…

So the shortest day came, and the year died,

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen;

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive,

And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, reveling.

Through all the frosty ages you…

The mystery of darkness and divine light belongs to each of us and to the world. We are the world waiting in the darkness and we are the light waiting to be born.

Winter is the time for telling stories in many traditions. Because the days were very short and the nights were very long, it was a good time to tell stories. And you would need a good story to get you through those long nights.

So from modern Norway we have the story of Saint Lucy, and from Iceland…

Let's give the Dark of the Year a true Welcoming.

We all know it's rediculous to be afraid of the Dark, but cultural associations with Darkness remain strong, and it seems almost natural to be uncomfortable with this time of the year..

So, we'll talk about the gifts that this time of the year bring us - such as much needed rest! And much needed introspection as well.

And we'll take a look at the Dark Side of Your Moon. You know when the Dark of…

Reincarnation. Some believe, some don't. Some say that know if for a fact, that they've experienced their past lives.

I don't make such claims myself, although I've experienced things that have given me pause for thought.

So I've got a poem on Reincarnation from the pen of Aleister Crowley. And I've got some info on how why and where the concept of Reincarnation developed.

We think of Reincarnation as an Eastern philosophy. But it can be…

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thanksgiving is in a way a time when our various Tribes gather together. We travel from where ever we're living to where ever our larger family is - it may be over hundreds of miles, or just across town. But it's a time for us to renew our relationships with those who have been in our lives from the very beginning.

So, what is a "Tribe"? Anthropologists don't really have answers, but they have alot of theories, and of course, lots of papers written…

This week, let's take a look at Pagan Ethics. I promise, we'll HARM NONE!.

A good place to start is to examine just what do we mean by Ethics in the first place. When did we start thinking about Ethics? What does it mean for us personally, or as a society, or, really, what does it mean for us a satient beings? Is the consideration Ethics soley a condition of being human?

The acedemic study of Ethics and its connected philosophies, has divided Ethics up into…

This week we talk about what in the scientific community is known as Cognitive Flexibility. Try to wrap your mind around that!

With a flexible mind you could do f things, like increase your creativity, get yourself unstuck from Pain and generally be happier and more productive in your life.

So, here's to all the things the mind can do for you if you only just let it!.

Be well. Do good. Enjoy the show!

Some of…