Universal Great Spirit

week 42

Universal Great Spirit

Why is the great world spirit always referred to as a man? God is a Him. Allah is a Him. Jehovah.. Buddha... Grandfather Great Spirit is a Him. The male is the dominant fatherly spirit, whereas we refer to Mother Earth, Gaia and other nurturing spirits as She. Women have a duality, reflected in for example, Demeter - nurturing and mourning mother. Gives life and takes life in destruction whilst mourning the loss of her daughter Persphonie. It's an interesting way to look at things and it's deep rooted in most cultures, throughout recorded history. I don't know enough to really go in to it, it was a random thought, that found it's way through my fingers as I typed.

My mum gave me the book Black Elk speaks, which I thought was one of those automatic writing accounts from a Native American.  It wasn't. It's a book compiled by a journalist and published in 1932, who spoke with the holy man towards the end of his life. He recounts his memories as a young man living with his tribe, the changes with the forced locations to reservations and the brutal treatment given to them by the American government as their lands were stolen right from under them.  Mostly he talks about his journeying in to the spirit realms and how he became a great leader among his people.  It's not a how-to book, it's a biography, one which I highly recommend. You can read each chapter online via the First People website.

The True Peace
"The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Taka (the Great Spirit), and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.

This is the real peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between two individuals, and the third is that which is made between two nations. But above all you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is known that true peace, which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men."

Black Elk - Oglala Sioux


Earth Prayer
Grandfather, Great Spirit, once more behold me on earth and lean to hear my feeble voice. You lived first, and you are older than all need, older than all prayer. All things belong to you -- the two-legged, the four-legged, the wings of the air, and all green things that live.

"You have set the powers of the four quarters of the earth to cross each other. You have made me cross the good road and road of difficulties, and where they cross, the place is holy. Day in, day out, forevermore, you are the life of things."

Hey! Lean to hear my feeble voice.
At the center of the sacred hoop
You have said that I should make the tree to bloom.
With tears running, O Great Spirit, my Grandfather,
With running eyes I must say
The tree has never bloomed
Here I stand, and the tree is withered.
Again, I recall the great vision you gave me.
It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives.
Nourish it then
That it may leaf
And bloom
And fill with singing birds!
Hear me, that the people may once again
Find the good road
And the shielding tree.

" I think I have told you, but if I have not, you must have understood, that a man who has a vision is not able to use the power of it until after he has performed the vision on earth for the people to see... It was even then only after the heyoka ceremony, in which I performed my dog vision, that I had the power to practice as a medicine man, curing sick people; and many I cured with the power that came through me. Of course it was not I who cured. It was the power from the outer world, and the visions and ceremonies had only made me like a hole through which the power could come to the two-leggeds. If I thought that I was doing it myself, the hole would close up and no power could come through. Then everything I could do would be foolish..."

Revealing this, they walk.
A sacred herb -- revealing it, they walk.
Revealing this, they walk.
The sacred life of bison -- revealing it, they walk.
Revealing this, they walk.
A sacred eagle feather -- revealing it, they walk.
Revealing this, they walk.
The eagle and the bison -- like relatives they walk.

"The Six Grandfathers have placed in this world many things, all of which should be happy. Every little thing is sent for something, and in that thing there should be happiness and the power to make happy. Like the grasses showing tender faces to each other, thus we should do, for this was the wish of the Grandfathers of the World."

Black Elk - Oglala Sioux

It would appear that there are many cultures who do believe in a great spirit, a creator, a Universal being that resides at the centre of the Universe and in our hearts and minds.  Isn't it strange that so many peoples, have the same idea? And that idea is personified in male human form. I wrote in one of my first blogs about the All. About our connection to the Universe and standing there and feeling it in the world around us.  Those are hard feelings to put in to words and I'm not sure I can succeed in doing so. Besides, those would be my feelings about my perception of the Universe. It's different for each person.  Instead, I shall leave you with some inspirational images.

Remember my Truth and Trust blog. Don't be one of those people who tell others their path is wrong.

We are only here for a blink of an eye. Live. Laugh. Love.

Universal thinking

week 41

Universal thinking

Great. Looks like U has the same about of options as J - meh! Oh what to write... well I looked up 'universe spirituality' on Google and found this. Whilst it's on a Jewish forum, the thoughts by one of the greatest minds this world has ever known, is quite interesting, so I shall cheat and leave you with his thoughts.

