#ovate

[kafk-a]

leaf shapes

[your-am-radio]

when resh'an's eyes came back into his puppet when they mentioned an ovate i screamed ARE WE GONNA GET MORE RESH'AN CONTENT

[30260]

[jollyyetioccult]

-The Broom in Hedgecraft-

"I'm a witch. A real house-haunting, broom-riding, cauldron-stirring witch." -Samantha, from Bewitched

Why is it the broom is such an iconic figure in witchcraft? When I say the word witch, that is inevitably the first image to pop into someone's mind. It's so iconic that almost every book or movie with witches features a broom. My favorite is probably the scene from Hocus Pocus where the sisters fly away on other cleaning tools, including a vacuum. I laugh. Every. Single. Time. So where did it all begin?

-Early History-

Commonly referred to in witchcraft as a besom, the broomstick was an important fixture in homes throughout Europe and other parts of the world. It was usually made of wood and straw and used, of course, to sweep the floors. The broom represented the epitome of female domesticity and was the perfect object of rebellion for women stuck in an extremely patriarchal world, but we'll get to that in a moment.

One of the earliest known ritual besoms was believed to be made from Hazelwood and birch twigs, both trees sacred to the pagans. They were not very useful for cleaning and needed constant repair, so instead they were often placed by the door, bristles up, to ward of evil spirits and negative energies. Due to its use as a cleaning implement, the broom quickly became associated with the cleansing of negative energies and was later used in handfasting ceremonies to represent new beginnings. But that doesn't explain why the broom became a symbol of flight.

-Broom Riding-

The first known reference of witches riding on brooms was confessed by a suspected male witch in 1453 by the name of Guillaume Edelin of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. After being tortured, he confessed to signing a compact with the Devil and attending the Sabbath "mounted on a balai," or broom. This is the first known reference to witches riding on brooms. But the story doesn't end there.

-The Broom in Hedgecraft-

Early accounts of pagan fertility rituals suggested phallic objects such as poles, pitchforks, and brooms were riden through the fields while the rider jumped up and down in an attempt to coax the crops to grow faster and taller. In his 1584 book, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, Reginal Scot describes these rituals:

"At these magical assemblies, the witches never dailed to dance' and in their dance they sing these words, 'Har, hard, divell divell, dance here dance here, plaie here plaie here, Sabbath, Sabbath.' And whiles they sing and dance, ever one hath a broom in her hand, and holdeth it up aloft."

When you combine Edelin's confession with early pagan rights, the picture begins to become clearer, but this is only part of the story. The use of hallucinogenic plants, later popularized by Shakespeare, completes this epic tale.

Tropane alkaloids are hallucinogenic chemicals found in a number of popular toxic plants, including belladonna, henbane, and Mandrake. During the Middle Ages, these plants were commonly used to make brews, ointments, and "witches' salves," according to Johann Weyer in his Praestigiis Daemonum written in 1563. Drinking such a brew could make the drinker extremely ill if it didn't kill them first. Somewhere along the way, people figured out that the hallucinogenic compounds found in these plants, particularly hyoscine also known as scopolamine, could be absorbed through the sweat glands via the armpit or the mucous membranes found in the rectum or vagina. This meant the user could avoid feeling ill and become high faster. The earliest clue of this application comes from the investigation of Lady Alice Kyteler in 1324. According to Mann in his book Murder, Magic, and Medicine, the interrogation records stated:

"In rifeling the closet of the ladie, they found a pipe of oyntment, wherewith she grease a staffe, upon which she ambled and galloped through thick and thin."

In this account, there is no mention of actual flight, but this ritual does correspond to early accounts of pagan fertility rites as mentioned above. Fifteenth-century records of Jordanes de Bergamo in his Quaestio de Strigis confirms the investigation statement of Lady Kyteler:

"But the vulgar believe, and the witches confess, that on certain days or nights they anoint a staff and ride on it to the appointed place or anoint themselves under the arms and in other hairy places."

It cannot be known whether these accounts are valid or not as the history of witches were often written by inquisitors, ecclesiastical judges, and the testimony of accused and tortured witches, but if what they say is true where did the idea of flight using ointments and brooms come from?

