Walking the Path

Thoughts about the things happening in my life, often with some relation to the Kindreds and how my relationship with them is deepening.

Anniversary of Marriage Ritual

Thom and I are doing a ritual for our anniversary.  Kind of vow renewal/ reaffirmation type thing.  I wrote it so it can be done year after year.  It draws heavily from our original wedding liturgy that I wrote with some help from MJD.  We still have our familial flames and our unity candle (they live on my Ancestors altar) as well as our hand fasting ribbons.  After doing this brief reaffirmation, Thom and I both felt just as drawn together as we did the day of our wedding.  Following is the text:

 

I call out now to Hera, Queen of the Gods,

and to Aphrodite, Goddess of Passion and Love!

 

Hera,

Heavenly Queen, stately, poised, and graceful.

Queen to and Men, Partner to the Thundering Zeus.

Bestower of cool breezes, gentle rains, and clear skies.

You whose presence honors any wedding day,

Whose favor blesses any union,

I sing your praises, and bid you join us here.

Hera, you help to form the bonds of kith and kin.

Joiner of hearts, protector of marriage,

Benefactress of weddings and marital harmony.

Flexible as the Willow, Fierce as the Lion,

Love as bright as the peacock’s feather.

I sing your praises and bid you join us here.

 

Aphrodite,

Foam born, sweet and gentle,

Shaper of passions as you guide us to the bridal bed,

Spinning hearts together like the finest silk.

You who watch with honest love, O Great Goddess,

As we pledge ourselves to one another.

I sing your praises and bid you join us here.

Aphrodite, you turn the hearts of men and women towards love,

Kindle in us the deepest desire.

Laughter-loving goddess, enflaming our union,

With you our breath quickens, our hearts pound.

Brightest gold shines with your kiss on our lips.

Bountiful and Beautiful,

I sing your praises and bid you join us here.

 

We come back together now, just as we did in 2011, to rededicate ourselves to each other.  Where before we chose our own path based on our own feelings and desires, we made a conscious choice to decide now as one where our life and our path shall lead, and today, as we made that decision ___ years ago, we again choose to continue together down the same path.

 

Jan and Thom each light their familial fire.  They each speak together:

I vow to you, my love and partner, to be honest and understanding, compassionate and loving, supportive and helpful, even as I ask these things of you.  May this fire burn brightly in you as it does in me.

 

Jan and Thom light their unity flame, speaking together:

As the flames of our family merge, so are our heart once again bound as one.  We come together again after another year.  We are Jan and Thom Avende.  The roots of our love are deep and strong, the branches of our love are lush and ever blossoming, and our trunk stands steady to support us through the good and bad.

 

Now we seek to remember the gifts bestowed on us on our wedding day to help nourish our relationship, and deepen our love:

 

Jan and Thom alternate speaking:

  • I speak of the rain on the earth and the sun in the heavens; the fertility of the world brings us both new growth.
  • I speak of the guest arriving at the door, and the host who invites him in; the bread broken in hospitality sustains us both.
  • I speak of the calm in the storm and the silence of the night; in moderation will we find each other’s heart.
  • I speak of the strength of one that is now the other’s, and the drive to rise above; together, our perseverance draws us to new heights.
  • I speak of the fear we overcome in each other’s arms, and of the joy that rings in our embrace; let the song that arises in our heart sing of our courage.
  • I speak of the vows we have spoken in presence of family and friends; maintain the integrity of our word and find the world strengthened in our love.
  • I speak of the order we find in one another, and the actions that maintain it; with wisdom, we will know and do what is right by the other.
  • I speak of the far sight, shared now between the two of us forever; may we each see the same bright vision reflected in the other’s eyes.

 

Jan and Thom speak together:

We speak of the fire that never hungers, the well that ever shimmers, and the *ghosti that binds all relationships; feed each other’s spirit, honor the Gods, and live long in piety.

 

By the waters that support and surround us, by the sky that stretches out above us, and by the land that extends out about us does this union continue. May the fire that burns at the center of all things burn as one within our hearts for all our days.