Albert Einstein Quotes on Spirituality

1. I want to know how God created this world. I am not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts; the rest are details.
2. Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.
3. My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.
4. The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge.
5. Every one who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe-a spirit vastly superior to that of man, and one in the face of which we with our modest powers must feel humble.
6. The scientists’ religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection.
7. There is no logical way to the discovery of elemental laws. There is only the way of intuition, which is helped by a feeling for the order lying behind the appearance.
8. The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
9. The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious; It is the source of all true art and science.
10. We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality.
11. Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the Gods.
12. When the solution is simple, God is answering.
13. God does not play dice with the universe.
14. God is subtle but he is not malicious.
15. A human being is a part of the whole, called by us Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest-a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty.
16. Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.
17. The man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost disqualified for life.
18. Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
19. Only a life lived for others is a life worth while.
20. The human mind is not capable of grasping the Universe. We are like a little child entering a huge library. The walls are covered to the ceilings with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written these books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. But the child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books—-a mysterious order which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects.
21. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.
22. What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism.
23. The finest emotion of which we are capable is the mystic emotion. Herein lies the germ of all art and all true science. Anyone to whom this feeling is alien, who is no longer capable of wonderment and lives in a state of fear is a dead man. To know that what is impenetrable for us really exists and manifests itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, whose gross forms alone are intelligible to our poor faculties - this knowledge, this feeling ... that is the core of the true religious sentiment. In this sense, and in this sense alone, I rank myself among profoundly religious men.
24. The real problem is in the hearts and minds of men. It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.
25. True religion is real living; living with all one’s soul, with all one’s goodness and righteousness.
26. Intelligence makes clear to us the interrelationship of means and ends. But mere thinking cannot give us a sense of the ultimate and fundamental ends. To make clear these fundamental ends and valuations and to set them fast in the emotional life of the individual, seems to me precisely the most important function which religion has to form in the social life of man.

Truth and Trust

Week 40

TRUTH & TRUST

Two very important things in this world, both once broken, can never be reclaimed.  A lot of pagans have this deep seated belief in being honourable, drawing from the romantic notions 'ye olde time's of chivalry etc.  Regardless of whether those old stories are true or not, there is no harm in implementing this ideal into your life.

What is truth though?  Truth is open to each person's own perception and three people could see it three different ways. We all have our own personal truth too.  But thinking in the terms of telling the truth, one of my biggest hates are liars.  Yes, there's having your own opinion on something, your own perception of events and then there's lying your arse off about it, in spite of the facts in front of you.  This all seems to follow on from my Stonehenge and Trolling blogs.... maybe I'm not done with my soapbox just yet lol.  I like to see things from all angles and gain other's perceptions where possible, to try and work out why they think and say as they do.

I swore an Oath for Truth, Honour and Justice. That Oath means something to me, it may been jack to you and others but to me, it's important.  I abhor liars, I do not mean those little white lies that save face or feelings but the big fat black lies that destroy.  My dad always said, you need to have a good memory to be a good liar. Forgetting the story you've woven, will unravel you.  People always find out the Truth in the end and then the Trust is broken.

"A lie is halfway around the world, before the truth has got it's boots on." - Terry Pratchett

Trust. You see all those Facebook memes about breaking trust and people share the shit out of that. Take the ones below.  Such a simple analogy but so very true.

There is nothing wrong with being too trusting. How can seeing the best in people, be bad?! It's not. As I say to many people as they are crying about how they were stupid to trust a person who'd betrayed them - "It's not you that's flawed, it's them. What did you do wrong other than believe in them as a decent person? Them doing this, shows them for what they really are, so the onus is on THEM, not YOU."  And I am not talking about being a gullible fool. Life is painful at times and one of the lessons you continue to learn throughout your whole life, is to deal with trust. There will always be someone in your life you love and trust, who then betrays you in some way. If you surround yourself with good people, it will still happen. 

The pagan world is a bitchy place. I think I have demonstrated how brutal it can be. They never forgive, they certainly never forget and the lies keep coming from the mouths of those who have long forgotten how to have beautiful eyes, lips and poise.  Their poison, poisons others. If you surround yourself with poison, you end up absorbing it too.  Crocodile smiles and knives in the back... be aware, protect yourselves, don't drink from the poison cup.  Know your truth, trust to a degree and SEE the world for it truly is.  Do not be afraid to walk away from a toxic group... even if they follow you and continue to attack you.  It is a true reflection of who they really are. That is what is meant by rising above it.  You do not need their validation to be a good person. You do not need to justify and defend yourself against these people. Who are they to make such demands?  No one of significance.