In 1477 the Witch of Savoy, Antoine Rose, confessed while being tortured that the Devil "...gave her a stick, 18 inches long, and a pot of ointment. She used to smear the ointment on the stick, put it between her legs and say 'Go, in the name of the Devil, go!" The idea that these ointments could cause feelings of flying is confirmed with modern accounts and science. Modern science and accounts of tropane alkaloids use shows that intoxication usually puts the user to sleep in which they experience flying and dancing. In 1966 Gustav Schenk recounts, "At the same time I experienced an intoxicating sensation of flying...I soared where my hallucinations - the clouds, the lowering sky, herds of beasts, falling leaves...billowing streamers of steam and rivers of molten metal - were swiling along." After Rose's confession, rumors spread far and wide and the idea that witches rode on broom planted itself firmly in cultural memory. During the Renaissance artists like Albrecht Durer, Hans Balding, and Parmigianino began depicting witches naked and flying, sometimes on a broom and other times on a phallus. By the late 16th and early 17th century, witches riding up and out of chimneys begin to dominate popular art. And there you have it, the wonderfully colorful history of the broom and witchcraft.

-The Broom In Hedgecraft-

The broom is still a major fixture in witchcraft today, including hedgecraft. Hedgewitches often use a broom during hedge riding to aid in travel. Other times, a broom may appear during a journey to allow the witch to fly between realms or quickly through a single realm. Hedgewitches will also use brooms for protection during hedge riding, placing the broom within their magic circle, next to them, or in their lap during a journey. Either way, the broom is still used today to symbolize flight and travel for witches, and that isn't changing anytime soon.

[abbot-radulfus]

Aleksandr Manamïs

S/S 2020

Source: stylezeitgeist.com

[druidpost]

Imbolc is coming... 🕯🕯🕯 ✌💛 #brighidscross #brighidgoddess #celtic #celticpagan #druidry #heathen #pagan #handmade #paganart #paganaltar #druid #druidas #druidyzm #sorcery #folkmagic #imbolc #imbolciscoming #imbolcaltar #pagansofinstagram #ovate #druidsofınstagram #witchy #wicca #wiccansofinstagram #paganritual #witchesofinstagram #obod #witchcraft #ireland_gram #folklore (w: Iława gmina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZZwHFELcUC/?utm_medium=tumblr

[puntidifuga]

Sibylle blouse by Ovate.

[minnesotadruids]

What are the basic values of a druid? Trying to understand what exactly druidry is.

Druidry has no universally defined set of values, which makes it tricky to pin down. In terms of basic values, I can start with what druids might have in common.

Reverence for Nature: I find it hard to believe that there could ever be a druid who does not have some degree of appreciation for the natural world. This could range from a deep respect to all-out worship, depending on the individual. Many druids seek to establish a connection with the Earth and with Nature. We’re not here to conquer it, but to acknowledge that we are part of it. The Earth is a deity that we can prove exists.

Subcategory - Trees: I often meet up with people who have an interest in druidry around the Minneapolis area, and one thing that almost all of us mention is a love of trees that (at least in part) drew us in. After all, even the ancient Romans observed that the druids had something to do with trees and were the knowers of the oak.

Subcategory - Environmentalism: Stewardship, using our natural resources wisely, seeking balance, and taking care of our only home planet are important to modern druids. The Industrial Revolution in part led to the increase in popularity of the Druidry Revival Movement. Many druids promoted getting back to nature in a world where mills, factories, and machines began to dominate the landscape and take its toll. With deforestation, mining, and waste, we also have a concern for the animals that we should be sharing the world with.

Peace: According to Roman historian Strabo in his writing Geographica, the ancient druids “…prevented armies from engaging when drawn up in battle array against each other.” In the Druidry Revival Movement, many members were liberal Christians and Unitarians. The English Civil War and the Jacobite Rebellions, carrying overtones of religious superiority (Protestant vs Catholic) were ongoing or still fresh in the memory of the people. Many of these Revival Druids wanted a more peaceful existence and spirituality. Naturally, they liked the notion that the ancient druids had the power to halt warfare. Pacifism stuck around as a popular druid value in just about every modern druid order.

Balance: Many druids strive to practice mindfulness and moderation, while understanding that nature is about giving and taking. Even as there is day, so must there be night. There are many druids who embrace the dark and the light equally, while other druids see that the world is already saturated in darkness and try to balance that out, and that takes its toll on us. That brings us to the importance of self care. When we have too much of one thing that wears away at the heart, we need to give some balance to our own lives on a personal level.