Initiate Intention Letter

1.     What draws you to the path of Initiation within ADF?
When I completed my DP I knew I was going to want to progress further, I just didn’t know in what way.  I started the GSP because the courses interested me, and would need to be completed for some of the Guild Study Programs I’m interested in, and along the way have found more and more that I want to delve deeper into my studies, my relationship with the Kindreds, and myself.  I have felt the urge to walk further down the path and continue further in my journey in the study and practice of worshiping in the Old Ways.  I never thought I would be a deeply religious person, but with each step further I take on the path, the further I feel myself drawn onwards, and I think the way of the Initiate is how I want to focus my training.
As I grow deeper within myself I want to be in a place where I can explain and guide others.  As an Initiate I want to be able to be a mentor to those also walking the path.  I want the training to be able to answer questions and be better able to guide the Folk.  I want to explore the liminal spaces that surround the work we do when we connect to the Kindreds.  I want to explore the different ways of doing magical and trance work, and experiment with new ways to find what works for me and what doesn’t in a framework that provides training as a baseline for that experimentation.  I want to be a part of work that is being done to strengthen our bonds with the Kindreds, strengthen our power in magical aspects, and strengthen the ties that bind ADF and all of it’s congregants together.
2.     What does being an Initiate mean to you?
I am hoping that walking this path will teach me what it is to be an Initiate.  It’s hard to say what I think it is now, but I see myself exploring the boundaries and focusing on the liminal aspects of Our Own Druidry.
In a group setting, I see an Initiate as a person who uses their training and focus to guide the folk on journeys.  They are someone who has the experience, willpower, and training necessary to safely and effective walk between the worlds and guide others in and out.  They can do magic on behalf of the Folk, and serve as a guide or voice in trance or divinatory work.
In relation to the Clergy, I think the Initiate can help serve the Folk in ways the Clergy may find difficult.  For instance, an Initiate may be more approachable in some situations or more freely able to meet a person on their level, or in a place that they find comfortable. They may also have more of an ability to travel and perform works of magic for the Folk, as they need.  These would be more than the celebratory rites and High Days and would be more focused on a task. As ADF grows as an organization I believe the Initiate will have more flexibility to be available to the Folk.  The Initiate would also be equipped with training similar to the Clergy, so in ritual would be a valuable tool that the Clergy could direct with confidence to complete magical workings on behalf of the Folk gathered.
As an individual, I see the Initiate as someone who is constantly striving to find a deeper connection with the Kindreds.  They are someone who is constantly forcing themselves to reexamine their own self and perceptions, as well as someone who is experimenting with ways to interact with the Kindreds.  They use their experience, knowledge, and devotion to gather around them powers that help them further the deeper work of magic and trance, allowing them to further their own practice and hopefully be able to apply that gained knowledge to eventually aid the Folk.
3.     What services do you hope to provide to your community with this training?
I want to be able to be a mentor to the Folk.  I see myself being someone that a person can come to for guidance and advice on a spiritual level or a more personal level.  Teaching is where my strengths lie, and I see that continuing and being adapted to the role of mentoring, counseling, and guidance. Beyond the ability to converse with people comfortably, I could see it taking the form of trance work combined with divination or other magical tasks, as well as helping others find where their own paths will take them.  When others find where their paths will take them, they can then begin applying knowledge and skills they have hopefully in turn learned from me.
I’m also very interested in the liminal spaces of devotion, ritual, and magic, specifically rites of passage.  Helping someone transition from one place in society to another.  I’m interested in the whole process taking them out of society, completing work that helps them transition, and then reintroducing them to society again in their new role.   In this transition I hope to help people learn more about and reflect on themselves in a deeper way.  I think this will be very important as ADF becomes a multi-generational organization.  We’re going to start having more and more children growing up as pagans, and I think Coming of Age rites will be needed in addition to any other training we can give our children.  I want to be a part of this progression.

Hellenic Kin Quilt Square

I made the quilt square for the Hellenic Kin for the Artisan’s Guild Quilt project. I had the idea for the square, it just took me awhile to actually sketch out what I specifically wanted. Then I had to figure out how to get the sketch onto some fabric (Thank you gel pens!)  The design is a white owl in the center (it’s actually sketched off a barn owl), with acorns and oaks leaves in the corners.  Then there is the Kins name in English (White Owls Kin) and in Greek (Oi Asproi Koukouvayies), which actually translates to The Owl Kin.  The Fabric is cotton duck, and the design is done in puffy paints (brushed on) that are all metallic colors. I hope the Hellenes approve 😀

And some details shots.  First a close up look at the owl:

And then a slightly better look at the finished square:

All hail the Muses!