Toxic people are afraid of others knowing their own Truth i.e those who won't be herded into the poison pens like sheep.  In our pagan world, these toxic people are found preaching their 'knowledge' from behind a keyboard - playgan keyboard warriors.  Full of their own self importance, titles, bits of paper saying they are a member of this club or that.  Braggers and haters.  Poison, toxic people who want to influence your opinions, to gather you to them.  Robbing you of your own mind, your own truth, whilst under the illusion, the glamour, of 'friendship' and trust. Which is why it's always such a shock when they turn on you. You think they are your friends but you were more their friend, than they were to you. Having read through all those old messages for my Trolling blog, I saw me asking several times, what I'd done wrong, how I'd upset that person, how could I make it right... I hadn't done anything wrong, I could never make it right to them because they were not my friend, I was useful to them and then ceased to be, so was caste off. That's not friendship. There was no respect for me and you know, these people were those I looked up to as I started along my path, looking for guidance.

They taught me how be a better person, by not being anything like them.

I could easily tell you what people they were in my life but that wouldn't be right. It would make me as bad as them telling you who you can and cannot be friends with.  Don't listen to the rumours, those are always false in our world, instead listen to your gut - it's rarely wrong.  A decent person in the craft, won't need to tell you that they are High Priest/ess of XYZ order with a XYZ degree in whatever.... they won't need to brag or hide behind titles.  Why the need to try and impress you? Because they want to suck you in to their group, false friendship and control you.  I've seen it time and time again, in many different groups without our community.  Avebury, as much as I love the place, is a vipers nest. Tread carefully as you do with avoiding the sheep shit...

Know your Truth. Trust with a happy heart. That is my perception on it, thanks for reading. x

If you are so toxic, so full of poison, you absolutely believe the poison you spew is the Truth. There is no antidote - other than removing the toxic persons from your life - or a baseball bat in their face ;) lol

Trolls

Week 39

TROLLS

Keyboard warriors, trolls, cyber pagans... I just like to call them a waste of space. Actually what I call them usually a four letter word.  In the UK, there are plans to bring in new laws about punishing trolls.  This has been met with cries of 'we're loosing our free speech' to 'thank fuck for that!'

Ever been on the receiving end of a troll?  It's bullying. It's hard to fight back when every where you go online, you are followed by your bullies and then bullied more.  Walk away, I was always told. Yeah, that's in real life, on the internet, people don't let you.  They find other bullies to join in and attack you.  You leave the forum/group and guess what... yep, they find out what group you're in and join that with a new name and bully you there too.

I have folders on my computer called 'facebook' - this contains screenshots of the REALLY bad things that have been posted.  I found some forum posts from nearly 10 years ago too.  It's a bit sad that I have to have a folder with this shit in but necessary.  The one I have for Warband trolls is huge. Currently we have a group of so-called druids who's group was created for the sole purpose of slagging Arthur and the Warband off.  Doesn't matter that they don't know us, they hate and therefore we are fair game to them. I have read some truly dreadful things on there in the last month - the latest one is accusing one of us of being a known peadophile - oh but they didn't name that person, oh no, they know how to cover their arses.

Trolls are to be found on the internet. It doesn't matter what community you're in WoW, pagan, biker, mum forums, pet forums, religious... all of them, suffer from trolls. People that go in to deliberately stir shit up, just for kicks.  I think the pagan trolls are the worse though.  In the days of forums, they could make up a name and hide behind it. Facebook makes you use your real name now but there's a fair few out there that have names like PhoenixWillowMoon etc etc.  These people go to our sacred places, they join in the rituals, they make friends with everyone. You think 'yeah, that person's really nice'.  Then they fall out with you over something, most of the time you don't know why because they never said and then make it their life's work to destroy you.  The internet facilitates this. People are all too ready to believe the worst in people. They join in. They end up hating you too and they've never met you, know nothing about you, except the lies that the troll has told them.

This is why I keep a folder. This is why I take screenshots. When lies are told about me or my friends, I will share this proof.  I hate liars. Some times, a person will come along who warrants special attention.  I don't like arguing, I'm good at it but I really just want a quiet life. I'd rather just leave a group than get in a keyboard battle with some prick.  Last month, someone who had been a friend, went from friend to hater in about 48 hours. No warning. No idea why. So I let them get on with it, didn't post it online what had happened and just left it.  You know how your mum said that bullies want to invoke a reaction, that's why they push and poke at you?  Well walking away doesn't work with these people.  When you walk away and don't respond they then get mad and can't help themselves by then posting up loads of shit about you.  I read what they said. I fumed. I couldn't respond directly as they'd blocked me, so I created a website (explicit language) dedicated to debunking the lies being told.  It was very satisfying getting all the screenshots together, posting up her past words and then comparing them to her new ones.  She showed herself up as a liar.  I'm sure the little nest of liars and vile haters can see right through her and it's plain that they are using her for info.

