Het Mercurius-Wodan complex – GardenStone

Geplaatst op 6 mei, 2011 door Morgana

Het Mercurius-Wodan complex
GardenStone
Gigaboek, ISBN 978-90-8548-281-9

Zie ook: http://www.boudicca.de/ (Duits en Engels)
en http://hg-shop.eu/ voor overige boeken van GardenStone

Voorkant van het boek Het Mercurius-Wodan complex

NET ONTVANGEN, april 2011

GardenStone schreef:

“Ongeveer tweeduizend jaar geleden schreef de Romeinse geschiedschrijver Tacitus dat de Germanen boven alles Mercurius vereerden. Daarmee bedoelde hij een Germaanse god die hij met Mercurius gelijkstelde. Omdat Tacitus de naam van die god niet noemde, moest deze geïnterpreteerd worden. Na een flink aantal eeuwen was men het er overeen, dat het Wodan moest zijn. Ook tegenwoordig wordt dit als vanzelfsprekend aangenomen. Hier wordt deze opvatting getoetst aan de hand van de oude bronnen – de uitkomst stelt grote vraagtekens bij die vastgeroeste zienswijze.
Dit boek vereist de bereidheid om platgetreden paden te verlaten om ogenschijnlijke vanzelfsprekendheden onvooringenomen op de proef te stellen.”

Dit is een klein, compact boekje met zwart-wit illustraties. Met dit boek onderschrijft GardenStone de gedachte dat niet alle goden en godinnen een en hetzelfde zijn. Wat een diversiteit kenden onze voorvaderen!

 

 

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Cunning folk

Geplaatst op 6 mei, 2011 door Merlin

 

Winter was traditionally a time of storytelling. There was little to do on the land. Frost, snow, rain and cold kept people in the house. It was a time to repair your tools, a time to weave baskets and mend clothes, a time to sit round the fire. It was a time to remember the myths and legends, the fairy tales, and also a time to remember the stories, as well as the true history, of the clan.

The Craft too has a history. It has what we may call a mytho-poetic history, a history of myths and legends, of archetypal imagery. And it has a historian’s history, a history of real people, of existing documents and verifiable events. I find both versions of history equally valid, equally important and equally useful, but one should of course not be confused with the other. Neither should either version be used inappropriately. And of course it is important to stay informed of the latest historic evidence.

The person, who has put a lot of effort into documenting the proper historian’s view of the history of the Craft, is Ronald Hutton, professor of history at the University of Bristol. In this article I would like to present an overview of one chapter from his book The Triumph of the Moon, together with some of my own questions, insights and conclusions.

The chapter that I’ve picked, deals with the “hereditary Craft”, with Wicca before it became Wicca: it deals with the people who practised what many these days would call ‘witchcraft’, before Gardner came along. The chapter is called Finding a Low Magic, and it deals with real people who lived between 1740 and 1940, before Gardner published his work, and who practised magic, spells and so on.

Were they called witches?

In chapter 6, ‘Finding a Low Magic’, Hutton reviews the evidence for low magic, and examines three fairly distinct groups who practised magic and spells:

  • cunning folk, literate middle class traders, artisans or schoolmasters
  • charmers, often lower class magical practitioners
  • witches, anti-social individuals practising evil magic for their own ends

These were the “practitioners of this operative magic in England and Wales between 1740 and 1940” (p.84). They were astrologers, fortune tellers, wise women, wise men or wizards, cunning men and cunning women, conjurors, ‘dyn hysbys’ (Welsh) or ‘pellar’ (Cornish, believed to be from ‘expeller’, one who casts out evil spirits), but not ‘witch’. “Folklore collectors themselves often employed the term ‘white witch’ [for cunning folk and charmers], but this formulation was very rare in the vocabulary of the ordinary people, to whom the word ‘witch’ almost always signified somebody who worked magic for personal ends of profit or malice.” (p.86). These cunning people usually had some regular employment too.

The cunning folk

Hutton builds this chapter on top of, and supplements, the work of Owen Davies. Davies introduced the term ‘cunning folk’, and collected 41 case studies, male practitioners, mainly tradesmen and artisans, and the rest were herbalists or schoolmasters. Females were rare, married or widowed, although just as commercially successful. The reason for finding almost exclusively middle class people was that “literacy and learning were perceived as integral accomplishments for most types of cunning craft.” (p.87) Hutton presents short case studies of over a dozen of these cunning folk, with an overview of various practices, anecdotes and so on.

The source of knowledge

“The outward sign of their accomplishment was that they possessed books, an immediate distinction…” (p.90) These books were mainly works on astrology, herbalism, medicine, charms, ritual magic, astrological charts, sometimes the Key of Solomon. Writers like Cornelius Agrippa, Michel Nostradamus, Reginald Scot, William Lilley, Francis Barrett. But: “Cunning folk wrote their own notebooks” (p.92), for example “a conjuring book with large brass clasps and corners, an elaborate book of charms and recitations”. Some of these are preserved in national archives, such as the National Library of Wales. Cunning folk bought their books, often by mail order, from either Leeds or London. Charmers, to the contrary, often had their simple charms passed on by personal transmission, as to write charms down would dissipate their power. (p.94)

Magical techniques

Charmers often confined themselves to curing growths or rashes of skin, promoting the healing of wounds, staunching bleeding – all ailments which are very responsive to mental suggestion, and often with a near total success rate.

Magical practitioners often used a mirror, crystal, vessel of water etc. for the client to gaze into, until they saw who had bewitched them, stolen their goods, spread gossip and so forth.

Cunning men used fire to burn a special powder or incense to purify houses, people, animals. The heart of an animal could be stuck with pins, burnt or roasted. Hair and nail clippings could be put in a bottle, boiled or buried. Wax effigies were used as well to get even with a witch who put a spell on a household. Apart from this, amulets, charms, healing potions and poultices, horoscopes, card reading and tea-leaf reading, trickery, ventriloquism and slight of hand were all used. “Above all, they devised spells and rites according to their own whims and creative talents, and the needs of their customers”. (p.97)

Lodges and covens

“Did cunning folk ever work together, or meet in lodges, guilds or covens? The answer seems to be an almost complete negative…” (p.98) There are exceptions, such as husband and wife teams, or a gathering of wisemen in Manchester in the early nineteenth century. But cunning folk in general were competitors of each other, and their craft was a sideline to their regular employment.

There are plenty of references to witches, but they are the opponents of the cunning people: “individuals possessed of magical powers who chose to use them maliciously against their neighbours, from motives of revenge or entertainment”. (p.98) Folklore collectors on the other hand refer to cunning folk as ‘white witches’, confusing the issue and using a word which the people themselves never used.

Witches always worked alone. There are exceptions: in the tip of Cornwall witches were thought to gather every Midsummer Eve to feast. It is possible that maritime contact from France or Spain planted this idea, which is unusual in England. The word Sabbath for example was used by French and German demonologists, and is not found in eighteenth- or nineteenth-century English folklore.

Other beliefs include witch conventions in Lincolnshire, in Dorset, and south Staffordshire, were “each Midsummer Night all the witches of the world met on the moon to determine the fate of ordinary mortals during the next twelve months”. (p.100) There are also a few traces of social contact between witches. But these are rare exceptions. In general, a witch was an anti-social, isolated figure. The word coven was unknown. It is of Scottish origin, but even there it was not popular, deriving from one sensational and very atypical case of witchcraft, the case of Isobel Gowdie in 1662. Through scholars and writers the word has been popularised.

A belief?

In general, the belief of cunning folk “did not reflect a single cosmology, but was made up of the debris of many” (p.101). So they believed pretty much what everyone else believed, and were mostly Christian, albeit with the addition of what we now would call ‘superstition’. The charms and spells too had a clear Christian character – the Bible being used as a spell book more than a theological message. There is no record of a pagan belief system in existence at this time.

Hereditary craft?

