Latest / Random Heathen Ramblings / Random Heathen Ramblings: S5, EP37 - I Experienced My FIRST Wiccan Ritual During The Autumnal Equinox!

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Random Heathen Ramblings: S5, EP37 - I Experienced My FIRST Wiccan Ritual During The Autumnal Equinox! · Random Heathen Ramblings

0:08
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Random Heathen Ramblings
0:11
podcast where we discuss all sorts of things Germanic
0:14
Heathenry related. My name is Jesse and I'm your
0:17
host. Let's get into it.
0:39
Fire on the Mountain, an annual men's spiritual retreat and
0:43
leadership summit, is sponsored in part by Skogamore.
0:47
From the foggy mountains of Appalachia comes forth this
0:50
musical adventure from ex black metal musician Zeb Crew.
0:55
Skogamore was first created in the fall of 2020 and is a mix of
0:59
appellation and Nordic folk with dark ambient storytelling.
1:03
Zeb has recently taken Skogamore out of the studio and onto the
1:07
live stage, performing at different Nordic and Viking
1:10
themed festivals around the southeast region of the United
1:13
States. In addition to creating and
1:16
performing his music, Zeb is also a Craftsman in homemade
1:19
beard oils and animistic jewelry, incorporating natural
1:23
wood and ethically sourced animal bones into beautiful and
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unique items to wear. Follow Skogamore on Facebook and
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Instagram to stay informed of new music and live performances.
1:35
Thank you to Skogamore for helping sponsor Fire on the
1:39
Mountain. Fire on the Mountain, an annual
1:43
men's spiritual retreat and leadership summit, is sponsored
1:47
in part by Jalvatir Workshop, located in the Blue Ridge
1:51
Mountains of Appalachia, USA. Jalvatir, which means mountain
1:55
spirit in Old Norse, prides themselves in crafting a wide
1:59
array of ritual items ranging from animal hide, drums and
2:02
rattles to wood crafts, altar goods, home decor, and much
2:06
more. Many of the items used for
2:08
ceremony at Fire on the Mountain are the handiwork of this family
2:13
owned and operated business. Follow them on Facebook and
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visit theirwebsite@jalvatir.com to learn more.
2:21
Thank you to Jalvatir Workshop for helping sponsor Fire on the
2:25
Mountain. Fire on the Mountain, an annual
2:34
men's spiritual retreat and leadership summit, is sponsored
2:37
in part by Moon Joy Meadery. Owned and operated by Daniel and
2:42
Rebecca Phillips and Rebecca's mother Margaret Moose, this
2:45
small batch meadery has been a dream in the making for almost a
2:49
decade. Moon Joy cycles through 50 plus
2:52
different Mead recipes boasting an impressive amount of variety.
2:56
In their tasting room. At any given time, you will find
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upwards of 15 different Meads of varying sweetness available by
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individual poor tasting flight or by the bottle to enjoy at
3:07
home. Visit their brick and mortar
3:09
location in Lenoir, NC or check out their website at Moon Joy
3:14
meadery.com to see if they offer shipping to your home state.
3:18
Thank you to Moon Joy Meadery for helping sponsor Fire on the
3:22
Mountain. All right, everybody, hail, hail
3:26
and welcome. Hope everyone's doing well and I
3:30
hope that this version of the podcast goes as well as as it
3:36
possibly can. I'm using a new, what you call
3:42
it there, a new software moving my logo a little bit out the way
3:48
because it's a bit obnoxious. And I'm also noticing just a
3:52
little bit of delay in the video settings.
3:58
So if you're watching this, you might notice that it's just a
4:03
little bit of a lag. I don't know why that is.
4:09
I shouldn't be getting throttled by my speed.
4:13
But anyway, it's not going to impact the listening experience.
4:16
I don't know. This is just a little bit new
4:20
and a little bit different for me.
4:23
So we're just going to roll with it and see how this episode goes
4:26
again, for the viewers that sees, you know, as I'm talking
4:31
my, my, my movement and everything is just a little bit
4:36
delayed. Still got some some learning to
4:39
do with this new thing. So hopefully we'll we'll stop
4:44
seeing issues like this going forward.
4:47
But anyway, just to get a few things out of the way.
4:51
As you all heard, Fire on the Mountain is being sponsored this
4:53
year by a number of amazing people, businesses and crafts
4:58
men and women throughout the country.
5:02
So very much excited to, you know, have all of our sponsors
5:07
on with us this year. So please be sure to check out
5:12
the description, show notes, area of the podcast wherever
5:14
you're catching this and visit their social media links or
5:18
websites to show your support in any way that you can.
5:21
We're going to be hearing throughout this episode a couple
5:23
of at least a couple of more. What do you call them?
5:29
Sponsor details. So this this week's episode's
5:33
going to be just another solo run.
5:35
Didn't have any guests lined up for this week, and that's OK.