And what a vipers nest it is. You've never read such hateful words. All unfounded, all unwarranted, all untrue.  Naming people, making accusations in writing is called libel. Do you know what else these saddos do for kicks? They go on YouTube and find any post that has Arthur in and leave nasty comments.  Amazon book reviews, photographs on people's Facebook... you name it. I've had to disable comments on my channel because of that person. That's how dedicated they are with their hatred.  I do not see the point in wasting all that energy. Why create several groups up for the sole purpose of hating on our little group? Why bully and threaten people so they leave our little group?  Oh you'll love this one, there's a group called Pagans against bullying and harassment on Facebook - guess who admins it? Yep, one of the biggest bullies out there! Always playing the victim too.  This is a person who took a Family Guy quote and then called the police on that person saying it was a death threat. When the police investigated and found no fault, the person apologised and was that good enough? No, they then went on to put a complaint in against the police and that person's employer trying to get them the sack.  None of it worked but there was months of this shit... and that's only a fraction of what this 'victim' has done... and she's admin on that group. Irony is a bitch but not as big a bitch as that bloody woman.  One of my favourites was how she emailed everyone on the CoBDO mailing list telling them about what nasty things I had done to her... thing is, she wasn't even in CoBDO and no one on that list had any involvement in anything. She did it for attention. Four years later, at any time she can, she refers to it.  The really funny thing is, my best friend was on that mailing list somehow - she had no connections with anyone at all, she had taken her name off an email I'd forwarded her ages ago when we were friends.  Now that's some proper old fashioned vim!

The thing is, that's very difficult not to get caught up in it. You end being sucked into a cycle of defending yourself and then in turn attacking right back.  Having just read through all these emails etc from the last few years, none of it has gone away. They were inactive for a short time and then pop back up.  You offer the olive branch and they say no and they say it's because of something that never happened.  They spend ages slagging someone off, then leave your group and go to the people they've been slagging off for ages.  It's no wonder people don't want to get involved...

Stonehenge

Week 38

STONEHENGE

Probably the most famous ancient monument in the world. Older than the mighty pyramids in Egypt, older than Christ and a constant source of debate in all quarters.  You all know what Stonehenge is, you most likely have a good idea of the many many theories of who built it and why.  Fact is, no one really knows.  The theories range from it being a giant clock, to a UFO landing site. It is said to have been built by the druids but it pre-dates what we know as druids.  It was built by the people and there is great evidence to suggest it was used as a place for feasting by people who travelled hundreds of miles to be there.  I'm am sure you can find out lots of information on Stonehenge on the countless websites and books dedicated to it.  I'm no expert, I have my own thoughts on it which I will share with you.   What I will discuss with you in the blog is the people who are drawn to Stonehenge in our time now.  These are my own personal observations and experiences from the last decade.  It's all about perspective, my experiences aren't your experiences.

FREAKS

I don't know what it is about Stonehenge but by gods it attracts some right freaks!  As you may be aware, I am a member of the Loyal Arthurian Warband and I'm friends with Arthur Pendragon. You'd think being friends with someone who claims to be the current incarnation of King Arthur, would be a freak.  Not at all, he's the sanest bloke I know.  However, the people he attracts vary from loyal supporters and friends to the biggest fuckwits going.  I often joke with him that he needs to remove his fuckwit magnet.  In the ten years I've been involved, I've become friends with some wonderful people but in a lot of instances, people who I thought were nice, who then turned out to be the most hateful, poisonous, spiteful, vindictive fuckers I've had the displeasure to meet and deal with.  Just as you think the dust has settled, another fuckwit comes along and says even more dreadful things than the last one. Then they get together and join forces.  I think the next blog will be about Trolling because it's a major problem with our pagan community and needs to be blogged.  Hell, I've mentioned it so many times in my blogs this year, it's daft.

So Arthur campaigns at Stonehenge. He fought to get our Free and Open Access for summer solstice after the exclusion zone went up. He was not alone but he was 'front line', picketing in all weathers. After many arrests and years, English Heritage took down the excursion zone. This was all around the time that Arthur found himself and his Quest. If you'd like to read that story, then please read his and CJ Stone's book Trials of a modern day king - an honest read and very interesting. There is a newer revised edition too but I think the first one is better (looks like it's no longer available on Amazon either).  He campaigned to get them to take down the fences and that went up for review so that was another battle 'won'.  The most recent campaign is to return the cremated remains of those buried there aka Bones Protest.  Now because he uses the media to highlight these causes, he's hated by people in the pagan community.  The press give him titles and claim he's King of all pagans/druids etc etc which pisses people off.  He has never made these claims, it's the press writing an interesting story.  Everyone is entitled to like or dislike whom they wish. However, when this dislike becomes an obsession, it poisons everything around it.

