Valborg 2013

For most neopagans, today they are thinking about tomorrow’s holiday: Beltaine. Or, as Thorn Coyle puts it, International Have Sex With A Worker Day. In the Isles, this was a time to put pole in the ground, wake the land, fuck, et cetera. As my own life and practices develop and I get more in touch with the Scandinavian and Germanic currents of magic, I find myself more attuned to a different rhythm. Today is Valborg, which is still celebrated in Sweden. You might know it better by its German name, Walpurginacht.

The land here is starting to warm up and shake off the last of (another harsh) winter. Flowers bloom, insects scurry, last week the wind hound would not stop whistling all over. Patience, friend, you will have your food tonight. Tonight/tomorrow I will commence working through The Inner Temple of Witchcraft, even if some of the material in the pre-lesson chapters makes me want to break out a red pen. This is for techniques and refreshing skills gone dormant for a few reasons.

And tonight…
a candle will be made
mead will be drunk
ointment smeared on skin
another slide into the unseen worlds
magic will be renewed.

There and back again

Set up the altar for my rite. Jasmine incense chosen, a glass of mead poured, my Remo drum came out of the closet.

Shade pulled, candle lit, incense lit, lights out. Polite society removed, along with all my clothing.

Lit the braid of sweetgrass, smudged my body in its smoke. Nightly purifications have become a regular thing for me but not to this level.

Pick up wand, cast a circle four times. Nothing is getting in. Give my unseen allies instructions before I go under.

Sit down. Invoke. Sip mead. Feel the current continuing to course through my body.

Pick up drum. Beat softly. Let it take me where it will.

Picking up the energies of witches of the past. Running (or is that flying) through the woods. I can see a stag, along with does. Running, moving so quickly.

Finding myself in a small clearing packed with plants. So many I can’t even begin to discern what’s before me. A green man with a beard (a green wight? Odin in disguise?) shows up as well. Picks up my thoughts about feeling like I am starting so late with herbal work.

“There’s no rush.”

Well, that is certainly a relief.

Running again. Periodically picking up my drum to add more soft rhythm to my work. Slowly working my way through the mead. Eventually lay down on my belly to experience what I am seeing while prone.

Still running wild. Pressure building between my legs. Hand-ling that for a while. Basic sex magic. Even now I can’t remember what I did. But the way I felt after, and today, tells me something worked.

Slowly come back. Feels like short minutes. I’ve been under for almost an hour. Love how that works.

Drag myself up to something of normal consciousness. Words pouring out of me to get on to the paper. Every little detail noted. Crawl into bed. Read some of Sybil Leek’s book. Takes so long to fall asleep.

*****

Today I went on living my normal life. But it’s changed. Usually I have hated doing any sort of ritual by myself. I felt like it was always lacking something. Even when doing a ritual written up by someone else meant to be done solo, it has felt empty. Finally something has connected in my brain.

Earlier this evening I performed The Rites of Her Sacred Fires for Hekate. This is the third year I have participated, and the first time I truly felt something within the ritual.

Valborg blessings

Happy Valborg everyone! Tonight I will be celebrating with my two local ritual partners, and we’re breaking in a new fire pit in the process.
Tomorrow is also the second birthday of my little blog here. Huzzah! To celebrate, I’ve updated the theme (again) and also redone the About Me page. This includes a recent revelation which came to me relating to a lot of my practices and world views. Where once I would have used 5-6 words to try to explain a lot of what I do, it hit me that two simple words could sum things up. Hedge witch.
I’ve also updated the working of the feed, to only show previews of posts, as well as comments. You no longer need a WordPress account to leave one, but anonymous comments are still not allowed.

Thank you everyone who’s been reading. If you have a blog and link to me, please let me know? Also, if you do link, please updte the name to Syncretic Mystic. I’ve found a few recently which I am checking out, now that I have some time again. There may be some updates to the blog roll for this.

I’m also thinking that I may start posting more personal experiences here. For years, I have posted them under a filter to my personal online journal. Some things are still not meant to be share with the general public but I’d like to get more dialogue going and potentially develop my writing into bigger projects. It’s time to open up some more.