5:39
One other thing that I do want to mention before I get into
5:42
today's topic is for those of you who are looking for a
5:47
heathen event in the Middle Tennessee area to come out to, I
5:50
just want to give you all a friendly reminder of the Raven
5:54
Moon Hearth annual event called Shadowmoot.
5:58
So Shadowmoot is the annual autumn or, or you know, late
6:03
fall celebration that is hosted by the Raven Moon Hearth Kindred
6:09
typically and historically they've been hosting it in
6:13
Springfield, TN over the last decade or so.
6:15
And this year they'll be in Murfreesboro, TN.
6:20
So instead of having it as a three day or weekend long camp
6:24
event like they have in the past, they're going to be just
6:28
doing a one day event, which is going to be Saturday, October
6:31
12th. So a couple of things a bit, you
6:32
know, different this year than have in in the past is, you
6:36
know, there's no entry fee to come and participate and there's
6:40
also no overnight camping. So this is going to be a one
6:42
day, all day long sort of event. So you know, we, they're,
6:49
they're expecting folks, you know, if you want to arrive
6:51
anytime after 8:00 or 8:30, I think in the morning at the
6:56
Barfield Crescent Park in Murfreesboro, TN, they'll be at
6:59
pavilion #6. So it is an all ages thing.
7:03
It's a free entry and it's also potluck style.
7:07
So if you do plan on coming and you're not going to be following
7:10
like the Facebook event page, which I'll also link down in the
7:13
description and the show notes for the, for those of you
7:15
listening. If you don't plan on following
7:17
along there and you do want to come out, all you need to do is
7:20
just, you know, get on your maps, your MapQuest or your
7:24
Google Maps or whatever it is that you use these days to find
7:27
your places and, and to find your locations.
7:30
And just look up Barfield Crescent Park in Murfreesboro,
7:33
TN. And then when you get there,
7:35
just follow science to the number six pavilion.
7:39
Please bring a side dish if you do plan to attend the potluck
7:43
thing to contribute to that. And yeah, that'll be again
7:47
Saturday, October 12th. I believe that is that Saturday,
7:51
whatever that Saturday is. Let me just double check my
7:54
calendar. Yeah, October 12th.
7:56
So again, it's, it's, it's the, the, the hearths, autumn, late
8:02
autumn, you know, fall celebration.
8:05
It it kind of resembles like the the winter night celebration of
8:09
the Norse dramatic observance of time.
8:11
And even though they're going to be a little bit early to the
8:15
true old ways heathen reckoning of the winter nights celebration
8:21
every year, it, it usually falls close to or around that
8:25
reckoning. And that's kind of kind of be a
8:27
little bit what we talked about here today, since we're, you
8:30
know, getting close to that. But we're also right on the
8:33
coattail ends of the autumnal equinox, which for a lot of
8:38
Wiccans and pagans and, and, and even some heathens too, I
8:41
noticed at least the newer, you know, new modern day, new age
8:46
heathens. Also true, especially a lot of
8:49
folks still, you know, observe their holidays and, and stuff
8:56
after the Wiccan wheel of the year where you know, you have,
9:01
you know, 8 different holidays and then you know, several of
9:05
which are, are based around the, the equinoxes and the solstices.
9:11
So that's pretty, that's kind of a good segue into this.
9:16
So, you know, we are myself, myself and another kind of bonus
9:21
kid of mine this past weekend. So when you folks are listening
9:25
and watching this, it'll have been the the weekend this past
9:28
that just that just that we just came past, we got a chance to go
9:33
out to Sequatchie County. I think is it, it is Dunlap, TN,
9:39
which is South of us, but up in the mountains, the elevation
9:42
does climb a bit and you know, so you're up in the mountains.
9:47
And we were invited out to a local elder of our community.
9:51
He and his wife have a really primitive piece of property up
9:57
in the mountains up there, really nice spread, very rugged,
10:01
very primitive. And we got invited out along
10:04
with a number of other people to come and celebrate the autumn
10:07
equinox with them. They had an event that they were
10:10
kind of theming along the lines of shaping the magic and they
10:17
were going to be doing an observance of, you know, a
10:21
celebration after the Wiccan style of things.
10:24
Now I know this is not a Wiccan or neo Pagan podcast, but I
10:29
wanted to talk a bit about that event and and how it made, you
10:32
know, me particularly feel as a heathen going up there.
10:36
Now a lot of folks, you know that that that catch this
10:38
content and know kind of where I stand as as a practicing
10:43
heathen. I, I wouldn't consider myself,
10:46
you know, hardcore to the bone to the teeth, whatever
10:49
reconstructionist, but I do observe the holy tides of the
10:55
Germanic pre Christian people based on historical evidence and
11:01
and source material that that proves when the the Germanic
11:06
peoples would have observed their holy days.