Many people agree with the fact that something needs to be done. Arthur does it. People hate that. And that hate is spread about thick and nasty.  You have the elitist druids/witches who want Stonehenge just for their own use and to keep the great unwashed out. You have English Heritage who only give you an hour or two access for worship, which has gotten worse since winter solstice 2013.  You have the Drove lot who either support Arthur or do everything to spite him. It was Arthur who fought to save the Drove aka Byway 12 from being closed, so that these people could carry on staying on it!  Now these haters aren't freaks because they are societies oddities. No, they are freaks because of their psychotic hatred when they preach peace and love and band about 'namaste' like it's a cure-all.  If you think someone who calls himself King Arthur is a freak, then after reading and hearing some of the things these haters say, makes Arthur look like Joe Bloggs.  These people are freaks.  I don't understand how so much poison festers around Stonehenge, how these people who can be in the presence of such a wonderful place, be so damned nasty.  Is Stonehenge a fuckwit magnet - you know what, it totally is.

MY FIRST ENCOUNTER

I first visited Stonehenge in 2003 with my son.  As I drove down the A303, I spotted Stonehenge on the side of the road and actually said WOOHOO!  I was so excited, I didn't think I would be but there I was, woohoooing.  I had read Arthur's book and decided I'd not pay to go in and view the monument but stand by the Hele stone and take pictures from there. People were walking about like sheep, around the wrong way too.  I later found out that it was because the guide who'd recorded the tour for the headphones, had done it the wrong way and they wouldn't change it. So for years, people walked anti-clockwise around it.. which always feels wrong. There's magical reasons too but not going to tell you how to suck eggs.

I went back for Winter Solstice in 2004. I hadn't been to any pagan ceremonies and wasn't sure of what I'd find. I was still a noob on the pagan scene, I knew a little bit about some things but was still working out my path at that time.  To be honest, I found that first experience a bit fluffy - not that I had anything to compare it to.. like I said, I was a noob!

It gets bloody cold on Salisbury Plains, it's like it has it's own climate.  You get the most amazing view of the stars at night too. The wind cuts through you, the rain finds every bit of you and when it's hot, boy is it!  There's no doubt though, it feels raw there, you're exposed - no wonder they built it there.  A friend of mine said it was an energy sink hole, he found nothing magical about the place. It's strange how many conflicting opinions there are about Stonehenge. It felt worn out but still positive to me, I can imagine that when it was first built, it was much more powerful.  

Sun up - not a great pic

Aaron loved it

People keep using this image on their websites for some reason

Sun fights through the morning mists

The Drove

I loved staying on the Drove. I used to go up when there wasn't an access day.  I met a lovely couple up there who turned out to be friends of another set of friends. It's a small world.  There is a right mix of people who stay on the Drove. There's nothing quite like sitting around a fire, looking up at the stars, listening to people playing guitars or drums and singing or just the silence. And then waking up in the morning and the first thing you see is Stonehenge.  

In recent months, the Drove has become less friendly.  There are a group of haters who target anyone wearing Warband tabbards. If they can't convince you that we are all evil nasty bastards, they threaten you. In one case, someone was told they'd tent would be run over whilst they were in it and whilst they were in the monument, their tent was trashed.  That's not the spirit of the place. Those people are poison but as I said above, it's all becoming more sinister these days.  I don't understand how someone can be so consumed with hate, that they can have nothing in their life but sharing that hatred and trashing everything you do, just because it was Arthur that said it.  It's pathetic, sad and damages relationships within the pagan community.  You don't have to agree with what one group does, but that does not give you the right to defame and set out to destroy them. In every single case, it's over absolutely nothing and one of the main instigators is an ex - hell hath no fury as a woman scorned as they say but come on love, it's been a decade ffs - get over it already!

I met Richard and Darren who were promoting testicular cancer awareness, whilst on the picket with Arthur. EH wouldn't let them in for a photo, so they posed with us instead.  They've raised thousands of £ for cancer research.