Cunning folk’s talents were individual, like a talent for music, or beauty. At most, talents like this lasted for one or two generations (p.103). Charmers, who used just one skill to heal one particular ailment, often did pass this on through the family or a close friend. Sometimes people were supposedly born with the gift. In the West Country a charm should be passed down between members of the opposite gender.

In witches it tended to run in families, but that may just be because a family had a bad name anyway. There was also the belief that the power must be passed on when the witch was close to death.

Rich and famous

Charmers regarded their power as a gift, so usually accepted no payment, only gifts.

Cunning folk usually charged a fixed fee – usually a low one for the poor, a high one for the gentry.

In general these people were commercially successful and had a handsome income – note that they had regular employment as well – and could live comfortably.

Persecution?

The Witchcraft act of 1736 made it an offence to call somebody else a witch, and outlined penalties for people who claimed to work magic, up to 1 year imprisonment.. But for the rest of that century, the law remained a dead letter (p.107) in 1824 the Vagrancy act outlawed persons telling fortunes or using anything like palmistry to deceive and impose (p.107), and this law was enforced and did make life more difficult for cunning folk. The prosecutions rose with the installation of the professional county police forces in 1851, but they also helped to wipe out mobbing of suspected witches. Prosecution usually was the result of unhappy clients being charged exorbitant fees, but most cunning folk who charged normal fees had no problems. The decline in prosecutions around 1900 continued until both acts were repealed in 1951. So these laws never had any real impact: “ordinary people valued magic too much” (p.109).

A decline?

Astrology, herbalism, card reading, spiritual healing – they are still here and have never been away. But the labels have changed, to homeopathy, hypnotherapy, and aromatherapy and so on. So no, the profession is still there, but the name has changed.

Personal summary

Hutton finds it a paradox that cunning folk, which most modern witches see as being very relevant to witchcraft, in fact are least relevant! (p.111). And as far as characteristics like religion and coven meetings are concerned, he is right: cunning folk did not have a separate pagan religion, did not meet in groups, did not have initiations, did not pass on things within the family, were not born with ’the gift’, and so on. At least… if we ignore all the ‘odd’ folklore, that is.

However, cunning folk and charmers between 1740 and 1940 provided the same services which are now being provided by the palmist, tarot-reader, astrologer, holistic healer, herbalist or therapist! And then as now, these people usually work alone, they often have a normal job as well, they earn a decent living, they are literate, learn from books and each other, they do not inherit their skills nor pass them on within the family, they do not meet in lodges or covens, and their religious outlook reflects that of the society in which they live – in the past that was usually Christianity, today it is more ‘new age’: Wicca, paganism, shamanism, Indian or a more free form of Christianity.

Modern day witches (Wiccans) see their ‘craft’ part of ‘witch-craft’ often in this perspective. They become proficient at one or two of these crafts, like astrology or herbalism, in order to help their fellow man. In this sense, they continue (just as the new age therapist does) the tradition of the wise women, wise men, cunning folk and charmers of past centuries: they help their fellow men with natural and magical techniques, above and beyond what science and society provide.

So I don’t subscribe to Hutton’s conclusion that the cunning folk were the least relevant to modern Wicca. I recognise in their contribution roughly half of what Wicca is today!

What Hutton does point out, is that folklorists mistakenly called cunning folk and charmers ‘white witches’. Also, ‘Sabbath’ and ‘coven’ were imported words from the continent or Scotland respectively, and generally unused in England. But the people themselves used the word ‘witch’ between 1740 and 1940 for the traditional single, evil and anti-social practitioner.

The confusion about the word ‘witch’ is again on the rise today. More and more people (and writers!) believe that one who works with herbs or precious stones or simple spells, is practising white or modern ‘witchcraft’. However, this occupation is at most just a ‘craft’ – a therapy – completely in line with the cunning folk which Hutton describes. Even a Christian can practice such a craft, just like most cunning folk in past centuries were devout Christians. To call such practice ‘witchcraft’ is incorrect in the historical sense of the word as Hutton has shown. And it is also incorrect in the modern sense of the word, where practices like these are at most only half of modern witchcraft or Wicca.

Hutton says that there is no evidence of a pagan religion at this time. But he does give anecdotal evidence for many practices which are now considered normal in modern Wicca, such as meeting in groups, passing on of power, working male to female, not charging money for the gift, working with magic, charms and spells. The anecdotes are exceptions, and come from all three groups: cunning folk, charmers and witches. Witches, in this historical context, are the anti-social evil competitors of the cunning folk.

One Dalmatian…

Modern Wicca has in effect assimilated all sorts of exceptions from these three competing groups, as well as aspects of the groups themselves, into one coherent working philosophy. It has incorporated the cunning folk practice or ‘craft’ – a practice which of course continues in main stream society too, with all the ‘new age therapy’ practitioners. It has incorporated the charmers’ simple spells, and the principle of not charging money. And it has incorporated the exceptions from the folklore about the evil witches, such as working in a group, passing on power, working male to female etc. The one thing it has not incorporated is the evil, anti-social and solo-aspects of the witches from past centuries. However, even this aspect is still present in a certain way: it is the archetypal image of the (fairytale) witch – an image that symbolises a certain state of psychological and spiritual development that we all need to come to grips with. More often than not it manifests as someone who falls into the trap of being ‘powerful’, or someone who is blinded by the glamour of Wicca.

Modern witchcraft or Wicca therefore is not a simple continuation of the cunning folk practices, nor of the charmers, and certainly not of the evil witches. But it does have things in common with all of these groups.

Is it possible that the folklore, and the practices of cunning folk, charmers and witches, are the fragmented reflections of an older and more coherent body of knowledge and practice? Just like today’s psychologists, doctors and priests are different professional groups, performing functions which used to be performed by the shaman, or by the wise woman or priestess of the tribe in (pre)historic times? Is the evidence which Hutton gives more like the description of a few branches of a tree, whilst the tree itself remains invisible to the historian?

Gardner had travelled extensively all over the near and far east. He spent many years in Ceylon, and later in Indonesia. He was well versed in folk magic, and wrote a book about the Kris. He already had a spiritual connection to the Goddess. See his biography, Gardner, witch, and his own book, A Goddess Arrives.

If there ever had existed an old tradition that could be considered a precursor to modern witchcraft, then Gardner’s knowledge and interests would have put him in the unique position to recognise the scattered remains of such an old pattern behind surviving remnants such as cunning folk, charmers and witches. He would have been able to intuitively see the outline of such an old tradition. He would have been able to recognise the invisible tree, from looking at the branches and the scattered odd leaves. Just like an archaeologist can see the outline of a building in the colours of the plants in a meadow. And just like you and I can recognise the Dalmatian dog in the scattered dots in this picture. Yes, the dots could represent something else. Yes, they could be random. No, the outline of the dog is not present. But does anyone doubt what it represents?

Gardner’s lifelong interests in folklore and magic may have given him the edge, in being able to pick and choose correctly from what appears to others as ‘mere folklore’. Gardner may have been simply ‘connecting dots’ in a picture that was clear in his own mind. A picture, established over many many years of contact with folk magic all over the world, and quite possibly inspired by the Goddess he loved. As far as I am concerned, and judging by the strength and vitality of Wicca, this is exactly what Gardner did.

Ronald Hutton: The Triumph of the Moon, A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford University Press, www.oup.com, ISBN 0-19-820744-1

 

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Een ritueel buiten – hoe doe je dat?

Geplaatst op 6 mei, 2011 door Jana


Juist in de zomer is het fijn om een ritueel te houden in de natuur. En juist buiten kan je wat anders doen dan ‘het boek’ voorschrijft. Stel je eigen ritueel samen met de suggesties hieronder.
Men neme: een locatie, een aantal mensen, en een aanleiding om een ritueel te vieren. Veel meer heb je eigenlijk niet nodig voor een buitenritueel. Je kunt zonder zwaard of athame, zonder kaarsen en al die attributen die je binnenshuis gebruikt en zelfs zonder tekst.

