Category Archives: Druidry

Tolvesteinringen: A Norwegian Stone Circle

By Dr Frank Malone

 

Recently I was in Norway to present at the International Association for the Psychology of Religion.  I was delighted to discover that Norway has stone circles!  My conference was near a ring of 12 stones (named Tolvesteinringen) on the eastern shores of Lake Mjølsa.  The circle is located on an easy 2 km walk north of the small town of Moelv, in Hedmark County.

Beautifully preserved, it is 25 meters in diameter.  Not much is known about the circle other than it dates to the Iron Age (2000-2500 years ago).  Archaeologists did find a skeleton buried in the centre.  After my wife and daughter took their snaps, they headed back to town while I felt drawn to spend more time with the stones.

OBOD and Shamanic training are excellent for knowing on how to approach a site like this.  I thus knew how to address the spirits of place, and each of the stones.  I spent 2 hours there.  I ended my time with a 20-minute breath meditation before heading back to my family.  I left feeling deeply relaxed and blessed to have had such an encounter.

Ancient Calendar & Pagan Holidays: June23 : Cú Chulainn and Lord and Lady of the Sidhe


Present Day Pagan Holiday: Day of the Lord and the Lady of the Sidhe — Otherworldly aspects of the Divine.

Quoted Text

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FROM the earliest ages the world has believed in the existence of a race midway between the angel and man, gifted with power to exercise a strange mysterious influence over human destiny. The Persians called this mystic race Peris; the Egyptians and the Greeks named them demons, not as evil, but as mysterious allies of man, invisible though ever present; capable of kind acts but implacable if offended.

The Irish called them the Sidhe, or spirit-race, or the Feadh-Ree, a modification of the word Peri. Their country is the Tir-na-oge, the land of perpetual youth, where they live a life of joy and beauty, never knowing disease or death, which is not to come on them till the judgment day, when they are fated to pass into annihilation, to perish utterly and be seen no more. They can assume any form and they make horses out of bits of straw, on which they ride over the country, and to Scotland and back. They have no religion, but a great dread of the Scapular (Latin words from the Gospels written by a priest and hung round the neck). Their power is great over unbaptized children, and such generally grow up evil and have the evil eye, and bring ill luck, unless the name of God is instantly invoked when they look at any one fixedly and in silence. Link (Source)

End of Quoted Text


Ancient Calendar shows an observance to Cú Chulainn, today, who happened to be an Irish born Hero.

Ireland, land of the forty shades of green, offers us a wealth of unforgettable Legends and Lore. If you have never looked into it’s past, maybe today’s calendar will inspire you to do so.

Cú Chulainn was born of a God and mortal woman. His father was Lugh, who many said Cú Chulainn was the reincarnation of. His mother was, Deichtine. She was the sister of King Conchorbar Mac Nessa.

It is said that a Druid prophesied that Cú Chulainn would be a great warrior (beginning at seven) and would be famous until the ends of time even though his time to walk in this earth would be short.

Battle after battle, the Druid did not lie, until Cú Chulainn met his end only after a Queen conspired with all of his enemies in order to bring him down.




Ancient Calendar & Pagan Holidays: June 21: Summer Solstice, Midsummer, the Druid festival of Alban Hefin, the Seventh Station of the Year, and the Pagan festival, Litha.

balanced scalesToday has many names for those of the past and for those of the Present. Summer Solstice, Midsummer, the Druid festival of Alban Hefin, the Seventh Station of the Year, and the Pagan festival, Litha.

This is the longest day of the year when the sun shall be its brightest. Today, we celebrate the fullness of the year.

It is a time to bid good-bye to the Oak King as the Holly Kind will now reign for the next six months to come. In other words, God turns from Youth to Sage. It is the union or marriage of God and Goddess – Mother and Father. During this time, the Holly King will impregnate the Mother Goddess with the Oak King. It is a cycle of rebirth. Life never truly ends. We are made up of energy and energy can not be destroyed.

Alban Hefin means “light of the shore,”. Its symbolic of summer meeting winter.

For those who know this day as “Midsummer”, then this would be the day to leave offerings to the “Other People”, “Otherfolk”, “Otherside”, or “Otherkin”.

Corn King’s Song

Corn King, come and dance
Over fields and meadows and away.
Beckon to Sun and beckon to Self,
Crowned with the harvest
And sacred to Earth.

Lead us in the eternal circle
To honour Our Mother
Who gives and receives.
With steady step through golden autumn
Set yourself free.

Turn one last time
And sing us your song,
Echoing far through open fields,
Before your steps turn to Our Mother
And your light to darkness yields.

© jsmorgane (Oct 2010)