Yule: A Sabbat for Guardians

::copied from my Open Ways Yule 2012 column::

Yule is a special sabbat for us all.  The shortest day of the year is a day for all forms of magick, high and low.  It marks the ending of long nights and promises a new Spring yet to come.  In our community, Yule is often commemorated by drumming up the sun, the burning of a Yule log, and with many traditions that had been co-opted by our Christian friends.  The Christmas tree, mulled wines, wreaths, and many more Christmas traditions were “borrowed” from Pagan traditions and I love it when I see modern Pagans reclaim these traditions.  In some ways, Christmas and Yule are very difficult to tell apart and I think that’s a great thing for us.  Like many families, my family celebrates both holidays.  Yule is the spiritual holiday and Christmas is the secular one.

Yule is celebrated in many ways and in virtually every culture past and present.  I also believe that Yule is a sabbat that is a rare chance for Guardians to practice their own magick and celebrate who they are and what they do.  Generally speaking, all sabbats are busy for Guardians.  There is always work to be done in preparation and always circles that need protection while they celebrate their own rituals.  I have always seen Yule as the one exception to this.  It is the one sabbat where, I believe, Guardians should consider their own needs and practice their own magick.  That’s not to say that there still isn’t plenty of preparation and protection to be done, but during the night of Yule I encourage Guardians to gather together and celebrate who they are and practice the special magick generally reserve for others.

Many of you may be asking “what do you mean by ‘Guardian’?” so before I go further I want to give a (decidedly truncated) explanation. Sometimes called “Dragon”, “Watcher”, or “Green”, Guardians have existed in virtually every culture and society throughout mankind’s history.  Guardian is not a “tradition” as we Pagans label things.  A Guardian may walk any kind of Pagan path: Wiccan, Heathen, Eclectic Solitary, Druid, or any other path you can name.  Guardians are a special (some would argue “infected”) group of people who truly live to serve others.  The next time you go to a festival and say “darn it, I left [fill in the blank] at home and I need one!” and then whatever you needed miraculously appears, there’s an excellent chance that a Guardian provided it.  Guardians stand watch during other people’s rituals not only to intercept any tourists who may be curious about the activities but also to ward against any unwanted energies that are often attracted to energetic rituals.

The ultimate goal for most Guardians is to protect the community while providing for the needs of its members, but doing so in the most subtle and unobtrusive way possible.  Guardians prefer to remain in the background and facilitate gatherings and public rituals out of the community eye (as much as possible).  Guardians tend to spend so much of their time making it possible for others to safely practice their Craft that the Guardians themselves sometimes forget the joy that they feel from their own personal rituals.  One of the many pitfalls faced by Guardians is the losing of self in work for others.  That makes it critical for Guardians to take a step back on occasional and focus on their own workings and their own needs. 

That’s another reason that I think it’s great when Guardians can gather for Yule.  This is a sabbat that is especially appropriate for Guardians.  Yule is a night to stand watch while awaiting the rising of the first Winter sun.  Therefore, Yule is actually a kind of celebration of the role of the Guardian within the Pagan community.  The long night provides the perfect opportunity to reflect on the year that went before and plan for the one about to begin.  When Guardians gather for Yule, they can do this as a group.  It is also a time for ritual to renew the energy needed for the work in the coming year.  It is a chance for the Guardian to cleanse, release, and energize.

If you are a Guardian, then I urge you to set aside the night of Yule for yourself.  There is a great deal of work to be done at this time of year and we Guardians find it impossible to stand aside while others do the work.  Preparing for the holidays, following through with holiday plans, and the clean-up afterwards are all tasks that demand our attention.  Just remember yourself in all of this.  Make Yule night for you and those with whom you share the affliction of being a Guardian.

Is there a special Guardian in your life that you would like to thank?  Here’s a way to shock, stun, and thrill a Guardian: offer to stand watch while your Guardian performs ritual.  It is generally considered an honor when a Guardian offers to stand watch for others.  It is an amazing honor when a non-Guardian makes this offer to a Guardian.  It is a way to recognize what Guardians do for us by following in those steps for a few minutes.