Kies een tijdstip waarop er iets te vieren valt. Dat kan bijvoorbeeld Midzomer zijn of een volle maan. Bepaal wie er mee gaan, en of je naar het strand gaat, of naar een bos, het stadspark, of iemands achtertuin. Bedenk in grote lijnen wat voor ritueel je wilt houden, en pak de spullen in die je nodig denkt te hebben. Als je de plek bijna bereikt hebt, loop dan vanaf de bushalte / fietsenstalling / parkeerplaats in stilte naar de plek toe. Ieder bedenkt bij zichzelf wat er gevierd gaat worden, en wat dat voor hem of haar persoonlijk betekent, en komt zo alvast in de stemming.

(Denk ook aan het schoonmaken van de plek door het opruimen van het rondzwervende afval, als voorbereiding, of na afloop van het ritueel).

Op de plek – of een geschikte plek – aangekomen, kun je de cirkel markeren door die bijvoorbeeld met een stok in het zand te trekken of door met schelpen, denneappels, of een meegebrachte draad of koord een cirkel uit te leggen.
Als je de plek / de cirkel wilt wijden met symbolen voor aarde en water, dan is dit het moment. Strooi niet te kwistig met zout op een plaats waar vegetatie groeit. Tenzij je een permanente cirkel wilt ‘uitbijten’ in het gras natuurlijk, omdat je er in het vervolg al je buitencirkels wilt houden…

Je kunt de cirkel trekken met je hand of met een stok, of door elkaar om beurten een hand te geven, en ondertussen de cirkel te visualiseren. Als je geen fysieke cirkel hebt uitgelegd, kun je dat nu doen als een manier om de cirkel te trekken. Met een meegebracht kompas – of door op te letten waar de zon staat – kun je bepalen waar het noorden is, en de andere windstreken. Je kunt die aanroepen met tekst, bijvoorbeeld geheel geïmproviseerd over wat het element lucht, vuur, water, aarde voor aspecten heeft op deze plek. Of je gebruikt een geluid dat bij het element past, zoals blazen bij het oosten en bij lucht, of een dansje of een gebaar. Ik meen dat ik dit van Marian Green heb: haak je duimen in elkaar en vorm ‘vleugels’ met je vingers voor lucht. Maak een vlam met je handen om het zuiden te begroeten. Maak een kommetje met beide handen voor het westen, en een platte ‘schaal’ (pentakel) voor het noorden. Je kunt op dit moment ook aandacht besteden aan de geesten van de plaats, en hen begroeten, of uitnodigen in je cirkel (maar je bent te gast in hun omgeving) of wat je denkt dat het beste bij de omstandigheden past. Uiteraard kunnen alle deelnemers een rol spelen.

Je bent nu klaar voor het hoofddoel van je ritueel. Het vieren van het maanfeest of jaarfeest of de andere gelegenheid waarvoor je bij elkaar bent. Stel dat je een ritueel houdt om Midzomer te vieren, dan heb je misschien een gedicht bij je over de kracht van de zon, of je kijkt toe hoe de zon ondergaat (of opkomt, want een ritueel hoeft niet per se ’s avonds) en het mooiste is als je ook een vuur kunt maken, en daarover kunt springen. Let wel op: op veel plaatsen is het verboden om een vuur te maken, zelfs op het strand, en in het bos kan het ook veel te gevaarlijk zijn om een vuur te ontsteken. Als heks wil je geen bos- of heidebrand ontketenen! Misschien is het mogelijk om vuur te gebruiken op een kleinere schaal, zoals een kaars in een houder (een speciale kaars of een potje waar ooit pindakaas in zat, al dan niet versierd met doorzichtig papier of glasverf). Wees altijd voorzichtig met vuur: gebruik geen kaarsen die om kunnen vallen, en gooi geen houtskooltjes van de wierook weg. Ook niet als ze afgekoeld zijn trouwens. Zoveel mest is niet gewenst in de natuur, of je moet een brandnetelkwekerij willen beginnen.

Vul je ritueel aan met zang, muziek, dans, gedichten of wat je er verder ook maar bij wilt gebruiken. Bedenk een activiteit die past bij deze plek, of ga juist mediteren. Luister naar wat het bos, of de zee, of de wind, je te vertellen heeft. Laat een vraag die je hebt beantwoorden door de natuur. Betrek de omgeving bij je ritueel door ter plekke gevonden voorwerpen op je ‘altaar’ te zetten of er je altaar door te laten vormen. Of door een tocht uit te zetten, een korte ‘queeste’ waarbij je de deelnemers die omgeving nadrukkelijk laat ervaren: zien, voelen, horen, ruiken. Zo’n ’tocht’ kan vooraf gaan aan het trekken van de cirkel, of vanuit een poort in de cirkel vertrekken, eventueel in de vorm van een pathworking.

Je ‘cakes & wine’ (of bier en brood) kun je meenemen van huis en op je eigen wijze opdragen aan de goden.

Het afsluiten van de cirkel doe je door in de omgekeerde volgorde (laatst opgeroepen wezens het eerst bedanken) de aangeroepen krachten te bedanken, weg te zenden of vaarwel te zeggen. Dit kan weer met of zonder woorden, en ondertussen laat je de gevisualiseerde cirkel verdwijnen.

Tijd voor een feest, of om de plek te verlaten. “Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again!”

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The Dolmen … Pagan Celtic Rock!

Geplaatst op 1 februari, 2011 door Gast auteurs

“The Dolmen are a Weymouth, Dorset, UK Celtic/folk-rock band that incorporate elements of Celtic, folk, pagan-themed, and historically based musical works into their largely original repertoire. As of 2010, the group members are, singer and songwriter founder/member Tony (‘Taloch’) Jameson, flautist and vocalist Keri Pinney, guitarist Josh Elliott, bassist Kayleigh Marchant, and Drummer Chris Jones. The majority of the band’s songs and music are composed and produced by multi-instrumentalist Jameson. Two essential, but non-musician, members of the band are lyric contributor and collaborator Mark Vine, and Kirsty Kelly, long time sound engineer.”
From Wikipedia

I met Taloch at his house in Weymouth, a seaside port in the County of Dorset, UK. Taloch; a tall man, with very distinctive features and long silver hair, dressed in piratey clothes that suit him very well, opened the door to let us in. Us, being my friend Eibhlin, who drove me over, and myself. Introductions were made and Eibhlin sat down with Mark Vine, lyricist, merchandiser & roadie of the band. Talochs wife Joanna and three and a half year old son Connach were also in the living room. Armed with coffee, voice recorder and laptop, Taloch and I sat down at a big old wooden table to do the interview.

First off, I had to admit to Taloch that, to my shame, I did not know the music of the Dolmen very well. I only saw some clips on Youtube, but that which I did see, I really liked. Very enthusiastically, he began telling me about the chequered history of the band.
In 1989 Taloch came back from Paris where he had been working for three years, assigned to a French record label. As well as producing music for them in their studio, he also worked there as a musician. “At that time Dance Music took over and anything that wasn’t Dance Music tended to go on the top shelf” explained Taloch. Upon his return to England, he did not want to continue in the same line of music as he was previously working in, the Cultish Rock and Gothic scene, but instead, he pushed the folk aspect into his music. He was in two minds as to which direction to take his music when the idea suddenly struck him to provide music to pagan gatherings and rituals. Being a Pagan himself and discovering that after rituals people flocked around the campfire and started gossiping or sniping about other religions or pagan streams, he one day just took his guitar out and started to sing a song. People stopped and listened and began enjoying this and so it caught on and, the beginnings of the Dolmen band were born! Bringing in other local musicians, it became a band. “An awful band in the beginning”, Taloch mused, “So raw, the fiddler couldn’t play the fiddle. He learned while playing. He never could play it in the end but he could play the guitar rather well”.