Genesios

On the 5th day of the month of Boedromion Genesios is celebrated. It is a feast to honor the dead, the ancestors. Originally the plan was to celebrate this feast with the Delos, but since moving it’s been difficult to drive up to Columbus as often as I’d like. So Thom and I decided to celebrate here at home. He’s been a real sport with the Hellenic rites, since I know he doesn’t feel much from the Olympian Gods; he’s much more in tune with the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Tonight Thom and I did our first Core Order of Ritual by ourselves. It was very brief in and of itself. I asked Hermes to be the gate keeper since he can function as the guide of souls. I don’t usually work with him, though I have felt a relationship just beginning to bud recently. The omens I took asked for advice from the Ancestors. I pulled Xi, Khi, and Iota. I interpreted it to mean that the Ancestors were reminding us that in order to succeed we must put in the work. We need to plan and labor, but we will have great success if we do. One of the reasons our rite itself was so short was because in feasting with our Ancestors, we wanted to go back downstairs, so we breezed through the main part of the rite. I think my phrasing was something like “Ancestors, we’re here to honor you tonight, to socialize and tell stories, and to introduce you to another member of the family, however, we don’t want to burn the house down, so we’re gonna tie up this portion of the ritual and we’ll meet you downstairs for food and alcohol.” It was kind of silly feeling, but also seemed like the smart thing to do, and the family didn’t seem to mind.

The plan that Thom and I had was to each pick an ancestor and tell a story about them, and then introduce them to the other. We ended up telling stories for nearly an hour and sharing in the memories and good company. It was a lot more emotional that I was expecting, though I think I should have expected it. I offered ice cream to my grandpa, and Thom offered beer to his. We each met some of the other side of our new family, and learned some things about one another that we didn’t know before.

I definitely want to keep doing rites at home with Thom. Though we occasionally frustrate each other in these situations, it is also very bonding and healing. I think I would like having some time set aside for us where we can continue to visit with our Ancestors, and begin the process of introductions and co-mingling. All in all, the rite went well, and I’d do it again.

Offerings

In preparation for Our Little Delos Noumenia rite I’ve been reading up on the types of offerings given to the gods. I want to try making offering cakes. They’re a type of honey cake with ingredients that are commonly offered tot he gods, such as barley, wheat, milk, and honey. I want to make an attempt at making them, though they’ll have to wait to make them with all the grain ingredients because I’m not sure where to acquire whole wheat and barley flour. I called Fairborn Natural Foods (937-878-7649) at 146 N. Broad St. and talked to a really nice lady there. She just put in an order for me for barley flour, and said she’ll call me when it comes in. That’s so exciting. This is the recipe I would like to start with, though after I make it once it may get modified:

  • 1 1/2 c. spelt or whole wheat flour
  • 1 c. barley flour
  • 1/4 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 c. milk (goat’s milk or buttermilk may also be used)
  • 1/4 c. honey
  • Optional flavoring: 1 tbsp. rose water or 1 tsp. vanilla, almond, or lemon extract
  • Optional additions: sesame, poppy, or sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 350 F. and lightly oil a cookie sheet. In a large mixing bowl, sift together flours and baking powder. In a smaller bowl, mix one egg, milk, honey, and any flavorings until smooth. Add to the flour mixture and knead into a firm dough, adding more flour as necessary. Form cakes by hand, or roll out and cut into shapes. Place on cookie sheet. Lightly beat the remaining egg and brush the tops of the cakes with it. Sprinkle with seeds if desired. Bake 15-20 minutes for small cakes and 25-30 for large ones, or until done. Makes 2 small or 4 large cakes.

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For this Noumenia I think I will be making just simple honey cakes with the flour I’ve got, using this recipe:
For the cake:

  • 4 cups sifted flour
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 T caster sugar
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • pinch salt
  • 1 egg white

For the topping:

  • 1 cup honey (heather)
  • 3 T ground almonds

Rub the butter into the flour, and gently heat the sugar and honey until it is well mixed, then stir in the baking powder. Add this to the flour mixture, alternately with the egg yolks beaten with the milk. Mix very well, and finally add the salt and mix again. Roll out on a floured board very lightly and cut into rounds or shapes. Put on a greased baking sheet and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees F) for about 20 minutes. Remove to a rack, paint the tops with lightly beaten egg white, and spread over the thick honey mixed with the ground almonds. Put in a very cool oven for no longer than 5 minutes to set. Eat either hot or cold. An alternative method is to serve these light little cakes hot from the oven with warm, melted heather honey poured over. Makes approx. 24 cakes.