11:09
So I don't particularly personally hold any observances
11:14
on solstices or equinoxes. I do recognize that, you know,
11:18
especially in the, the, the, the, the place of the world that
11:21
I am in, they are significant, you know, celestial happenings
11:28
when, you know, obviously on the, on the equinoxes, you know,
11:31
time of day and time of night are equal, you know, so we have
11:35
the same amount of daylight as we do darkness.
11:38
And you know, for a lot of folks that are into the, the Pagan way
11:42
or a Pagan way, you know, nature based religions have a pretty
11:47
keen observance on that event, you know, when the days and
11:52
nights are of equal length. And so, but being invited up to
11:58
this, this, this, you know, the elder's property was an honor,
12:04
you know, and a privilege because they are invite only
12:06
sorts of things. So when they want and invite
12:09
people to come taking advantage of those things are I, you know,
12:15
I look forward to that 'cause I like to learn and I like to see
12:17
what other people are doing, what other people have done over
12:21
the years. And what's really, you know,
12:23
like I say, what's really interesting is, is this elder
12:25
and his wife, you know, they, they've been doing this thing,
12:28
they've been doing paganism, they've been doing what they do
12:31
for, you know, longer than I've been alive.
12:34
And they have a lot of knowledge and they have a lot of
12:37
experience. So getting a chance to be part
12:41
of a Wiccan ceremony of a Wiccan, you know, ritual, your
12:45
ritual modeled after the Wiccan way of doing things was, was new
12:49
to me. I hadn't ever, believe it or
12:51
not, I had not ever been at a proper Wiccan ritual.
12:57
So what was really cool is, you know, we, we got up there Friday
13:02
night and we camped overnight. Then we, and then we stayed over
13:07
Saturday and left Sunday afternoon.
13:10
So we camped a total of two nights and had, you know, 2 1/2
13:13
days worth of things that we were, we were given to do.
13:17
And there was what was really cool about being there was
13:21
getting the chance to first of all meet new people, be
13:24
reintroduced to folks that we have already known.
13:27
And then in the interim, you know, share in something very
13:29
special, which again as being an invite only thing to to come and
13:33
partake of this ceremony which was held on Sunday morning.
13:38
So everything that we did Friday night, Saturday and then into
13:41
Sunday was kind of preparing for that.
13:44
There were a lot of classes being held to educate those
13:49
folks of us who have never, you know, really known about Wicca,
13:54
what the history of it was. And it, and I'm not, I'm not an
13:56
expert on it, but I learned a lot about, you know, there's
13:59
different ways of, of practicing Wicca.
14:01
You know, there's, there's ancient ways and there's kind of
14:05
old school ways which are not quite as old as the ancient
14:07
ways, but they're not as new as the modern, modern way.
14:12
And, you know, got to got to hear a lot about the history of,
14:16
you know, where it was originated and where the
14:18
different styles kind of things came from, how it got here to
14:21
the United States. Some of the key influencers or
14:23
people, you know, over the last, you know, 50-60 years or more
14:28
that that helped shape what it is today and how it's evolved
14:32
and, and what not. There was a class on astrology
14:37
which I am not at all a, a student of.
14:42
So, so getting to hear about, you know, the astrological
14:44
signs, the houses, how they move, come to find out there's
14:48
going to be a very, very special and very unique thing that's
14:53
happening very soon in our lifetime now where all of the
14:58
planets move through the Zodiac within our lifetime.
15:03
Some of the planets don't do that, you know, but once every
15:06
several 100 years, a couple 100 years even some of them do
15:11
things pretty frequently or pretty regularly.
15:14
But there are other planets that don't do these things that
15:17
we're, that we were being taught about and learned about over the
15:20
weekend. But every couple, 100 years and
15:24
just the, the, the, the fact of it all happening in our lifetime
15:30
is, is, is quite astonishing. You know, So getting a chance to
15:38
learn about all that from people who've been students of, of
15:41
astrology and that, and that look to the celestial bodies
15:45
and, and stars and the planets and everything to help with
15:49
their spirituality. And then the way that they view
15:51
the world and kind of being brought into that was, was
15:55
fascinating. And again, it kind of helped set
16:00
the mind and, and put the mind in a position in a direction of
16:05
being ready for the, the, the Wiccan autumn equinox ritual on
16:11
Sunday morning, which is when, you know, sun Sunday, September,
16:16
was it 22nd was the, the, the, the autumnal equinox.
16:22
So I think that's a, a pretty key thing to, to, to keep in
16:24
mind, you know, like as, as, as heathens, not just, you know,
16:29
pagans in general, but as specifically as heathens when we
16:32
approach our holy days. And when we approach if, if, if
16:35
you're the type of heathen that that is, is more inclined to do
16:38
things from an historical basis. You know, where your holy ties
16:43
are, are the three major ones mentioned in, in the sources.
16:47
And they are done on the full moons.