At first the band provided music solely for rituals and pagan gatherings, but following a one off gig in a local pub, they were asked to play others in the local pub scene also. They had managed to keep up with the Pagan celebrations but opened a commercial market as well. The band played at several major festivals in England, which included the Glastonbury Festival three times. This they did for a couple of years, but at a certain moment, this got so out of hand that they had about 280 gigs each year and “it almost killed the band”.
In 1998 Taloch got disillusioned with the way things were going. He “lost the roots” and took a couple of years off. Never one to rest on his musical laurels, during this time he wrote and recorded his four solo CD’s celebrating and exploring his more spiritual side, The Image of Thoth, Communion, Echoes of Tibet and The Way of Thelema. It was a theme he would return to again in 2008 with his solo release of Crow Dance, a Native American style album, celebrating his roots through his father’s family who are Plains Indians.

In the early 2000s his daughter Keri had a band called ‘The Elfin’ and he started gigging with them, but, soon after, the demand returned for The Dolmen. He sat down with Keri to talk about it and they decided to pick up The Dolmen again, only now with a different personnel. The old Dolmen songs that people so enjoyed were played again, but now to a far higher standard. The old fan-base soon returned and was swelled by many others who grew to love this new and exciting style of music.

To date, they have released ten albums, of which ‘Songs from The Cauldron’ and ‘Winter Solstice’ are two primarily pagan albums. Their latest release, ‘Spirits of the Sea’, is a pirate-themed album. Taloch told me it is “a return to their roots, the more folky music, the music of his youth”. “A return to a sort of music that signifies a particular honesty”. It was also a way to bridge the gap between the interests of the Pagan members of the band and the interests of the non Pagan band members.
The album is a folk album and Taloch ensured that you can dance and “Yeehaaaa! to it” (and you certainly can!).
The first CD is a compilation of very catchy songs played in the band’s strong electric style with amazing guitar riffs by brilliant young guitarist Josh Elliott and the second CD is acoustic. A night in a tavern sat amongst pirates and cutthroats, as you listen to them telling their stories and singing their songs. All very authentically done and recorded in Taloch’s own studio. One can almost smell the Tobacco; taste the rum and the salt-sea spray in every song and yarn.
For the stories, Taloch turned to Mark Vine, Historian, Author, Lyricist and long time friend of Taloch’s, who co-wrote with him the band’s previous album, the much acclaimed Crabchurch Conspiracy. Mark set about collecting pirate stories from all over the world, which he then dramatised into short narratives. The stories were then told/acted out by Taloch, Mark and some local celebrities, among which is a retired school teacher, Bob Paye, who is a direct descendant of the notorious Dorset pirate Harry Paye. Bob is also an uncle of Taloch’s wife, Jo, and so the historical and family connection to this famous old Dorset character is very strong indeed. The other two people who acted out the pirate tales were the colourful Town Crier of nearby Dorchester, Alistair Chisholm and local radio celebrity DJ, Dave Goulden of Wessex FM, who also provided the sound effects for the album through his Media company,  Evoke Media.

In between the stories, acoustic songs are sung with guitar and bouzouki, creating an atmosphere of a dark, obscure tavern filled with drunken pirates and their wenches. In fact, the background atmosphere to the second disc is exactly that. The band made a video to promote the album and arranged for Pirate re-enactors, ‘Poole Buccaneers’ to be filmed drinking and carousing with them as part of the authentic feel. A link to the video

gives an idea of the album’s excellent and authentic atmosphere. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cdE7MCtFcc

“The pirate music is very much root music to the Folk music; sea shanties etc. and the pirate theme is certainly an ice breaker.” Taloch explains that when he comes into a room wearing his pirate clothes, people start Aaaaarrrrrrring and the atmosphere of the party is set!

Except for three traditional songs; ‘Raggle Taggle Gypsy’, Over The Hills and Far Away and ‘Whisky in the Jar’ they rarely cover songs. The reason they cover these three songs is simply because they themselves like them very much, Taloch explains that he writes his own songs and enjoys the challenge to write songs that sound traditional. This new album is a return to their original concept, providing music for gatherings and campfire nights. Most of the songs you can sing along to quite easily as they are catchy and sound like sea shanties.

Taloch and guitarist Josh Elliot are now working on a new album to be released in 2011. This will be a raunchy Celtic folk rock album featuring popular songs, pagan and otherwise, that the band regularly perform live and the whole album, although recorded and produced, in one of the band’s two studios, will definitely have that live feel to it, that raw power and excitement generated at all of the band’s live shows.
And, it is planned that a second new album will also be completed in 2011, this one, a musical retelling of probably the most famous of Dorset’s historical tales, The Tolpuddle Martyrs, the story of six Dorset farm labourers who, in 1834, were sentenced to seven years transportation with hard labour for committing the awful crime of daring to belong to a trades union after having their meagre wages cut by an unscrupulous landowner and magistrate.
Taloch explains, “As a band, we love the traditions and folk tales of our native Dorset and the Martyr’s story is known world-wide, so we want to honour them the best way we know how and that is through our music. Mark Vine is currently researching the story and working on the lyrics with me and we hope to be able to do their incredible story justice with the new album”.
They are now working on the Storm album, an album especially put together for their planned tour in Europe this summer.

A couple of days after this meeting with Taloch I went to the Faerie Ball in Brighton, on the coast a hundred miles east of Dorset, to see The Dolmen perform live for the first time. I am still buzzing from that gig! The energy and the fun ricocheted off of the stage. Dressed in kilts and pirate clothes, with impressive tattoos and a dynamic stage appeal, they simply blew the roof off of the venue and showed afterwards just how tightly gelled the band are, by relaxing and having fun together as they watched the other star attraction of the night, Inkubus Sukkubus, perform.

I took the pictures used for this article during the Dolmen gig at Witchfest, where they were headlining. Again a fantastic gig!! So infectious is the Dolmen sound that I had to force myself from dancing as some of the pictures were turning out very wobbly.

The Dolmen will headline the Avalon Faery Ball in Glastonbury on the 26th of February and the prestigious Witchfest International in Croydon, London on the 12th of November. This is the fourth year running that the band have been asked to headline at Witchfest after appearing there as the support act to the Medieval Babes in 2007.
All in all a band to take notice of! The Dolmen will take their raw energy and dynamic podium appearance to the Netherlands this year. They will appear at the Elf Fantasy Fair on the 16th and 17th of April, the Conference of the Pagan Federation International in Lunteren on the 14th of May, Keltisch Midzomer Festival on the 8th, 9th and 10th of July and the Simmer in Sneek on the 17th of July. More gigs are planned. Tour dates of the Storm Tour will be published on their website www.thedolmen.com.

These Celtic islanders will plunder the senses and they will capture the heart.

The Storm is coming …..!
Photography Marloes Visser

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Tiarra – Post Scriptum

Geplaatst op 31 januari, 2011 door Morgana

Cover of the album Post Scriptum by Tiarra

See: http://www.tiarra.ro/index.php and  http://www.myspace.com/tiarraband

Tiarra is a group of young musicians from ROMANIA. 8-strong with

Lead Vocals – Anda Vocals – Alex (Indianu’)
Keyboards – Johann Guitars – Tudor
Violin – Corina Cello – Iulia
Bass Guitars – Adi Drums – Stelian

Their music can be described as symphonic, gothic, dark folk.  Using imagery from Romanian folktales and mythology the songs are melancholic and in true Gothic atmosphere – ‘dark’.

My favourite track is ‘Ielele’.

Alex, who I met in the Summer of 2010 in Bucharest, told me that the song is about the spirits in the forest. He later wrote:

“Here is an approximate translation of the lyrics.
The song is about ‘iele’ which in Romanian mythology are some beautiful yet crazy forest spirits, like fairies. They are pictured like beautiful maidens that dance in the forests under the moonlight or by the fire and that are attracting men to their doom, making them falling in love and eventually going crazy or dying.

The forest is moving, with strange whispers
Light up the Moon, listen to the storm!
And the wind which is flying through their hair
In the silent night is covering their steps…

They are the faeries, The mad faeries
The faeries, The mad faeries!