Harvesting the Garden

Today I weeded, watered, and harvested my mini-garden.  It’s getting close to time that I’m going to need to start repotting some of my plants and either taking them with me or finding them new homes.  My basil had bolted, so I had a lot of flowers to cut off of it in order to encourage more leaf growth.  Basil certainly likes to flower.  If I leave it alone for a few days it’s gets far too excitable to start reproducing :).  The mint in the far corner also started flowering like mad.  It’s strange: there were flies perched all over the flowers.  I cut the flowers off, so hopefully that will take care of that problem.  I also trimmed some of my chives and used them to make tasty pasta for dinner.  Yummy!  The final discovery for today was that my fennel had finally seeded.  I’d let my fennel flower and go to seed and today I noticed that the seeds are finally ready to take off the plant.  Yay!  So now I have seeds for cooking, gifting, and planting next year :).

The Vila

Felt a draw to the Vila.  I don’t often feel a connection to any gods out of the Hellenic pantheon.  Some quick info on her:

Samovila:

Slavic Goddess of the woods who is the fierce protector of all animals. She has the ability to shapeshift into a falcon, horse, snake, swan or a whirlwind and would not hesitate to cause harm to anyone who threatens her creatures. She lives deep in the woods and has great knowledge of plant medicine.

Eastern European Goddess who lived deep in the woods and was a great protector of animals. If anyone harmed any of her creatures, they could be lured into a magical circle and danced to death, or perhaps caught in a landslide or drowned in a river. As a shape shifter, she could be a falcon, swan, snake, horse or whirlwind. She might agree to teach a human her skills if the proper ceremony were performed in the woods on a full moon Sunday before sunrise.

[Vila+-+Shape+Shifting.jpg]

The Vila:

I dance from form to form

I shift from shape to shape

ever changing

ever expanding

ever becoming

I am flexibility

for by changing my form

I freely flow with all that comes my way

I am consciousness

for by shifting my shape

I gain an expanded awareness of what it is to BE

I waltz a whirlwind

tango a tree

salsa a swan

or just plain fox-trot

My dance is an affinity with All

for I am able to become All in order to know All

Becoming All dissolves form

Knowing All creates Oneness

The illusion is that you have a separate shape

Vila (pronounced vee’lah) is the eastern European name for the Goddess energy moving through the earth as nature. Vily (plural) are very protective of their terrain and use their arrows of death on those who trespass. They are consummate shape-shifters, able to change into animals such as snakes, swans, falcons, and horses. They love to play and dance. If contacted in the forest on a moonlit night, they might grant health, wealth, abundant crops or they might, if shown disrespect, dance the offender to death.

Greek Alphabet Oracle

I’m starting to learn about the Greek Alphabet Oracle, and as such am trying to learn the meanings associated with each letter of the Greek alphabet.  I got the information on the oracle here.  What I tried to do was take the meaning of each letter and write it in a  phrase that began with that letter or sound.  This is what each of the Greek phrases did, so “translating” it has been slightly more difficult.  I would eventually like to turn this into a song of some sort for a better mnemonic device.  I’m using the dice method right now until I can make my own set of “Greek Runes” and plan to take an omen each day.

Alpha

  • All you do is successful

Beta

  • Because you asked for help

Gamma

  • Gaia gave you the fruits of your labors

Delta

  • Deciding how to act and when strength is necessary

Epsilon

  • Eager to see the results of union

Zeta

  • Zeus causes the storm: flee before his anger

Eta

  • Every word you speak, Helios knows the truth

Theta

  • Throughout your journey, you will have the gods help.

Iota

  • If you lose all else, your hard work remains

Kappa

  • Keep on enduring the inevitable with courage.

Lambda

  • Learn that blessings come from the most unsuspecting places

Mu

  • Much good will come through labor and toil.

Nu

  • Notice when strife has come, for it is a sign.

Xi

  • Expectations should be rational

Omicron

  • Only what you plant will yield a harvest

Pi

  • Perseverance through adversity will win many battles.

Rho

  • Remain a short while and you will proceed more easily.

Sigma

  • Stay and hold your ground

Tau

  • Travelers must eventually part ways.