Morry, Doro, Aaron, Andrea and Kim - fantastic company

Free Stonehenge picket

WHAT STONEHENGE IS TO ME

I've read some books. I've watched a few documentaries. I've seen the archaeological evidence presented in both and I've spoken with people who have been involved in the digs there. I think that Stonehenge was built to honour the winter solstice - the birth of the sun.  I think that it was a great feast site, a place for many clans to gather and celebrate. I believe that stone circles and the like are like a plug into the energy lines of our world.  Some how those who built them, worked out where to channel this energy through these mighty stones.  As I've discussed in a previous blog, each site has a different kind of energy.  I do not know why or how those blue stones were transported from Wales to Salisbury plains but the intent was enough for them to find a way, which baffles people to this day. These people were exceptionally clever and their craft has been long lost in time.. with our current technological advancements, they still can't work out how these ancient people did it.  I also believe that these places were built to enhance sounds.  I saw a great program that Paul Deveraux did about the importance of acoustics at Newgrange and other sites like Stonehenge.  I just found his book on Amazon about it too.  These ancient peoples worked all of this out without our hi-tech tools, they worked out how to build to enhance the acoustics.  These low frequency sounds created a trance like state, inducing journeying. These weren't burial places, these were places to connect to other dimensions.  Those who have been buried at Stonehenge were deemed to be highly important.  I agree with Arthur and many others that these people were guardians, mostly like a priest-caste and furthermore, placed in their chosen graves as magical protection. I hear people scoff 'how ridiculous' well hello, the peoples who built this great temple weren't like us were they? That's the problem with most of these naysayers - they look at it with modern eyes and views.  These people took hundreds of years building this temple up. They moved rocks from hundreds of miles away and for a sacred purpose. Of course any thing they did there was what we'd call magical.  They weren't simple people - they created a mighty temple that still stands to this day! They created it using methods that modern man cannot comprehend. They created acoustics for gods sake!  

I know what I feel. I feel it in my bones. That said, Stonehenge isn't the be all and end all of the pagan world.  There are other more equally wonderful sacred sites.  You don't have to go to Stonehenge for solstice etc. I do recommend you try it at least once.  Summer solstice attracts about 24,000 people.  People of all walks of life - not everyone who goes to Stonehenge are pagan.  Pagans need to get off their high horses and stop slagging off people who visit this site.  People travel from all over the world to visit this site - who are these haters to say they can't?  These haters who do fuck all to help marshal the solstice, who don't go to the Round Table meetings to positively input in to the event but would rather slag it off.   Winter solstice is more low key - it's always very cold, so wrap up warm.  The equinoxes are also quieter, you also get a lot less time to do your thing.  This is being fought by Arthur and others as many people travel great distances to worship there on these dates and they are treated appallingly.  

I suppose I better wrap this up.  I will leave you with three sources of information that I think you may enjoy.  Obviously, the Warband website has a lot of information on. There's links on there to other sources of information too - worth having a look through.  The other is our friend Dennis Price's writings - a former archaeologist who has been on Time Team and has written a few books on the subject.  Excellent book by Andy Worthington - Stonehenge Celebration and Subversion.

My final thoughts are this. Go and experience this site for yourself. Ignore what everyone else says about it. Go for you. You will either connect or you won't. No one else's opinion will make that any less real.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I have and still do.  

More love - less hate.

Shamanism (real)

Week 37

Shamanism

Oh this one has been brewing since I started this blog in the new year.  But now I have come to write it, I have to think about what it is that I want to convey.... without ranting and foaming at the mouth. I think I will fail but hey, welcome to the SOAPBOX blog lol

IRAB

You don't decide to become a shaman. It's as simple and clear as that. Sure, you can do shamanic drumming and all the workshops you can find but that will NOT make you a shaman.  Just like having a vagina doesn't make you a gynecologist.  A shaman is chosen, you do not chose to be one. It is said that if you deny this, you become ill until you either accept that is your duty, or die. It is also said that shamans have a near death experience before being able to do the job. Where does it say this, I hear you ask?  I'm glad you asked!  Somewhere in the big fat book called 'Shamans through time, 500 years on the path to knowledge' by Jeremy Narby and Francis Huxley.  If you're going to read any book on shamanism, read this book.  It doesn't tell you how to be a shaman, no, not in the slightest, instead it gives you a world wide insight of 500 years of study from observers from all disciplines.  That's the early missionaries who thought it was devil worship, to anthropologists, botanists, ethnographers and psychologists, all their written reports, published in one volume. Writings from Claude Levi-Strauss, Black Elk, Franz Boas and Carlos Casteneda and many many others give you a decent, cross sectioned view of the study of shamanism throughout the world.

A few years ago, I was publicly crucified on a pagan forum for saying I was told I was a shaman.
25 posts per page, at least 15 pages of hate and derision thrown at me, for what... I hadn't made any claims or boasts, it was part of an honest discussion about what path I was on and I had said I didn't know what this meant but I was working it out as I went.  This is why I've have advised in my blogs, many times over, to be wary of what you share because people, even those friendly faces on those forums, will shoot you down.  Their main battle cry is that you cannot call yourself a shaman unless you are from a Tungus speaking tribe of people in Eastern Siberia, where the name originates from. Like many words, the original meaning has changed over the centuries.  Whilst a shaman is called many things in many cultures throughout the world, they all embody the same ideal. So that argument people throw at you, falls flat on it's face... and I thought they were scholars hmmmm!