16:48
And, you know, as we approach those holy days and as we get
16:53
near to those celebrations that if we're inviting people and if
16:58
we're bringing people into these things, or even if we're, you
17:01
know, gathering with our kindreds, with our tribes, with
17:05
our people, that that we are doing a maybe something similar,
17:11
you know, and I have to sneeze. Excuse me, those of you
17:17
watching, I'm over here like picking, scratching at my nose,
17:19
not trying to be gross or I'm like, I was trying to deter the
17:22
sneeze that just that just came across the screen.
17:25
So sorry about that, but but yeah, but but preparing oneself
17:32
for ritual, right. One of the questions that got
17:34
asked over the weekend at one of the classes, and I don't
17:36
remember exactly which one it was, might have been the one on
17:39
Friday night, which was interesting enough about like,
17:44
you know, astral projection slash lucid dreaming slash
17:51
spirit walking, different things that that type of practice could
17:55
get called or named in different beliefs or cultures or whatever.
18:01
Like one of the things that was was asked is was, you know, when
18:05
does, when does ritual begin? And one of the things that came
18:11
up was, you know, it it, it begins as soon as it begins.
18:16
And that may sound a bit foggy or the minute it may not make a
18:19
lot of sense to to folks, but it begins when it begins and when
18:22
it begins for you might be different when it begins for
18:24
somebody else. But one of the things that I
18:26
took away from that was, you know, it begins when that seed
18:30
is planted, when you start thinking about these things.
18:32
So, you know, when the autumn equinox happened on the specific
18:36
calendar day of night and day being of equal lengths, You
18:41
know, the ritual for that ceremony, the ritual of when
18:46
people were gathered in a central place to, you know,
18:50
observe and, and, and take into mind and, and into heart the
18:55
significance of that event. The ritual started days even
19:00
before that because people arrived on the property of the
19:07
elders whose, whose, whose property this is, You know, they
19:10
arrived days in advance to help prepare the grounds to help get
19:13
things sorted for more guests to arrive.
19:17
And in that, in those gestures and in that practice of, of
19:22
coming together in, in community, you know, they were
19:25
already thinking about, well, why are we doing this?
19:28
What is the purpose of us to come here, you know, three days,
19:30
four days early and prepare the grounds?
19:32
Well, there's a, there's a, there's a ritual that's about to
19:34
take place. So they were already in the
19:35
mindset of thinking about the autumnal equinox ceremony before
19:39
the ceremony of the ritual ever took place.
19:41
Why? Because they had to prepare the
19:43
grounds. They had to clear some, some,
19:46
some things out of the way of the ritual space.
19:48
They had to get the, the common community area where the fire
19:52
pit was cleaned and prepared with tents and canopies.
19:55
They had to make sure that there was a place for people to camp
19:59
that were coming. They had to make sure that
20:01
provisions were such enough to feed the people.
20:04
And then and, and then all of these things, right.
20:07
So there was preparation for those folks that that arrived
20:10
well in advance of others. So the for them, perhaps you
20:14
know, when the ritual started was when they arrived right on
20:17
their journey there and then for folks like myself and.
20:20
And others who arrived, you know, Friday night or, or even
20:22
Saturday morning or Saturday, sometime during the day, you
20:25
know, maybe it maybe it started for them on their journey, you
20:30
know, so maybe it wasn't quite as early as others, but it's
20:33
still early and in advance. So it made, it made me think
20:37
about that, you know, like when we approach these pivotal and
20:42
important times of the year, whatever it might be, you know,
20:46
the, the, the ritual starts, the everything starts in advance of,
20:50
you know, when you know, for example, in, in, in the Wiccan
20:54
style of, of things, right? They've it started before we got
20:57
to the circle and they, and they were calling all the corners and
21:02
then doing everything like that, like the, the ritual started
21:05
well in advance before that. And I'm getting noticed that the
21:13
reason probably why I'm having this glitchy slowness issue is,
21:18
is, is due to my camera, which is odd because the camera hasn't
21:22
changed. The camera's always been the
21:23
same, but I might play with it later on guys.
21:25
So again, apologies for the, the, the lag or the slowness
21:31
You're having to kind of watch me talk and, and, and do things
21:38
that are making it kind of glitchy.
21:43
I'll look into it. So anyway, when, when we got
21:49
there, you know, when, when me and, and my bonus kid, Kevin got
21:52
there on, on Friday, You know, we, we had enough time to set up
21:57
our camp. We had enough time to do all
21:59
that before it got dark. And then we were able to feast
22:02
and sharing a meal that was provided by our host and Hostess
22:08
and have a drum circle with people around the fire and, you
22:13
know, learn things about, you know, like I said, the astral
22:18
projection or, or lucid dreaming and, and, and all of that.
22:22
And that was really fun too, because again, I put you in that
22:24
mindset, that headspace. So I'm not going to get too much
22:28
into the, the ceremonial bits or the ritual bits of the, of the
22:31
trip because it was invite only and it was a, it was set aside.