Creativity: Many druids have some form of creative expression. The bardic arts aren’t limited to just poetry and song. We are also artisans, hobbyists, and craftspeople. We create sacred artwork, ritual tools, jewelry, supplies, and more. We may be in varying states of skill, but hey, everyone starts somewhere.

This is where I go out on a limb (oh the pun!) and cover additional values that I would hope most (if not all) druids have.

If there’s any single modern druidic writing that encompasses values, it’s the Druid’s Prayer, originally written by the bard Iolo Morganwg and has since been adapted into numerous versions. OBOD has an excellent page on the Druid’s Prayer [here] with their choice of verse. The next eight values below are right out of the prayer.

Protection: Okay, so who doesn’t want to be safe? Protection is universally important, particularly for people with fringe beliefs and practices. This is not limited to only physical protection; it can certainly also mean magical and spiritual protection as well.

Strength: I’m willing to bet this is primarily in the sense of nonphysical strength. This can mean emotional strength, courage, integrity, dedication, perseverance, and more. And yes, there are probably some body-builder druids who mean strength literally.

Knowledge: The ancient druids would take up to 19 years (vaguely like achieving a Master’s Degree today) to commit everything to memory. That included history, lore, law, medicine, astronomy/astrology, magic, theology, philosophy, logic, sacred geometry, and others. Of course with modern literacy, we can learn things much faster with the written word. That doesn’t mean we’re committing it all to memory, but we have the added ability to conduct research in the modern era and access knowledge almost instantaneously. We have a thirst for learning, which fosters a path to Awareness. Many of us are also on a quest for truth and discerning correct knowledge from the incorrect. There is a lot of misleading information out there and we feel it is important to get it right.

Understanding: I personally interpret this as wisdom. Wisdom is applied knowledge, which first requires us to understand what we know on a deeper level. Wisdom is often achieved through experiences. For many, druidry is an experiential lifestyle, not just merely a nature-based spirituality.

Justice: The ancient druids served many purposes, and some were looked up to as judges and interpreters of the law. Unfortunately we can’t all be judges, but perhaps not all ancient druids were judges anyway. Through logic and reason we can think and act justly. Living beings are deserving of fairness and a balance of equality.

Love: Concern and compassion for our fellow beings comes to us through the most powerful emotion. Sure, Nature can be cold and emotionless, yet druids still feel a driving force to gaze out at her beauty in love, wonder, and awe. (Regarding wonder and awe for Earth, see also [this video] on the Overview Effect.) For many, love is just part of the deal.

Divinity: Not all druids believe in a higher power, but many do. Some druids are hard polytheists, believing in many deities. Some druids are soft polytheists, believing that the gods are aspects of one divine source. Some druids are pantheists, believing that everything is divine, and deity is everything. Some druids are panentheists, believing everything is divine, yet deity is also a separate being. Some druids are monotheists and liberal Christians. Some druids are spiritual but not religious. Many druids, in addition to some of the above categories, are animists, believing that everything has its own spirit, even rocks and plants. Because of the flexibility in this category, it really doesn’t make a difference how you perceive divinity to be a druid. Write that down.

Goodness: Above I mentioned balance. To avoid contradictions, I should mention that balance is good in most situations. We certainly don’t need Evil to balance out Good. We don’t want half the world population to be racists, for example… zero racists is a good balance. Humility is also important. Druidry is not about egoism, nor power struggles, nor conceitedness. 

Community: The ancient druids were the spiritual leaders of their communities. Strabo mentions in Geographica  that the Gaulish Celts “…would not sacrifice without the presence of the Druids.” (Side note: most modern druid orders condemn animal or human sacrifice, but I digress.) We advance faster when we work together, such as in study groups, organizing events, or completing projects.

Leadership: Whether we are leaders of our communities, of our Groves, or how we lead our lives by example, leadership is important. There are many solo druids out there, and that’s perfectly fine. Solo druids are their own clergy, and leaders of their own spirit. Many solo druids feel they can get more accomplished if they follow their own guidance at their own pace.

There are certainly many more values that druids have that might not be listed here, but this is a good start. I am grateful with special thanks to my friends in Northern Roots Grove & Druid Order of North America (DONA) who helped ensure that I have a well-rounded list.