Having read the study from cover to cover, I have come to the conclusion that these main characters appear in every shaman culture studied from Siberia to the Amazon to Austrailia.

• Altered state induced through a local herb, funghi, vine or 'poison'. Music, often the drum is used to further this altered state. This allows them to walk between the worlds, to connect with spirit and to heal or harm. Dancing and dressing up is also a big factor.
• There is a great deal of trickery involved in their 'act' of healing. One such theme is a concealed bag of blood being held in their hand and burst when healing their patient, showing that the badness being taken away. Small bones or stones being shown as the badness being removed. People need a show to believe - that is true of most things.  No show, no payment for healing or ceremonial work.  And it was a job, they had to eat, they had to provide a good show to prove they were powerful.  Cunning man, Tricky man (Australia), magicians, jugglers, sorcerers, wizards.. all words used throughout the world and time, to describe a shaman.
• There is a dark side. "Shamanism affirms life but also spawns violence and death" - Michael Brown (anthropologist).  Power is ambiguous, knowledge collected to be used for healing, can easily be abused and used to harm people.  Indeed, having read Bruce Parry's book 'Tribe', he details how some of the Amazon tribes he spent time with, would shoot psychic arrows at their enemies, which caused harm and sometimes death.  The tribe had ways of dealing with these arrows and those found to be sending them.
• Work with nature, are seen as wise council and healers. Also feared.
• Interestingly, there are no shamans in Africa. There's witch doctors but not shamans. You'd think they were the same thing but they aren't, according to the extensive studies in the book.

What's in a word?

So the meaning of what is, transcends the word.  Shaman may have started off as a Siberian word but it encompasses a whole world of people who practice shamanism.  Another interesting observation is that if you say shaman to someone, they pretty much talk about Native Americans.  Siberia is a long way from the Americas.  Why do people relate more to Native American culture than say a tribe of Indians in the Amazon?  Fantasy? Perhaps.... I think it's because it's fashionable.  You only have to talk to people about spirit guides and every single one (and I mean EVERYONE I've ever spoken to about it) have all said they have a 'red Indian' guide.  Hahahahahaaha makes me howl! Not saying they don't but there's a serious lack of imagination going on here.  Or maybe that's all people know and that's what they perceive as the origins of that guide?  Who knows. That said, I must confess I have worked with a Native American spirit guide before but he wasn't and isn't my only guide. 

Thinking more on the different Indian tribes throughout the world, they aren't really that different from each other.  They live off the land, they give thanks for what they take, they don't take more than they need, they care for the land and all have a community of looking after each other.  Like all things, there are good and bad aspects to everything.  Those lovely art pictures of a Native American sitting with a wolf around the fire, holding feathers and crystals are pure fantasy, nothing wrong with that but don't base them on fact.  There were a fair few tribes that were utterly savage!  True of all tribes, in all countries.  Bruce Parry describes how the tribe of Indians he was staying with, warned him of the neighbouring tribe that did all these horrific things.  Tribal wars weren't over who's wolf it was and peace and love.  People are bastards in all walks of life, where ever you go.

Not in a book

You will not find a single book telling you how to be a shaman, sure it might say it on the title but that's the authors version of how to be a shaman.  It's their own path, not yours.  You will find books that give you ways of harnessing certain skills though.  Learning these do not make you a shaman. Learning them helps you obtain a shamanic state of meditation.  Having a drum and hitting it in a rhythmic beat doesn't make you a shaman. It makes you a drumer, someone who enhances the atmosphere.  Not that I'm knocking the power of the drum because it's a powerful tool, but it really gets on my nerves when I see people saying they are a shaman because they've been to a shamanic workshop.  I went to Caitlin Matthews talk on Singing your soul back home at a pagan festival... sitting there and listening does not mean I suddenly achieved all the years of knowledge that Caitlin had obtained.  It's like going to Sunday school and then claiming you're a vicar.... or saying that because you have a Book of Shadows you're a Wiccian or putting on a white robe and calling yourself a druid.  You have to work at these things.  You have to earn the name.  It is an insult to those who have done.  The Universe doesn't work that way.  The fluffy new age shamans already stopped reading this after the first paragraph, so I really don't care if this offends them.