22:36
There were no electronics. There were no, you know, there
22:41
was no way to, for me to really like document anything.
22:44
And I wouldn't because that's not, that's not what it was
22:46
about. It wasn't for me to come back
22:47
and talk about it on a podcast in great detail.
22:51
And it was my very first, you know, so I was, I was learning.
22:53
I was, I was, I was the newbie here because I had nothing to
22:58
really offer in terms of knowledge or or or experience in
23:01
that style of things. I will say though, it was a
23:03
very, very powerful rituals, very powerful ceremony.
23:09
Being in that place I've been to once before under different
23:12
circumstances, but then being there again for this event
23:17
helped with getting more familiar with the land and then
23:23
and getting reacquainted with the spirits of the land who I've
23:26
been acquainted with prior, you know, and, and sort of being
23:29
reintroduced to that energy. And, you know, not unlike being
23:36
involved with other ceremonial practices and, and, and rites
23:40
of, of ceremonial rites of ritual.
23:43
I still had a feeling, I still had a sense of the, the, the
23:48
specialness, the holiness, the, the, yeah, the importance of it
23:56
all. And again, not unlike other
23:59
ceremonies after the fact, you know, I'm still kind of
24:02
reflecting and recovering a bit, you know, you think like being
24:06
in that. So for anybody that's, that's
24:10
maybe still Wiccan listening to this or, or, or was into Wicca
24:15
before, you know, being in that place outside of places and time
24:20
away from time, being put in a mindset, right?
24:26
Being being guided ritually to, to feel like where you are right
24:30
now is not where you were moments ago.
24:33
We've, we've sanctified this place, we've created this.
24:36
The space is sacred. And now that being in sacred
24:38
space means that you are outside of the, the mundane, the profane
24:42
space and time that you're used to.
24:44
So then being brought back and being reintroduced to the, to
24:47
the profane space and time that, that we, that we normally reside
24:51
in, it's like being, you know, reintroduced, reintegrated into,
24:58
into that. And it can take some time even
25:01
for even for folks who have a lots of years of experience, you
25:04
know, maybe it's not as taxing or draining or not as much of A
25:08
shock. But there's definitely, I know
25:10
for myself and, and for others, folks who have, who are really,
25:14
really new to this, who attended, you know, I'm sure
25:16
that they, they are even still feeling it to this day.
25:19
The time of this recording, you know, I mean, it's, it's, it's
25:21
been a whole 24 plus hours since we were there and experiencing
25:26
all these things. And I can even say to this, you
25:28
know, to this point, at the time of me speaking, I feel like I'm
25:32
not 100% fully integrated back into things.
25:36
And I'm sure it comes through on the on the camera.
25:39
You know, I'm, I'm not, I'm not going to lie to when I say that
25:43
I was even debating whether or not I could record tonight, you
25:51
know, just because of where my mind and my heart and all that
25:54
were. And still, you know, at this
25:56
point are. So yeah, I'm sure it's going to
26:00
come through when you are listening and watching to this,
26:03
you know. But I also thought at the same
26:06
time, well, because I'm like that, because I'm feeling that
26:08
way, this is probably the best time to do it, you know, while
26:14
I'm still mentally reeling in from that experience and being
26:19
able to reflect and think about what I learned from it all as a
26:22
even, you know, not going to change what I do to reflect the,
26:25
the, the Wiccan style of doing things.
26:28
But I was given a lot to, to experience and given a lot to
26:31
learn and absorb. And that can definitely
26:34
influence, you know, and inform. So what does it influence and
26:39
what does it inform? Again, I, I, I mentioned earlier
26:42
on in the show, you know, that I would talk a bit about, you
26:45
know, the equinox and, and how that doesn't really have any
26:50
significance to old ways heathens, because our holy days
26:53
aren't on equinoxes and solstices.
26:58
But at the same time, when you do see some folks in the, in the
27:01
newer, also true path or new heathenry way or, or modern
27:05
Heathenry that, that aren't either informed of, of old ways
27:10
sources and, and, and things that inform us of the holy days
27:16
being observed on full moons, not on equinoxes, not on
27:19
solstices and all that. You're, you're going to still
27:22
have some folks, I think that will model their religiosity,
27:27
their, their, their, their practices of, of when to do
27:29
things based off of what they've seen in popular, you know,
27:34
places, right? The, the, the, the Wiccan wheel
27:36
of the year gets used even still to this day in modern awesome
27:40
true practices. So there's no doubt that there's
27:45
going to be some folks that hear this or listen to watch this or
27:48
whatever catch this that are going to be learning something
27:53
new. When I say that, you know, if
27:55
you were one of those that are thinking that, you know, the
27:58
autumn equinox is the time to celebrate house bloat because
28:03
I've seen graphics online pictures of, of that time frame
28:08
on the Wiccan wheel of the year. And then underneath it or beside
28:10
it or above it, whatever is a text that says, you know, house
28:13
bloat. And then you're going to go
28:15
online, you're going to be, oh, what's house bloat?