I wish for a wonderful and energetic Yule for you and yours.  Sing some carols (“Deck the Halls” is my favorite Yule carol – I love when people sing it for Christmas!), have some mulled wine, and kiss the ones you love and tell them why they matter to you.  My thanks to Charlotte Stoehr (who offers reiki sessions, magickal living classes and general spirit coaching) for her response to my Samhain column about Paganomics.  If you are interested in Charlotte’s services, please let me know and I will provide you with her contact information

Thoughts at Samhain

This week marks the 20th anniversary of my father's death.  In many ways it's hard to believe it has been such a long time.  In other ways it seems like so much longer.  I can't begin to count the number of times I've seen or read something and thought how I would like to discuss it with him.  There are so many questions that I wish I'd have asked.  I miss him to the depths of my soul.

On the other hand, years ago he came to me in a dream.  My father's favorite pasttime was fishing and when he came to me we sat together in a small boat with lines in the water but no fish to be seen.  We talked and we laughed under clear skies on a still lake.  I awoke from that dream feeling warm and happy and knew that my sadness at his passing was because of what I was missing, not because something terrible had happened to him.  He has come to me several times over the years just to assure me that I need not mourn for his sake.

My father was a Cold Warrior.  He spent a lifetime in the US Air Force.  He sat on a frozen flightline in alert B-52s and flew to failsafe positions.  I asked him once what it was like during the Cuban MIssle Crisis.  What were he and his fellow NCOs thinking?  He told me that they were sitting there waiting to go bomb Russia - to destroy the world.  I could see in his eyes and hear in his voice something rarely detected in my father - fear.  He wasn't some brain-washed GI ready to kill for a flag.  He was a husband and a father who knew that if he ever had to complete his mission, it likely meant death for the world.

That was certainly not my father's greatest accomplishment, but some of his secrets are just for his family.  My father was much more than a man in uniform. He loved history. My first degree was in history - so was his although I didn't know that until my degree was complete. He also loved to whistle. I love to whistle too. I didn't know he whistled until after he died.  This Samhain, as I have for many years, I will speak to him again.  20 years?  It's hard to fathom because I frequently still hear his voice in my mind.  He fashioned my ethics and any time I am in doubt as to the right thing to do, I hear his voice telling me that I know the right answer.

There are many others who will be called this Samhain.  When the veil is thin our hearts can bridge the gap with ease.  I hope that you get to touch the soul of someone you love.  I hope that, for a few moments at least, you can share sacred space with someone you miss.  Be it the soul from a creature who walked on two legs or on four, call to someone you love during this season of Samhain.  A new year is about to begin so start it with those you love no matter on which side of the veil they stand.

Cascadia-Willamette Pagan Pride Day

Finally, my first PPD in the PNW!  It was a crazy weekend, as I had been at the NW Fall Equinox Festival on the morning that this PPD was held.  So, I got up that Sunday morning, packed up my vendor's booth and campsite, crammed everything into my Saturn (and crammed is accurate), and drove from Silver Falls to Portland (with a stop in Salem along the way for gas).

When I arrived at Oaks Park in Portland, it was still a beautiful day.  It only took a moment to spot the large canopies that marked my first PNW PPD.  I found the information booth and asked where my workshop was to be held.  While waiting for the start of the workshop, I wandered around and visted with various vendors (including passing out a few samples of incense making kits).  I ran into a newly minted friend from NWFEF and helped her set up the 9 Houses of Gaia information table.

The workshop was a lot of fun and quickly turned into standing room only.  Making incense outdoors is always a challenge, but everyone handled it in stride.  One incense maker was not able to use latex gloves, and I was only able to find one that wasn't latex, and she solidered through making cones with only 1 hand - what a trooper!  Naturally, when I got home I found a dozen gloves she could have used, but they had been lost in the depths of my camping gear.

I hung around for about an hour after the workshop ended just to chat with a few people and to soak up the wonderful energy.  I love PPD and have always given my time and donated supplies to make each one special and fun.  I think it's an obligation for people like me to help make PPDs successful events.  We benefit so much from the community that we need to give back.  PPD is a great way to do that.  Only 2 weeks until my next one in Salem, OR!  I can't wait!!

NW Fall Equinox Festival

Last weekend I had the great joy of attending this festival and what a blast it was!  Held in SIlver Falls State Park near Salem, Oregon, it was a beautiful (and surprisingly isolated) location that blessed us with nearly perfect weather.  Shorts in the day and jackets in the eveneing made it as close to ideal as I could wish.