And their bodies on the bare land
In the middle of their dance, in the light of the fire
The forest is moving, with strange whispers
Light up the Moon, listen to the storm!

They are the faeries, The mad faeries
The faeries, The mad faeries!

Like in a dream, they call upon you,
Don’t look them in the eyes
In your mind, they deem you into oblivion
Don’t let yourself surrounded by the dreams

Their steps in the night are heard throughout whispers
Their shadows are slowly descending
They disappear afar, just bitter tears are left behind
And you, missing them to death…”

(Lyrics Anda, music Anda & Alex)

Other lyrics from Tiarra can be found here: http://www.lyricsvip.com/Tiarra/Post-Scriptum-Lyrics.html

I really enjoyed the title track ‘Post Scriptum’ and ‘In the arms of an angel’.

Have a listen.. there are a number of clips on YouTube too.

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Review: Damh the Bard

Geplaatst op 19 januari, 2011 door Morgana

From the official website:

Damh is a modern-day Bard whose spirituality, and love of folk tradition, is expressed through his music, storytelling and poetry. Drawing on the Bardic traditions his performances are both entertaining and educational, weaving a tapestry of myth, peace, and anthems that speak directly to the heart, but never without a good splash of humour. Damh is a musical storyteller who works within the world of myth that cannot be proved; where the Faerie really do dance on Midsummer’s Eve, where the trees talk, and the Hollow Hills take you into the realms of Annwn. Where the Goddess rides her horse, guiding you to magic, and the Horned God of old calls us from the shadows of the Greenwood.

In August this year I finally caught up with Damh and saw him perform in Prague.  This was not his first concert in Prague. Last year (2009) a concert tour had been organised by PFI Czech Republic and PFI Austria. It was obvious at the Prague concert that Damh is well loved. Singing and dancing along we had good old-fashioned folk evening.  He sang several songs from the two CD’s I now have. 🙂

BTW he – and Cerri – gives some pretty damh good workshops too. They got about 15 Czech pagans (and me)  to write as many poems in one session.. not bad going at all!

Thanks Damh (& Cerri)  for brightening some bleak moments!

Tales from the Crow Man: Damh the Bard

Whispered secrets, voices long gone,
You will hear within my songs,
2 Ravens, and a murdered knight,
Lord Donald’s servant, taking flight,
Morris bells on Beltane morn,
Pipes and Drums as the Sun is born,
So raise your voices, dance, and sing,
And let the Crow Man’s tales begin…

… and indeed the beautiful and mournful ‘Twa Corbies’. This is a traditional song and is sung from as far apart as Scotland to the Czech Republic. Also known as the ’three Ravens’ it describes the forgotten knight who lies dead and is only mourned by his hound, hawk and lady.

Lord Donald’s or Lord Darnell’s servant is found in the song ‘Matty Groves’. Damh has kept to the arrangement “based on the classic Fairport Convention version from Liege and Lief” – which is one of my all time favourite albums.

From real rockers such as ‘The Two Magicians’ and the tale of the lusty smith, to the haunting ‘Wild Mountain Thyme’ ….. will ye go lassie go…

As Nature Intended: Damh the Bard (November 2010)

This album is Damh’s latest release.  It is recorded live at ‘Witchfest International’ (Fairfield Halls, Croydon, UK) November 2007. As the title suggests this is Damh at his most ‘pure’. I really like it though! Classics such as ‘Song of Awen’ and the beautiful ‘Lady of the Silver Wheel’.

‘Pagan Ways’ and ‘Anarchy in the UK’ are contemporary songs and in the best folk/protest tradition. ‘Obsession’ is one of my favourite tracks…

Let me come to you and be the Sun in your sky,
Under my heat on golden corn you will lie,
The Moon may shine but you are the Goddess I see,
And lying there naked you wake up the God within me.

The last track is ‘The Horned God’ – an unofficial biography by Damh the Bard. A story in the best bardic tradition! A story of the Oak King and the Holly King.

See :  http://www.paganmusic.co.uk for more information and ordering. Plus other albums and the ‘Damh the Bard Songbook’.

Do take a look if you don’t know his work – he is one the best pagan artists around!

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Herne and Odin – A Berkshire Disguise

Geplaatst op 11 januari, 2011 door Gast auteurs

by Jim Bennett

The Great God Odin wears many masks. From the dawn of Northern European prehistory He and His shamans wore the antlered headdress and led the hunters to herds of reindeer to feed their families. In times of Chiefdoms and centralised political authority, Odin becomes the Great Chief of the Gods and Leader of the Wild Warriors who transform into the wolf and the bear. In this guise, Odin is known by the titles, Glad of War; Spear Thruster and Father of Battles. During the time of the Christian conversion he sacrificed himself upon the Tree of Knowledge to bring the runes and salvation to a people spiritually uprooted and confused by a Middle Eastern God. He was also known as Woden among the Saxons – the personification of the wise and just ruler.  Always at Christmas he gave gifts, and in disguise, brought good fortune to those who provided hospitality to lost travellers. Through the tears and pain of human history, Odin has always been amongst us, hiding behind many faces. To illustrate one important face of this shape-shifting God we will know turn to a story that might have been:

Cerdic, son of Sturl, and great swordsman among the warriors of the Chief, was an oath-breaker and a murderer. Although bound by oath to respect the marriage of Elga, fairest of all the maidens in Saxon Berkshire to Oswald Taeppa’s son, in a fit of murderous passion he ambushed Oswald and killed him as he returned home from celebrations only a few days before the wedding.

Knowing himself outcast and condemned, Cerdic fled for his life into the great forest that was later to become Windsor, on the evening before the Midwinter solstice. Crashing drunkenly and blindly into the forest, he heard what sounded like hissing whispers among the branches of the great oak and ash forest. The wind whispering through the trees mocked him – sounding like laughter to his anguished imagination. Cursing himself and the Chief of the Gods he stumbled down a steep ravine and fell against a great oak. Amidst the whispering of the leaves, a low rumble was heard, and a vibration that twisted his guts in a great vice, sending every hair erect all over his body. His eyes darted frantically right and left as the rumble grew in intensity until the sound of a thunder clap seemingly split his skull in twain. The lightning that illuminated the sky with jagged fingers of silver caused his eyes to blaze with incandescent terror.

A sound that threatened to rip his very soul from his sorry carcass reverberated through the wind-swept, thrashing branches – the sound of a hunting horn, the thunderous crashing of hooves and the trumpeting cries of dead warriors could mean only one thing – his doom and eternal damnation. For Woden, foremost among the Gods, resplendent in his headdress of bloody antlers, was hunting for him and the wolves that ran beside this commotion of avenging souls were prepared to tear him limb from limb. Crouching like a babe in the womb, Cerdic squeezed his eyes shut and trembling did not see the blazing single red eye that pierced the night – he only felt the gigantic hand that swept him up like a bird in flight. High into the night sky he flew falling into the jaws of the two ravenous wolves that fought to tear him limb from limb. That night such a storm swept the land that people called it for generations, Woden’s Storm.

The people of Cerdic’s village never saw him again, but spoke in whispers of the Wild Hunt and the Bringer of Justice to whom no man or woman could ever escape.

The Brothers Grimm were the first scholars to identify Odin with the wild hunt. Variations of this title exist all over Northern Europe. In the Netherlands the wild hunt is known as the Woedende Jager. In Denmark it is known as the Odinsjagt. In Germany it is known as the Wodensheer and the Wutanesher. One story comes from Hannover in Germany, collected by folklorists whose storytellers did not doubt for one moment the truth of this encounter:

The dogs of the air often bark on a dark night on the heath, in the woods, or at a crossroads. Country dwellers know their leader Wod and pity the traveller who has not yet reached home, for Wod is often malicious, seldom kind. The rough huntsman spares only those who remain in the middle of the path. Therefore he often calls out to travellers, “In the middle of the path!”