28:16
And you're going to see, Oh yeah, harvest this and that.
28:19
It's a, it's a bloat for harvest and whatnot.
28:21
And so that must mean that I do my house bloat on the auto
28:24
equinox. OK, again, if that's what you
28:27
want to do and if that's what you're, that's where you're at
28:31
and that that's what makes you happy.
28:32
I mean, that's that's your prerogative.
28:34
I'm not trying to convince you differently or make you think
28:37
that you know you can't do that. All I'm just trying to say is
28:40
that in the old ways, historical heathen way of doing things, old
28:46
ways, I mean pre Christian Germanic heathen practices.
28:51
It's not. There were the house bloat thing
28:54
that you hear made reference to does not coincide with the
28:58
autumnal equinox. House bloat was just simply
29:01
another name that sometimes got used for the bloat that took
29:07
place during the veterinator or winter nights.
29:12
Because it it it, it happens every year at the same on the
29:18
same moon. The, the, the harvest moon, the,
29:20
the, the house monitor, the the moon of the harvest.
29:24
So again, you got to keep up with the lunar cycles and, and
29:29
that's why, you know, old ways Heathenry is, is a lunar solar.
29:32
We have, you know, we kind of observe things in time based on
29:35
a lunar solar calendar, not on the Gregorian fix calendar dates
29:38
that we're kind of all pigeonholed into because of our
29:41
work and our, you know, modern livings.
29:46
But the the winter nights happens usually around the same
29:51
time of year, whether it's, you know, mid to late October, maybe
29:55
sometimes even early November, depending again on the cycle of
29:58
the moons or yeah, cycles of the moon.
30:02
We only have one moon, but the cycles of the moon.
30:06
So, you know, like for instance, this year 2024, the house to
30:12
another the, the the harvest moon is, is going to be the full
30:16
moon will be, I believe it's October, Let's see 17th,
30:23
something like that. So it's going to be, you know,
30:28
mid to end of October this year. And that would be when in the
30:32
old ways, heathen tradition of of observing time.
30:34
That would be when winter started for the Germanic
30:38
peoples, for the Norse peoples, they and the Saxons, even, you
30:43
know, the continental Germanic tribes, they they, they observe
30:46
time in in almost the same way. They just maybe called them
30:50
something different, but they still had that idea.
30:53
The reckoning of time was done based off Luna solar cycles.
31:00
So house bloat to be saying, you know, it's August, it's end of
31:03
August or it's beginning of September.
31:04
It's mid-september. Yes, it's, you know, it's, it's
31:06
heathen house bloat time. No, not in the not in the
31:09
traditional sense. And look, I've been there before
31:12
too. I've, I, I can still count, I
31:14
can still recall time within the, you know, the last six or
31:18
seven years even that I was thinking that yes, we're, we're
31:21
in the time of house bloke now and, and, and, and all that.
31:24
And we still have, you know, about a month, a little bit less
31:30
than a, a, a, a, a month, a moon to go.
31:35
But, but house bloke does not coincide with the autumnal
31:38
equinox. That's its own thing.
31:43
And it's not a traditional old ways dramatic heathen practice.
31:48
OK, now what does the winter nights mean for old ways
31:51
heathens again? It's it's it's when the people
31:54
of the north, the Germanic tribes, Scandinavian tribes,
31:57
whatever they were starting their winter season.
32:01
So winter nights was the onset, the beginning of winter.
32:04
And in some of the, some of the ways winter nights was viewed as
32:13
the, the, the Germanic New year, that's when things kind of
32:18
restarted over again. That was their new year time.
32:22
It wasn't middle of the winter, you know.
32:24
So you know, even though you'll old heathen, old ways heathen,
32:28
you'll might fall around January, you know, mid sometimes
32:33
early January, sometimes mid January, maybe even late January
32:37
or early February, again, depending on the cycles of the
32:42
moon and, and, and where things happen, where things land every
32:46
year, it does not coincide with the beginning of the Gregorian
32:50
calendar, New Year, January 1st. So you have to think of long the
32:55
lines of, of time being observed and reckoned by a lunar, lunar
33:00
solar calendar, observing the ways of the cycles of the moon,
33:05
not as a fixed calendar date like we have now.
33:11
And even those fixed calendar dates, you know, changed from
33:13
from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, which we've
33:16
been using now for however many last, you know, hundreds or
33:19
thousands of years. Well, maybe not thousands of
33:22
years, but you know what I mean. A while, it hasn't changed in a
33:26
while. OK, so there's your kind of
33:30
breakdown of of that. There's, there's going to be
33:32
some, I want to put some sort, you know, things for you to
33:35
check out online source material that you can check out about it
33:40
if you're interested and want to know a bit more about that.
33:46
And yeah, this was, this was just going to be a quick, you
33:48
know, not a very long blog. I didn't, or long blog.