I was at the festival to vend, do workshops, camp, but most of all to finally start meeting large segments of the PNW Pagan community.  I was certainly able to accomplish that!  I arrived Friday morning and set up my vending booth atop the hill behind the building hosting most of the workshops.  After setting up the booth, I drove down to the "Fairy Fields" to set up my tent.  I was seriously disappointed that no flames were allowed of any kind - so I left my lanterns, stove, and heater in the car all weekend.  I was bummed out about it, but I do know when one comes into the forest to worship nature that disrespecting a red flag warning and burning down the forest would not be the best move.

The event was reasonably priced and well attended (120 people?).  Both of my workshops were nicely populated, although I wasn't sure about the Guardian Magick workshop at first.  It was scheduled to start at 9:00 PM (the latest I think I've had one scheduled) and I sat in the lodge until about 9:10.  Nobody had arrived so I headed back to my tent, mildly disappointed.  As I waslked past the picnic tables outside the lodge, someone said "there he is" and I discovered about a dozen people sitting outside waiting for me to show up, lol.  We went inside and had a wonderful discussion about the role of Guardians in the Pagan community, some basics as to how Guardian magick works, and swapped some stories of our Guardian experiences.  I was happy to see that the Guardian concept was not new to the PNW community, although some of my approaches and terminology were.  In fact, I struggled with terminology as well as I attempt to retrain myself to say "Guardian" rather than "Green".  I think the concept of someone standing watch over rituals was the most foreign of these, however, I did learn that I was not alone in this practice.

Satruday afternoon found me intercepted on my way to the showers by the impending Men's Mysteries.  I sat my towel down and joined in for a profoundly male ritual that raised some wonderful primal energy.  Since this happened on my way to the showers, I even smelled manly.  ;)  After dashing back for my shower before the start of main ritual, I changed clothes in my vending booth and was still braiding my hair when the conch was blown for the start of main ritual.  The ritual began with processions from the three altars established in the "villages" scattered around the campground, so by the time everyone had gathered, I was ready to go.

My thanks to the ritual coordinator, Char, for taking a chance and giving me permission to stand watch over the ritual.  She was unfamiliar with the concept of the Guardian but after a quick explanation and an endorsement from one of her peers, she gave permission.  I would never stand watch without permission, so I appreciate Char taking a chance on something new to her.

It was not the experience I had expected.  There were several organizational and physical things that were different than I was used to but that was not surprising considering how far I was from my Guardian training grounds.  No, those things were different but I expected them to be so.  It was when I opened myself up to the energy of the forest that I was shocked.  I have stood watch in many different places with lots of different geography.  I have encountered forest spirits of many shapes and sizes.  I still was not prepared for what happened.

It had been 4 years or more since last I stood watch over such a ritual.  Laying down low-levels of energy and opening up to forest energies are a normal part of what Guardians of my ilk do.  When I opened myself to this forest, I was nearly overwhelmed by the energy.  I actually had to shut the flow of energy off repeatedly as it nearly consumed me with its intensity.  I began an approach of touching the energy for a few moments then shielding myself in order to not be overwhelmed.

I had been in this forest before, but always with a big group including kids and some I would never feel comfortable around while doing energy work.  As a result, I had not opened myself so completely to the energies here.  Old growth forests filled with towering trees are simply amazing.  It was a taste of how our ancient ancestors must have felt when they touched the energy of their surroundings.  It was fantastic and I can't wait to do it again.

I truly enjoyed this event and look forward to next year.  I will be more practiced and prepared for the energies there.  I hope that the next ritual coordinator will be willing to allow me to work during that ritual as well.  I miss my Oklahoma family, but this weekend showed me even more reasons why I belong here.

Heart of WIllamette Pagans ROCK!

Well Wednesday night was simply awesome.  I did the first workshop I've done in Salem (Oregon) and what a blast.  The event was an incense making workshop to benefit Salem's first Pagan Pride Day on October 6.  The room was packed with great people and great energy.  We made incense, we laughed, we talked, and just generally got to know one another. 

Aside from PantheaCon in February, this was the first community gathering I've attended since moving to the Pacific Northwest (and definitely the first one in Oregon).  I've done a fair number of workshops at stores throughout Oregon and Washington, but never before a true community event.  I would say that meeting the Salem community was a pleasant surprise, but it actually was a massive shock.  In 3 years I'd not found a group that felt like the kind of community I left behind in Oklahoma.  Now I have.  Everyone was warm and friendly.  There was lots of laughter, which is always a sign of good energy. 