One night a drunken peasant was returning home from town. His path led him through the woods. There he heard the wild hunt with the huntsman shouting at his noisy dogs high in the air.

A voice called out, “In the middle of the path! In the middle of the path!” But the peasant paid no attention to it.

Suddenly a tall man on a white horse bolted from the clouds and approached him. “How strong are you?” he said. “Let’s have a contest. Here is a chain. Take hold of it. Who can pull the hardest?”

Undaunted, the peasant took hold of the heavy chain, and the huntsman remounted. Meanwhile the peasant wrapped his end of the chain around a nearby oak tree, and the huntsman pulled in vain.

“You wrapped your end around the oak tree,” said Wod, dismounting.

“No,” responded the peasant, quickly undoing the chain. “See, here it is in my hands.”

“I’ll have you in the clouds!” cried the huntsman and remounted. The peasant quickly wrapped the chain around the oak tree once again, and once again Wod pulled in vain. Up above the dogs barked, the wagons rolled, and the horses neighed. The oak tree creaked at its roots and seemed to twist itself sideways. The peasant was terrified, but the oak tree stood.

“You have pulled well!” said the huntsman. “Many men have become mine. You are the first who has withstood me. I will reward you.”

The hunt proceeded noisily, “Halloo! Halloo!” The peasant crept along his way. Then suddenly, from unseen heights, a groaning stag fell before him. Wod appeared and jumped from his white horse. He hurriedly cut up the game.

“The blood is yours,” he said to the peasant, “and a hind quarter as well.”

“My lord,” said the peasant, “your servant has neither a bucket nor a pot.”

“Pull off your boot!” cried Wod.

He did it.

“Now take the blood and the meat to your wife and child.”

At first his fear lightened the burden, but gradually it became heavier and heavier until he was barely able to carry it. With a crooked back and dripping with sweat he finally reached his hut, and behold, his boot was filled with gold, and the hind quarter was a leather bag filled with silver coins.

In Britain, the Wild Hunt is associated with Herne the Hunter.

Odin wears many disguises and bears many names. One of the God’s titles is known as Herian, or War Leader of his elite band of warriors, the Herjar. In this guise, Herian or Herne the Hunter roamed Windsor Great Park and was known by the Christians to lead damned souls in a monstrous, ear-splitting Wild Hunt across the sky. Immortalised by William Shakespeare, the legend was already very well established in Elizabethan times. Where a great mound nearby in Taplow attests, the culture of Berkshire’s Woden worshipping ancestors remained very much alive.

It is now the early Middle Ages and England is ruled by the King Richard II. Long forgotten are the shrines and temples of the Old Saxon Gods. However, the folk memory of the power of the Horned God and Woden live on. One day the King was hunting in Windsor Great Park with his favourite royal huntsman, Richard Horne. Richard could smell the ground to find game and had a sixth sense which led the King to many a victorious hunt. One day however, after dismounting to kill a wounded stag the dying beast thrust itself at the King. The huntsman threw his body between the King and the beast, receiving the grievous wounds to protect his sovereign. While the King and his companions grieve a mysterious stranger named Phillip Urswick, a wise and cunning man, tells the King to cut off the horns of the stag and tie them onto the head of the dying huntsman. This is accomplished and Horne makes a miraculous recovery. However, in order to live the huntsman had to lose his almost supernatural gift in knowing where to lead the hunt. After a while, desolate, forlorn and fallen from favour the poor huntsman makes his way to a Great Oak and hangs himself from a branch. From that time, his ghostly apparition appears as the leader of the Wild Hunt, a time when the souls of the damned rampage across the sky with thunderous hooves and baying hell hounds. No one who encounters such a host can survive the experience.

The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare, performed on the evening of April 23rd 1597.

There is an old tale goes, that Herne the hunter,
Sometime a keeper here in Windsor forest,
Doth all the winter-time, at still midnight,
Walk round about an oak, with great ragg’d horns –
And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle,
And makes the milch-kine yield blood, and shakes a chain
In a most hideous and dreadful manner…
You have heard of such a spirit, and well you know
The superstitious idle-headed had received, and did deliver to our age,
This tale of Herne the hunter for a truth.


During the time of the Victorians, the memory of Herne the Hunter was featured in an opera written by Edward Oxenford called Herne. A Legend of Royal Windsor (1887).

Tis nigh two hundred years ago
That Herne was Hunter to the Crown
And none so deft with spear and bow,
As he who still enjoys renown.
He’d bring to earth the fleetest hind,
Defy the fiercest boar at bay,
Train up the hawk, the bugle sound
Unearth the fox, the badger slay.
But soon a gentler task arose,
He sought to wind a maiden’s heart;
Of love he felt the keenest throes,
And bared his breast to Cupid’s dart.
The maid he loved was vowed to God,
A nun within a convenet nigh;
Yet from the holy paths she trod,
He wean’d her feet, alas! To die!
For soon, in a fit of jealous rage,
He slew the maid he loved so well;
And in remourse, the sinner’s wage,
A self-made gift to death he fell.
Chorus: Yes, on that withered oak he died,
A murderer and a suicide.And since the day he joined the dead,
He roams at night the forest land,
With antlers on his ghostly head,
Surrounded by a phantom band…

An epilogue to our story. In 1962 CE, a group of teddyboys, doubtless fuelled by copious drink and suspicious substances were partying near the modern site of Herne’s Oak. It was a pleasant summer evening and the stars were shining their dazzling display in the sky. Staggering across the uneven ground, one of the lads kicked a large, archaic hunting horn out of the bushes. Odd he thought in his brain-soaked confusion, that someone would leave such an artefact on the grounds for anybody to find. Unaware of the dire warning oft repeated by storytellers from ages long past, the lad put the horn to his lips and blew one loud blast. Suddenly, amidst a great clap of thunder and with an ominous rattle of chains, an enormous black figure appeared before them with flaming red eyes, an enormous rack of antlers surmounting his head. Fearing that the devil had appeared, they fled from the sight in great anguish and terror.

So kind audience, there we have four stories, separated by centuries but united around a single Entity – loved, venerated, respected and most of all – feared. The story doesn’t end here for at Midwinter even still the cry of Odin or Wotan rings loud and long as pagans gather around the Royal Oak and in countless places across this fair island to worship the Gods, Goddesses and Nature Spirits of old. The story of Odin is not finished in the 21st century, his time dear friends is only beginning.

This article was published in Wiccan Rede, Beltane 2004.

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Gedachten bij Silvesteravond

Geplaatst op 7 januari, 2011 door Jana

(C) Wiccan Rede * Winter 1987

We staan op de drempel van een nieuw zonnejaar, en waarschijnlijk heb je al een nieuwe kalender om aan de muur te hangen. Dit is misschien een goed moment om niet alleen je af te vragen wat het nieuwe jaar brengen zal, maar ook eens over de verschillende systemen na te denken: het zonnejaar en het maanjaar en de Grieks-Orthodoxe kalender.

Het woord kalender stamt trouwens af van het middeleeuws Latijnse calendarium: notitieboek met tijdsaanduiding. Dit brengt ons bij de heilige kunst van het schrijven en rekenen. Isodore van Sevilla vertelt ons dat het alfabet door de maangodin Io, in haar Egyptische verschijningsvorm Isis, werd geschapen. In het Midden-Oosten waren letters en getallen een gave van de Godin en haar priesteressen waren speciaal hiermee belast.

In het pre-Hellenistische Griekenland werd het alfabet toegeschreven een de drie Muzen, die identiek waren aan de schikgodinnen of Graeae, de naamgeefsters van de Griekse stammen. Het Latijnse alfabet werd geschapen door de archaïsche godin Carmenta, de moeder van ‘Carmens’ of toverspreuken (Engels ‘charms’). De Romeinse moeder van de voorbeschikking, Fata Scribunda, “de schrijvende schikgodin”, komt overeen met de Germaanse schikgodinnen die “die Schreiberinnen” worden genoemd. De godin van de maan schiep de tijd, met al zijn cycli van ontstaan, groei, verwelking en vernietiging, en daarom waren oude kalenders gebaseerd op de fasen van de maan en de menstruatiecyclus.