33:52
I said blog podcast, because I didn't have a guest lined up for
33:55
this week. And, and again, just being in
33:58
the, the headspace that I've been reeling coming really
34:00
coming back from, from the weekends activities and doing
34:03
everything. Plus it was, you know, it was,
34:04
it was still warm even though you're up in the mountains, you
34:07
know, it's warm during the day. And then there's all this work
34:10
to be done. And that's what I'll say too,
34:12
is, is, is aside from the, the ceremonial of the ritual parts
34:15
of things, you know, being together with people.
34:19
And again, this was a gathering of, of I'm a heathen.
34:22
You know, I may have been the only heathen there, the only
34:28
practicing heathen there, because everybody else that I'm
34:30
aware of that were there, you know, the the gentleman and his
34:34
wife that that owned the property.
34:36
You know, he's a a man of Icelandic descent.
34:38
His great grandfather was an Icelandic person who too taught
34:41
him, you know, runic divination and stuff of, of their family's
34:45
traditions. So he's aware of of heathen
34:48
practices, at least in the Icelandic style or a family of
34:53
Iceland style of, of Heathenry. But he's also, you know, however
35:00
many years practitioner of, of Wicca, you know, so he's got a
35:05
lot of experience with that. But in terms of, you know, who's
35:07
still doing things that or who's, who's doing anything with
35:10
the, the, the old ways, continental dramatic heathen
35:13
approach to things, I think I might have been the only one
35:15
there. I think everybody else, whether
35:18
they had a title or what they put to their, you know,
35:20
religious views on things, I think we're more leaning into
35:23
the, the Wiccan style of things. But point being is that it was a
35:27
mixed bag of people. It was a mixed gathering of, of
35:30
folks who didn't necessarily align 100% everything with the
35:35
way they were doing things. And we've still able to come
35:36
together, have a great time and be there for one another and
35:40
help with the work. You know, when we, when we
35:42
gathered together, it was a community in that sense.
35:45
And it was like a little mini tribe.
35:47
You know, everybody had a responsibility, everybody had a
35:49
job. You know, there was a person
35:52
the, the, the, the property that we were on is, is, you know,
35:55
when you get to the, to the property, you, you still have to
35:57
go about probably 700 and 5800 feet up the mountain.
36:01
And when I say up the mountain, I mean like gravel, sandy dirt
36:05
Rd. your, your, you know, your, your, your Toyota Camry ain't
36:08
going to make it. You'd need, you know, a four
36:10
wheel drive or really stout, you know, vehicle to to get up to
36:16
get up that hill to where the the the main community space is
36:19
what they call their Tavern. They and and so, you know, you
36:22
had to have somebody that was that was driving like the ATV
36:25
vehicle to to to shuttle people from the bottom of the hill
36:27
where you arrive at up to the to the gathering space to the, to
36:32
the, you know, community Tavern there area, area where the fire
36:36
pit and everything was, where the camping grounds were or are.
36:41
So, you know, you have somebody that that was designated to do
36:43
that or you had that shared responsibility between certain
36:46
people and you had, you know, the folks who were helping with
36:48
the clean up and the folks that were helping with, you know, the
36:52
the cooking. And there wasn't anybody that
36:57
that that came there that that wasn't just sitting on their ass
37:00
not doing anything. Sure, there were times when we
37:03
were were plenty of times sitting around enjoying one
37:06
another's company and just having fellowship with one
37:09
another and sharing company with one another.
37:12
But when there was work to be done, you know, there was an
37:14
area, an idol person around somebody was always doing
37:20
something, picking up trash, you know, getting rid of trash,
37:25
doing dishes, cooking, fixing the fire, you know, making sure
37:30
that we had fire overnight because we are, we're up there
37:32
in the mountains and there were some food items and stuff that,
37:34
you know, you didn't want bears and, and, and other wildlife
37:38
coming around and, and poking around.
37:40
So you had to have, you know, the fire person or persons there
37:43
to make sure that you had a good fire overnight.
37:47
And we did it it, it did. The weather held out, you know,
37:51
even though it was warm during the day, cooled off well enough
37:53
at night to make for comfortable sleeping arrangements.
37:57
Nobody got injured, nobody got hurt.
37:59
I know there was one person there who was, they had like
38:04
walked on a, an Ant hill or something and got bit up by some
38:09
insects and they were there, their feet were swollen and
38:12
everybody was really attentive and making sure that, you know,
38:14
there was nothing of a serious medical nature that needed to be
38:21
addressed. You know, if they needed to be
38:22
shuttled or brought down to seek, you know, medical
38:26
attention at a clinic or something, that there was
38:27
somebody there to do that. And even while they were there
38:30
in their discomfort, in the, you know, the swelling of the bites
38:32
of the insects, whatever happened, you know, that they
38:34
were given some relief. So everybody really came
38:38
together and pulled together to show the that there was love and
38:42
support there. And that, you know, that's
38:44
another great thing to take away from stuff like this is that
38:46
when you, you get the right people together, everybody, you
38:49
know, understood the assignment. They knew that this was a
38:54
holistic sort of thing, you know, and, and when you got
38:57
people together of that mind, it's almost like you don't even
39:00
have to designate things to people.