Upsilon

  • Understand whether you should seek a noble quest, or whether your quest is being hindered.

Phi

  • Fate is yours alone – take responsibility for it and do not blame the Gods.

Khi

  • Completion of your goals is excellent

Psi

  • Suitable judgment has been passed down by the Gods.

Omega

  • Onerous times await you.

Why the Dedicant Path?

I’ve been attending rites with Three Cranes Grove for about five years now, though I’ve only been in ADF for about a year.  I had continually put off joining ADF and the Grove for so long ultimately because I was scared of my intransient state.  I was a college student and shuttling between Cincinnati and Columbus, having no idea where I would ultimately end up, and not wanting to make connections with people who I was afraid I would then break away from and lose.  It is a little ironic then that I finally decided to join ADF and Three Cranes near the end of my college career, when I knew for certain that I’d be leaving the Columbus area.

I had realized that ultimately the reason I was putting off kinship with like-minds and fighting a connection with the Kindreds was due to fear, and having put a face on the obstacle, I now knew what it was I needed to overcome.  So I joined Three Cranes Grove and ADF and have since been working taking my relationship with my grove mates and the Kindreds one day at a time.  I’m trying not to worry about losing those who I’ve grown close to, and each day I can put off that worry and just continue to tend my relationship makes me feel a bit closer and more secure that I actually won’t lose that connection.

The Dedicant Path appealed to me as soon as I learned of it, but I once again ran into similar troubles.  I didn’t have the time to devote to getting it all done at once, and so didn’t feel as though I could start it due to fear I’d never finish, or would disappoint someone.  Starting this path begins as I am, for the first time in my life, out of schooling and the scholarly world.  I now have the time to complete the Dedicant Path, but the doubts of my own ability and dedication have only seemed to grow. Surprising however, as those doubts have grown so has a realization that I will run into obstacles as I walk this path.  I have come to appreciate and am gradually accepting that those roadblocks are not necessarily obstacles to the path, but rather a part of the path itself.

I expect that this course of study is merely a step on my path as a spiritual being, but in itself I feel it is an important track for me to follow.  It provides a structure for me to learn and grow.  Just as a young sapling may need a stake to help guide and protect it in its early developmental stages, so do I find the Dedicant’s Path beneficial.  However, within the same metaphor, every moment that a sapling is staked without need limits its movement and growth, depriving the tree of vitality and life.  So while support is necessary at times, it becomes dangerous to rely on that support once it has served its purpose.  I think this will become more important for me to keep in mind the further along this path I get.  I fear I may become to dependent on meeting the requirements and following the exact structure of every suggestion to the letter, depriving myself of the organic nature of belief.

It is with this fear that I’ll lose myself in the requirements and the hope that I won’t that I am willing to admit I’m not sure what exactly I’ll learn by following this path.  Sure I could rattle off the specifics I’ll learn about the virtues and the knowledge I’ll gain from reading books about the origins of Druidry and my Hearth Culture, but that doesn’t explain or predict how I’ll grow and change as I internalize and make these understandings my own.  I would like to use the specific and fact based knowledge that I’ll gain to build an envisionment of my own personal practice.  Simply taking the requirements will not provide much real understanding, and so I hope to take what I learn and apply it in a way that is meaningful to me, and in a way that I can pass down to future generations.

I do not know what direction this path will take me, but I do know it is one I must follow, however long it takes, and whatever obstacles appear in my way.  It seems daunting right now when I look at it as a whole, but broken down into pieces it seems much more manageable.  One of the hardest things will be balancing my desire to sidetrack and delve deeper into certain aspects and areas with a need to refocus on the bigger picture of the Dedicants Path and be sure I’m completing the requirements, specifically making sure that I’m not avoiding them out of fear.

The requirements that seem to the hardest right now are the meditation journal/essay due to the period of time it covers.  I have a hard time setting and maintaining long-term goals, so it seems daunting to begin with.  The other someone difficult sounding requirement will be the book reviews, partially because I’m not sure what is expected in the writing, and partially due simply to the amount and type of reading.  The book on hearth cultures I’m not concerned with because I have specific interest to pull me along, but the other two required books will take some time to delve into, read and understand, and the process and write about.

The other requirements seem easier to me because they are of a more personal nature, relating to beliefs I have and will form, and experience or thoughts that I have.  Writing personal narrative essays and creatively has always been easier for me to process and start than researched writing has been.