Er wordt wel gezegd dat het tijdsbewustzijn het eerst in de vrouw tot ontwikkeling kwam, vanwege haar natuurlijke lichaamsfuncties die samenhingen met de waargenomen maanfasen. De woorden ‘maan’, ‘maand’ en ‘menstruatie’ zijn dan ook verwant. ‘Mensis’ is het Latijnse woord en ‘men’ het Griekse voor ‘maand’. De Keltische woorden voor menstruatie en kalender zijn hetzelfde: miosach en miosachan (2). Vandaag de dag kan de tijd tussen twee menstruaties bij gezonde vrouwen variëren van 21 tot 35 dagen. Maar Stan Gooch neemt aan dat de vrouwen van oeroude stammen een collectieve menstruatiecyclus kenden, die samenviel met de maanfasen (3).

In onze tijd zijn er nog veel mensen die een kalender gebruiken die op de maan is gebaseerd. De Joden bijvoorbeeld, en één christelijk feest, Pasen, wordt bepaald aan de hand van de maan. (Voor de eenvoud wordt dit feest nu gevierd op de eerste zondag na de eerste volle maan na de lente-equinox, een overblijfsel van de veel ingewikkelder berekeningen voor het Joodse Pesach). De Joodse kalender kent 12 maanmaanden van 29 of 30 dagen elk, zodat een jaar 354 dagen telt. Omdat de jaarfeesten op het zonnejaar gebaseerd zijn moet de maankalender op het zonnejaar worden afgestemd. Daartoe wordt elke twee of drie jaar een extra maan-maand ingelast in februari of maar: zeven keer per 19 jaar. De kalender van de Islam kent uitsluitend maan-maanden, en hun jaar telt dus 354 dagen, en de maanden hebben geen vaste band met de seizoenen. (Desondanks komen plaatselijke feesten voor de op de seizoenen betrekking hebben in Islamitische landen). Er gaan ruwweg 103 moslimjaren in 100 jaren van Gregoriaanse kalender.

Voor praktische doeleinden, zoals het innen van belastingen en agrarische doeleinden, werden verschillende aanpassingen, gebaseerd op het zonnejaar, in gebruik genomen in de afgelopen eeuwen (4). De Romeinen kenden een zonnejaar, dat in de lente begon, met het nieuwe oorlogsseizoen. De eerste maand was gewijd aan de oorlogsgod Mars. ‘Aprillius” betekent ’tweede’ en de getallen 7, 8, 9 en 10 kunnen we nog steeds terugvinden in onze kalender. Sinds ongeveer 150 v. Chr. begint het zonnejaar in januari, omdat de Romeinse consuls hun ambt op dat moment aanvaardden. De zonnekalender kent twaalf maanden van 28, 30 of 31 dagen, en er wordt elk schrikkeljaar een extra dag ingelast. Verwijzingen naar de Juliaanse en de Gregoriaanse kalender zijn zonder twijfel in de bibliotheek te vinden.

Een maankalender kan bestaan uit lunaties of complete maancycli van ongeveer 29½ dag, of uit maanmaanden van 28 dagen. Dit laatste is het geval met de Keltische bomenkalender. Volgens Murry Hope “kwamen magische alfabetten en bomen-kalenders niet direct samen. De kalender verscheen in Engeland waarschijnlijk ergens tijdens het derde millennium voor Christus, terwijl het alfabet met de Kelten arriveerde, toen de bomen nieuwe, toepasselijke Keltische namen kregen”. (5). Echter ‘boom’ betekent ook ‘letter’ in alle Keltische talen, en de naam van de letters in het moderne Ierse alfabet zijn die van bomen, en de meeste van deze corresponderen met de lijst die Roderick O’Flaherty geeft in zijn  17 eeuwse ‘Ogygia’, naar Duald Mac Firbis, een bard die toegang had tot de oude geschriften.

Twee verschillende alfabetten schijnen bestaan te hebben, met variaties, namelijk het Beth-Luis-Nion, en het Boibel-Loth-Forann alfabet. Robert Graves beschouwt het eerste als het alfabet met de originele namen van de Ogham alfabet, dat gevonden is op talloze inscripties in Ierland, Schotland, Wales, Engeland, en het eiland Man; sommige van deze dateren van voor onze jaartelling. De uitvinding wordt in de Ierse traditie toegeschreven aan de Keltische god Ogma Zonne-gezicht. Er is een verband aangetoond tussen het Ogham-schrift dat in scripties werd gebruikt en een Grieks alfabet uit Etrurië uit de vijfde eeuw voor Christus, het Formello-Cervetri; maar desalniettemin is er bewijsmateriaal voor een oudere vorm van Ogham, met een licht, afwijkende volgorde der letters, dat in Ierland in gebruik was voordat de druïden uit Gallië in contact kwamen met het Formelio-Cevetri alfabet. Dit kan in Engeland overigens in gebruik zijn geweest, waar, volgens Julius Ceasar, de Gallische druïden heengingen om hun universiteitsopleiding in de geheime leer te volgen (6).

De zoektocht van Graves begint met een mystiek gedicht dat ‘De Slag der Bomen’ heet, en dat refereert aan een oude Britse traditie om een orakelheiligdom te veroveren door de naam van de God te raden. Graves neemt aan dat de dichter, Gwion, een alfabetisch geheim in zijn raadselgedicht had verborgen. Hij ontrafelt een gedeelte van het mysterie door de Goddelijke Namen  in te vullen. “Maar de enige hoop om ooit verder te komen met deze jacht is erin gelegen te ontdekken welke betekenis de letters van het alfabet hebben, afgezien van de eigennamen die in het raadsel aan hen worden gegeven. Spellen zij misschien het geheim van een religieuze formule?” Graves vergelijkt dan de bomen-alfabetten met het Griekse alfabet, en bekijkt ook de informatie uit Europese mythen en de geschiedenis. Uiteindelijk blijkt dat het bomen-alfabet ‘vertaald’ kan worden waardoor een Griekse invocatie ontstaat.
“Samenvattend verschafte deze Griekse toverspreuk van twintig woorden de namen van de letters van een alfabet dat in het laat-Minoïsche Arcadië in gebruik was, tot aan de tweede archaïsche, bij afstammelingen van de oorspronkelijke veroveraars, die waren overgestapt op de verering van de Witte Godin. Hun cultus omvatte het gebruik van een kunstmatige zonnekalender met dertien maanden, waarin elke maand werd vertegenwoordigd door een boom, en deze kalender was onafhankelijk van de uitvinding van het alfabet ontstaan en was in algemeen gebruik.

Sommige van de seizoensgebonden elementen dateren uit pre-dynatische tijden, zoals kan worden aangetoond, en ofschoon de bomen in de Ierse versie, de enige die intact is gebleven, een oorsprong in Pontine of Paphlagonia suggereren, kan de kalender ook zijn ontstaan in Aegaea of Phoenicië of Libië met een iets verschillende set bomen. Het is ook niet waarschijnlijk dat het alfabet in Brittanië arriveerde tegelijk met de kalender. De kalender kan aan het eind van het derde millennium voor Christus door mensen uit de nieuwe steentijd zijn meegebracht die een nauw contact onderhielden met de Egeïsche beschaving, en dingen als de landbouw, apicultuur (bijenhouden), de labyrint-dans en andere culturele zaken meebrachten. Het alfabet schijnt tegen het eind van het tweede millennium voor Christus door vluchtelingen uit Griekenland ingevoerd te zijn”. (6).