39:03
You just tell some, you know, you just say this is what needs
39:06
to be done. This is what needs to be done.
39:07
And somebody's going to jump up and say, well, OK, well, I'll
39:10
handle this. I'll do that.
39:11
Or they'll just do it. They'll see what needs to be
39:13
done and they'll do it. And I love stuff like that.
39:18
People I love, I love when I get to be a part of things like that
39:21
and see, you know, grassroots, paganism, grassroots, even the
39:25
grassroots, whatever. When it when it's boots on the
39:26
ground and when people are doing things that really show their
39:29
mettle and really show their worth.
39:32
Those are the types of people that you want in your lives
39:34
because you know, you can only get so far on your own.
39:37
And when you need somebody and when somebody needs you, it's,
39:40
it's this is the type of thing that needs to happen that that
39:43
shows are worth to one another. Otherwise, what else do you have
39:48
to go by? You know, oh, you heard me on a
39:50
podcast talk about it one time. So what, you know, if you never
39:53
met me in person, you never, you never did the work with me or I
39:55
did the work with you and we got a chance to, you know, share in
39:59
that space and time with one another.
40:01
All these words could just, you know, go in one ear and out the
40:06
other. And I'm sure that happens a lot,
40:07
'cause, you know, most of the people that listen and watch
40:10
this this show aren't going to meet me in person.
40:14
So, but I can say that having gone through these experiences
40:20
in person, you know, everybody they have met, I, I back it up
40:25
because I talk about it and I'm not just going to sit behind my
40:28
computer screen with, in front of my glitchy camera right now
40:31
because it doesn't have a high enough FPI or whatever.
40:36
And and, and, and, you know, sit on my proverbial soapbox and,
40:40
and blab about it without doing it.
40:42
So for the folks that do know me and that art that also listen or
40:46
watch this show, you know, you know what I'm about.
40:52
And to the haters, to the people that like to throw shade, you
40:56
know, about stuff that I talked about, especially when it comes
40:59
to things like Fire in the Mountain, which we're going to
41:03
hear a couple of more, you know, sponsors before the end of this
41:05
show when it comes to stuff like that.
41:08
And you know, you want to throw shade or whatever, I, I have no
41:11
time to, to respond to things like that.
41:13
I, you know, you, you, it's fine.
41:17
I don't think what you want to think, believe what you want to
41:20
believe. Get you know, you're starved for
41:24
attention that much to want to, to hate on it.
41:26
Then then again, I ain't got, I ain't got time for that.
41:31
So I guess that's going to be the podcast for this week.
41:36
Again, I know it's a little bit shorter than average, but that's
41:39
all it. That's you know, that's what I
41:40
wanted to do. I wanted to get kind of come
41:42
back here and recall a little bit about the event and just
41:46
share with all of you some of my experiences and my feelings and,
41:49
and how I felt about it. And I would definitely, you
41:53
know, if given the chance and if I was given an invitation to
41:56
come back to another thing. I think they were talking about
41:58
maybe doing something in the springtime, probably for the
42:01
spring equinox. I can't say for sure, but if
42:05
they do invite me and others back of of my tribe, I would
42:10
definitely go back. I would I would definitely want
42:12
to be part of something like that again.
42:15
And we continue to want to do so as long as they're able to to
42:18
host those events. So anyways, guys and gals,
42:21
that's it for the show this week.
42:22
I hope you all enjoyed it. If you did, you know, comment
42:25
down below if you're able to or upvote the podcast wherever
42:28
you're listening to this on. I know most audio platforms have
42:32
the option of, you know, engaging with it in that way.
42:34
You know, you give it a heart, you give it a like you download
42:36
whatever helps with the algorithmic nonsense and and
42:40
keeps the show in circulation. If you are watching this on
42:44
Patreon to my Patreon viewers, thank you so very much for your
42:46
support. Even though for some reason this
42:49
camera that I've been using doesn't like what I'm doing
42:52
here. So I'll probably change my setup
42:55
going forward and do some tests otherwise to, to, to make sure
43:00
that this doesn't happen again in this way.
43:02
So apologies in advance. But anyways, yeah, that'll be,
43:07
that'll be it for this week's episode.
43:08
I hope you all enjoyed it. Engage with in any way that you
43:11
can. And until we hear from each
43:13
other again, may the gods continue to notice you and may
43:17
your ancestors smile upon you. Here's another word from a
43:21
couple of our sponsors for Fire in the Mountain, and we'll talk
43:24
to you guys in the next one. Take care.
43:27
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43:31
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