I do not tell people I am a shaman.  I do not need to boast a label to obtain acceptance.  I know what I am, I do not need fuckwits to validate me.  I sought a teacher many times and found none.  I have found many who taught me lessons along the way but ultimately, the path of the shaman is a lonely one and one you must walk along at your own pace.  The Universe has given me knowledge as and when I needed it.  I do things that I have not been consciously taught and when I have discussed this with people who have studied magic etc, it transpires I'm doing things correctly.  It's old knowledge, filtered down through my many lifetimes, that's my honest opinion.  I'm only given what I need to know at that time... and I've had to work it all out for myself.  I am my own teacher.

Just thinking about my search for a teacher. The first person I thought 'yes, he can teach me' was Dylan, a member of the Warband. It was about ten years ago and there was a news story on the Warband site about Dylan and things he'd done. I remember thinking 'yes, I'm going to contact him' as I read on, I started crying halfway through the article. He's dead, I thought... and indeed, he had passed suddenly a few months earlier and his ashes had been scattered at Stonehenge and other places he loved.  That was when I joined the Warband forum.  Years later, I felt brave enough to talk to his girlfriend about this and we had a good chat about it.  I felt so connected to him and he was dead before I even knew about him... saying this out loud, makes me sound like a nutter, which is why I don't divulge this information often.  I am an open book though, I stand by what I write, these are my thoughts and opinions, if you chose not to believe them, fine.

Once, twice, three times...

I have been told by three shamans, that I am one.  I wasn't sure what to believe at the time. None of them were after anything and had nothing to gain by telling me this.  All three, I instinctively trusted. I've had a clairvoyant reading telling me I have been a shaman in every lifetime too, of which there has been many. So I began to think about what shamanism was and tried to find information on it... I found a lot of fluff and nonsense - you know when you open a book and think 'bleh' and put it back down, even though there's no reason to, other than instict. Then I found the 500 years book and I learnt more. There is another book I recommend, Caitlin Matthews - Singing the soul back home.  I haven't finished reading it all yet (I've had it ten years lol) but the theme is self discovery, self love, SELF... the power of song and advice on how complete yourself.  There is more to it than that but as it's gone 5am (yes I did it again!) I cannot think of the rest and my friend has the book, so I can't look it up.  Caitlin is no stranger in our pagan world, her and her husband John are seen as well respected authors.  I was gifted a set of Celtic Shamanism cards by John Matthews and Chesca Potter (illustrated).  I wasn't sure about it at the time but they combine my favourite Celtic mythology stories with ways to explore challenging questions etc.  I don't use them very often, maybe I should.  I would like to add that I didn't seek out these books, they turned up in various ways. 

When I started thinking about my path, I realised that I have nearly died three times. Once as a baby aged two days old; I nearly drowned when I was 17, still can't believe we were saved and in 2002. Some may find no relevance in this but I have.  And that is the point isn't it, it's MY path to walk. It's quite obvious now that my teachers are the people and places around me.  I still don't know what it all means but I understand it more than I did ten years ago.  

Tricksters

Whilst that word has been used historically to describe shamans, it's a word I use today to describe the charlatans 'practicing' shamanism.  By practice, I mean charging lots of money for workshops, most you find are Native American based.  There are shamanic drumming workshops and sweat lodges.. you name it. It's big money and money brings tricksters.  If you want to part ways with lots of money to learn something they read off the internet, more power to you.  Best bet, do your research, go to these workshops from actual shamans. They won't be people with silly names like Ruby SilverEagle either (yes I made it up but I bet there's one out there lol).  Shamanism isn't Native American culture... it transcends these Nations and goes out to every country on Earth, even the Artic.  By all means, embrace the ideals of Native American teachings but know that it is not the All. It is the most commericalised way of life now and more accessible than say Amazonian shamanism. 

Witches v's Shamans

Is there any difference? If people ask me what I 'am' and I don't want to tell them I'm a shaman, I say I'm a witch.  'what a white witch?' NO cos there's no such thing (woooosaaaaaaaaaaah Naomi, wooooooooosaaaaaaa).   It's just easier and I don't have to explain it too much.  But is there a difference?  Depends on the type of witchcraft you're comparing it to really.  Grass roots witchcraft like what Terry Pratchett writes about - yes, definitely.  Wicca man type - no.  Witches walk between worlds, most do spirit work of some description, many are healers, many practice natural medicines, many use 'headology' .... so basically if it's fluffy witchcraft it's so far from what shamanism is, it's polar opposites.

Shamanism isn't pretty work. It's the core being of who you are, helping people, putting others before you, always being there to help. Helping when people haven't asked you to. Healing and helping. Working with spirit, whether you ask or not. You can't switch it on and off either.  You're always on call.  I don't practice shamanism... it's who I am, it is my core, my purpose of being.  

Ask me again in another ten years I may know a bit more.  

Aboriginal shaman

Female shaman 

Mongol Shaman

Queensland Shaman

Siberian Shaman