In fact, I was totally thrown off my game.  I expected 4 - 5 people in an intimate little workshop.  Instead I got more than three times that amount.  There was so much positive energy flowing throughout the room that I zoomed through the workshop in about half the normal time, and naturally forgot about half of the material I was going to cover!  Luckily we still had the venue for another hour, so I backed up and covered those topics as well.  It was the mos disorganized I've been in a workshop for at least a decade, but I don't mind at all.

Meeting this group of people felt very much like a homecoming.  The energy in that room was exactly the energy I used to get at gatherings with many good friends in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Missouri, and Arkansas.  I miss those people and those places, but now I know that I have found a true home in my new location.

My thanks to Jade and everyone who came out Wednesday evening.  I hope you had half as much fun as I did.  It was an honor to help raise funds for PPD.  That's something that is near and dear to my heart and I was glad I could help in some small way.  I can't wait for the next time!

A Rising Blight on Natural Incense

I'm a fairly upset incense maker today. Yes, the issue of another author plagiarising me is still on-going as my publisher takes the appropriate legal steps to resolve the problem...but it's still upsetting. I'm upset at this moment for a completely different reason. "Herbal incense". That's what I make, that's what I teach others to make, and what thousands of hobbyists and professional incense makers around the world create daily. That term has been hijacked by a new, and certain to be fairly short-lived, industry. People selling herbal-substitutes for cannibis have chosen this completely FALSE name to market their products. It is a simple case of "gray market" products attempting to "piggy back" on legal, legitimate products. First let me say that I fully support legalizing cannibis. It is a natural, herbal, gift from Mother that is far less dangerous than alcohol or other such substances. That's not at all what this issue is about. The sellers of this material are, in fact, selling a combination of herbs (and often a variety of chemicals as well) to intoxicate people (almost exclusively minors or very young adults) with very questionable substances. There are tons of mind-altering, legal herbs out there and you don't need to go to a "head shop" to buy them. A number of states have banned these substances, but in many cases the producers simply change the banned ingredient to something else and it's suddenly legal again - until legislatures go back and add the new substance to the banned list. The simple fact is that NOBODY burns these materials as incense. They are manufactured, marketed, and sold with the express intent that they will be SMOKED. Sorry, but that's not "incense" which is defined as "something burned for its scent". Real incense is never smoked. Why do I care? Well, for one I am concerned about the safety of those who smoke these materials. Most are very young and ignorant of what they are smoking and what it could do to them. Beyond that, I am very concerned about the long-term impact to legitimate incense makers. At some point, it seems likely to me that state governments, perhaps even the Federal government, will start to put bans in place. If those bans are not carefully written, they could easily result in legitimate incense being banned as well. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater is an easy solution compared to the challenge of drafting legislation that would keep our incense legal while banning the crap sold in headshops for kids to smoke. To that end, beginning next week I plan to begin writing to my legislators, both state and Federal, about this issue and the importance of protecting genuine incense while also protecting our youth from unknown dangers of unregulated smoking products. Once I have a letter drafted, I will post it for others to use if they desire. We are a very small industry in America and have long "flown under the radar" but I now see a huge danger looming on the horizon. Companies like Juniper Ridge and Fred Sol might find themselves without products to sell. Companies like Shoyeido, Baiedo, and Nippon Kodo, might find themselves forced out of North America. Perhaps it's finally time for our industry to step into the public eye and speak out against these smoking "incense" companies and make our case before blanket bans on "herbal incense" begin to appear.

Pagan Pride Day

I have loved the concept of PPD since I was first introduced to it.  In 2007 (my last PPD in Oklahoma) I was not only the headlining guest (and did not know this until I arrived and read it on the front of the program book) but, more importantly, I was the volunteer coordinator.  The local group who took charge of PPD had decided it was too difficult to get the help needed at the event and were going to shorten it to just a couple of hours in a local park with essentially no events and just a smattering of vendors.

I went to the committee and presented a proposal to provide them with a large volunteer staff if we would maintain PPD as the large (2 day) event it had become.  I was told it was impossible and the effort failed when tried in the past - volunteers simply never materialized.  However, in the end they agreed when I promised that I would bring in my extended family if I couldn't find enough Pagan volunteers!  And I would have too!!