De Boibel-Loth kalender schijnt gebaseerd te zijn op een jaar met 360+5 dagen, terwijl de Beth-Luis-Nion kalender 364+1 dag bevatte: dertien maanden van 28 dagen elk, en één dag tussen het oude jaar en het nieuwe. Dus: een jaar en een dag. Het B-L-N-alfabet bestaat uit dertien consonanten, de maanden, en vijf klinkers, en deze vormen samen een cyclus van seizoenen. Elke letter is naar een boom of struik genoemd waar het de initiaal van draagt, en alle bomen zijn belangrijk in de Europese folklore. De eerste maan is Beth, de berk, en beslaat de tijd van 24 december tot 20 januari. 21 januari tot 17 februari is de maand van de Luis, de lijsterbes.

De tekening geeft de hedendaagse namen van de bomen en de data. Volledigheidshalve geef ik hier de originele namen: Beth, Luis, Nion, Fearn, Saille, Uath (H), Duir, Tinne, Coll, Muin, Gort Pethboc (P) en Ruis. P (Peith, de vlier) is niet de oorspronkelijke letter. Het is een substituut voor de klank NG (Ngetal of riet). De extra dag valt buiten het jaar met dertien maanden en wordt daarom niet beheerst door een van de bomen. Graves neemt aan dat de meest natuurlijke plaats tussen de R-maand en de B-maand is, op de dag na de winterzonnewende.

De klinkers vertegenwoordigen belangrijke data in het jaar. A (Ailm) is de zilverspar, (of de palm, in oud-Iers), de boom van de geboorte, de eerste dag van het jaar. Dertien weken later valt het lentepunt, vertegenwoordigd door deO (Onn) de (gouden) brem. U (Ura) is de rode midzomerstruik vol passie: de heide. E (Eadha) de boom van het herfstpunt en van ouderdom is de witte populier of witte abeel. De vijfde boom is de taxus, I (Idho), door Graves bij de laatste dag van het jaar geplaatst, de vooravond van de winterzonnewende. Het Boibel-Loth alfabet bevat de twee oude letters, Q (Quert, Appel) en Z (Straif, sleedoorn) die soms als CC en SS werden geschreven. Daarom, en omdat de appel- en notenoogst samenvallen, combineert Graves Coll, de hazelaar, met CC, de appel en Straif met Saille (6).

Er zou nog een heleboel te zeggen zijn over de betekenis van de verschillende bomen voor elke maand en over de vogels en zo meer die daarbij horen. Maar dit tijdschriftje is te klein om zoveel gegevens, mythen en verwijzingen te bevatten. Iedereen die interesse heeft kan The White Goddess of Practical Celtic Magic of The Gentle Arts of Aquarian Magic van Marian Green lezen, om maar enkele titels te noemen. Doreen Valiente laat in Witchcraft for Tomorrow ook het Ogham-alfabet zien, en het Wiel van Ogham. The Book of Ballymote geeft verschillende geschreven vormen van het Ogham (oorspronkelijk beperkt tot het gebruik in de doofstommen-gebarentaal). Dit boek werd door Solomon van Droma en Manus MacDonough samengesteld. Aangezien het werd uitgegeven in Ierland in 1391 zal het wel niet zo makkelijk meer verkrijgbaar zijn…

De inspiratie voor het schrijven van dit artikel komt voort uit een recensie-exemplaar van The ’88 Lunar Calendar, dedicated to the Goddess in her many guises, 12th annual editon. Uitgever en samensteller is Nancy Passmore. (Zie ook: http://www.thelunapress.com/Reviews.htm)
Dit boekje opent uit tot kalender met poëzie en grafiek op de ene bladzijde, terwijl op de andere bladzijde de lunaties staan: de fasen van de maan, data, een tekening van een blad, een uitleg van de naam van de maan. Meer informatie omvat de klinkers, de maan-tuin en een bibliografie. Slecht drie van de prenten bevielen me, maar dit is een kwestie van persoonlijke smaak.

Noten

  1. Silvesteravond is genoemd naar Sint Silvester, de eerste paus, en de dag is 31 december.
  2. The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. Barbara G. Walker.
  3. Guardians of the Ancient Wisdom. Wachters van de Oude Wijsheid. Stan Gooch. (NB van de typist: het is bekend dat ook nu nog meisjes die nauw bevriend zijn soms hun menstruatiecyclus veranderen zodat ze tegelijk menstrueren. En bij dieren, m.n. muizen, komt dit verschijnsel op uitgebreide schaal voor – meestal worden deze verschijnselen door de reuk gereguleerd.)
  4. The Penguin Dictionary of Religion, edited by  R. Hinnells.
  5. Practical Celtic Magic, Murry Hope.
  6. The White Goddess. Robert Graves.

Dit artikel verscheen oorspronkelijk in Wiccan Rede van Winter 1987.

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Background of Wiccan Rede

Geplaatst op 20 december, 2010 door Redactie

Logo Wiccan Rede - copyright Merlin Sythove

Wiccan Rede is a Dutch/English quarterly magazine on Wicca and Witchcraft. Wiccan Rede Online is the successor of the paper magazine Wiccan Rede that appeared from Spring 1980 until and including Lammas 2010.

Wiccan Rede has its roots in Gardnerian Wicca, but has always presented views from other traditions within and without Wicca. To understand the terminology used, we indicate the background of the magazine.

Wicca, or modern Witchcraft, is an initiatory path, open to those who want to become a priestess or priest and to follow the path of initiation and training within a regular coven. G.B. Gardner was the first to document this tradition, and the word wicca.

Wicca is on one hand a nature religion, revering a Goddess and a God, celebrating eight seasonal festivals and thirteen full moons, and working magic. Many people nowadays use the word Wicca to describe solely the religion. The words Witchcraft and solitary Witchcraft are used as well by the ones that want to connect individually with the Goddess and the God, without following the initiatory path.

Previous issues and articles
Previous issues of the magazine, from the period 2003-2010, can be ordered from http://www.silvercircle.org/wiccanrede.htm.
Some older articles can be found here: http://www.archive.silvercircle.org/.

Donations
Wiccan Rede Online is available for free, but costs are made for it. We do appreciate your donation!
Within the Netherlands you can transfer your donation to bank account ABN/AMRO 45.64.08.401 of Silver Circle, Zeist. Mention ‘donation’.
From other countries please use the PayPal-button ‘Doneren’.

Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in the articles in Wiccan Rede Online are those of the authors, and not necessarily those of Silver Circle. Mentioning of a course, workshop, pubmoot, organization, group etc. in the Agenda section or address list does not mean that Silver Circle recommends this course, group, etc.

Copyright
The copyright of the individual articles and illustrations remains with the authors. The copyright of Wiccan Rede Online is held by Silver Circle. We ask our authors – when they use illustrations by other people – to use copyright free illustrations or to obtain the right to use the illustrations.

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Review: The Way of the Horned God

Geplaatst op 20 december, 2010 door Jana

Dancing Rabbit : The way of the Horned God – A young man’s guide to modern Paganism
O Books, 2010, 153 p. ISBN 978-1-84694-267-9
http://www.o-books.com/obookssite/book/detail/657

Cover of the book Way of the Horned God

There are not many books about male Pagan spirituality. Certainly not when compared to the number of books on female spirituality. This one is even more special, because it directs the young Pagan man, the growing boy with an interest in Paganism. It gives sound advice, without being patronizing. It is a guide, more than a book with lessons. The basics of Paganism are explained and the reader gets a good idea of how to get started practising Paganism. Starting with cleaning the room and learning how to use the washing machine, and grounding and centering. And even before that, by deciding how to deal with ones parents, if they are not Pagan.
After a chapter about ‘Encountering the Sacred’ – how to meditate, how to create a sacred space – there are chapters on The Goddess, on The Horned God and on ‘The Horned God and the Goddess’. The final chapter is about ‘Your passage into manhood’, separation from childhood and entering puberty – separate rituals that a boy or young man can do on his own if no one is around to guide him through it.
The author is an eclectic Wiccan and member of the Unitarian Universalist Church and has borrowed from Humanism too for this book. But boys and young men from (or with an interest in) any Pagan denomination can learn a lot from this book.

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