Instead, I applied methods widely used in other communities to get the word out that we needed volunteers, coordinated schedules, called people, recruited at local gatherings, and generally made myself into a pain, but guess what?  We had a huge cadre of volunteers from the first phase of setup until the building was cleaned and we left.  I screen printed identifying shirts for everyone and PPD was awash in those green volunteer shirts that year.

What's the point of all this?  Just a reminder that we still have a lot of growing to do as a community and a lot to learn from other communities.  Pagans didn't create the concept of a Pride Day or volunteer coordinators.  These are good ideas we have seen bring success in other communities.  Had we not brought in experience from other types of conventions and gatherings, Tulsa's PPD would have been shrunk to nothing and would problably have blown away by now (like the misguided organization that tried to tell me that nobody would ever volunteer, LOL!). 

Don't be afraid to look in other communities for solutions that would benefit the Pagan community.  While some Pagans spend too much time bashing other spiritual communities, many others have seen the wisdom of learning from those on spiritual paths that are far different from our own.  Every community has things it can share with others.  Don't let a label (like Christian, conservative, or atheist) stop you from finding the ideas and solutions that can help build the Pagan community into a viable, sustainable community that will last for many generations.

Project Update

In addition to the web site updates you've been seeing recently, I'm doing the preliminary work on my next book.  I've written a little to get the "feel" of the project and have nearly completed a detailed outline.  This book is unrelated to incense, but is something that people have urged me to do for many years.  I feel that I'm finally in a place where I can devote the proper time and energy to such an important project.  I'm really excited to bring this topic to our community and I'll post an update about it as soon as I've got it a little further down the road.

Seal Rock Incense?

It was an interesting few days as I did a series of 4 different workshops at Ancient Light in Waldport, Oregon.  It was very nice to get to do so many different workshops in such a short amount of time.  We did both a basic and an advanced incense making workshop plus Incense of the Pacific NorthWest and Incense with Wood Binders.  Best of all, I actually had the time to sit in these workshops and make incense myself.  It's a rare thing these days when I get the chance to sit and roll incense with students.  I enjoyed that very much.

The next time you find yourself on the Oregon Coast, heading down Highway 101, be sure to stop by Ancient Light as you breeze through Waldport.

PantheaCon

Wow - the Winter surely got away from me!  There were so many workshops and other happenings that I'm afraid I left the blog out in the cold until now.  I can't begin to list all the great stores that hosted incense making workshops in November and December.  January was spent getting all the final details set for the new book's release and preparing for PantheaCon.

I returned from PantheaCon late on Sunday.  In spite of knowing nobody there, I had a blast.  It's one of the great things about the Pagan community.  Even without knowing a soul I was welcomed and made to fee right at home.  Thorn Coyle was the only person at the massive event I'd met before, so it was nice to chat with her at the author's signing table.  Then I got the rare joy of meeting someone with whom I have exchanged emails for many years.  It's so wonderful finally know Elysia Gallo (Llewellyn acquistions editor) in person!  She's even nicer than I imagined.  

Another wonderful person at Llewellyn managed to get copies of Incense Magick to me the afternoon before I flew to San Jose.  So although the book isn't "officially" released for another week, it is now available at many book retailers and on this site as well.  I got to meet a lot of very friendly, enthusiastic people and chat about incense.  My workshop on Saturday was up against some heavy competition (including the aforementioned Thorn Coyle) but still managed to get overbooked!  25% more tickets were passed out than planned, and additional people showed up at the door, so we accomodated everyone we could and had the workshop standing room only.  There were around 50 people in the room and we all had a blast.  We shared tools and supplies to make sure as many people as possible were able to roll incense.  It was shorter than my normal workshops but we still covered a lot of ground and shared some good laughs.  I hope I am able to do another workshop at PantheaCon next year!

On Sunday I participated in a panel discussion that included Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and Christopher Penzack among many other wise people.  We discussed the use of the label "Pagan" and labeling in general in our community.  It was absolutely fascinating to me (except for the times when I was speaking, lol) and I'm still stunned that not only was I invited to participate, I participated equally in the conversation.  I learned a lot from it as well.  Flying home was a lot easier than flying there since I had about 75 pounds less baggage!