The Rabbit and the Hare.

The belief of animism is integral to tribal belief, animism is the understanding that all things in nature possess a spirit and presence of their own, so that rocks trees and the land were things to be learned from - as well as the ancestral spirits, who acted as guides for the future well-being of the tribe (although some beliefs about time were radically different to our own understanding).

Around this time of year many people celebrate the Christian festival of Easter. The symbol of fertility associated with this is one based upon the Rabbit/Hare. Below is a short summary of some of the superstitions and folklore surrounding these animals.

Considering a rabbit's foot lucky is actually an ancient tradition in much of the world. At least as far back as the 7th century BCE, the rabbit was a talismanic symbol in Africa, and in Celtic Europe, rabbits were considered lucky as well. Thus keeping a part of the rabbit was considered good fortune, and a rabbit's foot was a handy means by which to benefit from the luck of the rabbit.  One might argue that it's not so lucky for the rabbit.

These traditions were not marred much by the onset of other more prominent religions like Christianity. Even in the strongly Catholic Ireland of the Middle Ages, there were still superstitious beliefs regarding fairies or the Tuatha De Danaan who resided underground. Gradually, as Christianity spread in Ireland, the old Gods of Celtic belief became associated with hell. Rabbits were thought to have special protective powers needed for residing underground. Thus the rabbit's foot could be protection from evil spirits, and is even considered so today.

Other ancient groups imbued the rabbit's foot with specific forms of luck. To the Chinese, a rabbit's foot may be a symbol of prosperity. Also the known proclivity for rabbits to reproduce quickly and breed often has been noted in numerous cultures past and present. The rabbit’s foot can be carried by women who wish to get pregnant, or who wish to enhance their sexual lives. Sexuality in general is also related to the wish for abundance, fertile crops, and good weather.

Some traditions of how to collect a rabbit's foot state that they're only lucky when taken from cross-eyed rabbits living in graveyards. On the night of a full moon, you must shoot the rabbit with a silver bullet. Further, only the left hind foot is lucky in many traditions. If you can manage all that you don’t need a rabbit’s foot. You must be the luckiest person around.
Fertility rituals: place a rabbit skin under your bed to bring fertility and abundance to your sexual activities. If you're opposed to the use of real fur, use some other symbol of the rabbit that you're more comfortable with.

To bring yourself boundless energy, carry a talisman engraved or painted with a rabbit's image.

If you have wild rabbits or hares that live in your yard, leave them an offering of lettuce, shredded carrots, cabbage, or other fresh greens. In some magical traditions, the wild rabbit is associated with the deities of spring.

Rabbits and hares are able to go to ground quickly if in danger. Add a few rabbit hairs to a witch bottle for protection magic.

In some legends, rabbits and hares are the messengers of the underworld -- after all, they come and go out of the earth as they please. If you're doing a meditation that involves an underworld journey, call upon the rabbit to be your guide.

A hare was a dreaded animal to see on a May morning. An old Irish legend tells of a hare being spotted sucking milk from a cow. The hare was chased by hounds and received a bad wound and it made its way into an old house to hide. When the house was searched all that was found was an old woman hiding a wound. The woman of the house had a central role in dairy production. From this fact springs the idea that women were those essentially involved in the theft of the farmers "profit". Old, widowed, unmarried or independent women were usually pinpointed as the main culprits.

Hares feature in Irish folklore, and the hare is older than our island’s culture itself. The Irish hare has been immortalised as the animal gracing the Irish pre-decimal three pence piece. Hare mythology exists throughout almost every ancient culture and when the first settlers colonised Ireland, the Irish hare was already an iconic figure. There are many examples in Celtic mythology, and storytellers still relate tales of women who can shape-change into hares. The cry of the Banshee foretelling death might be legend but it may have parallels with the Irish hare of today as it struggles to avoid extinction in modern times.

For ancient communities that had struggled to survive the winter with limited food reserves, eggs were often the first of nature’s bounty to save them from starvation. No wonder then that the hare was revered as a symbol of life and endowed with magical powers.

In some parts of Ireland hares continue to be celebrated. The legendary ‘White Hare of Creggan’ can be seen at the An Creagan Visitor Centre in County Tyrone and its white silhouette still adorns local houses.

The Celts believed that the goddess Eostre's favourite animal and attendant spirit was the hare. It represented love, fertility and growth and was associated with the Moon, dawn and Easter, death, redemption and resurrection. Eostre changed into a hare at the full Moon. The hare was sacred to the White Goddess, the Earth Mother, and as such was considered to be a royal animal. Boudicca was said to have released a hare as a good omen before each battle and to divine the outcome of battle by the hare's movements. She took a hare into battle with her to ensure victory and it was said to have screamed like a woman from beneath her cloak.

Eostre, the Celtic version of Ostara, was a goddess also associated with the moon, and with mythic stories of death, redemption, and resurrection during the turning of winter to spring. Eostre, too, was a shape–shifter, taking the shape of a hare at each full moon; all hares were sacred to her, and acted as her messengers. Caesar recorded that rabbits and hares were taboo foods to the Celtic tribes.

In Ireland, it was said that eating a hare was like eating one’s own grandmother — perhaps due to the sacred connection between hares and various goddesses, warrior queens, and female faeries, or else due to the belief that old "wise women" could shape–shift into hares by moonlight. From 1893 edition of Folklore: “Country people in Kerry don’t eat hares; the souls of their grandmothers are supposed to have entered into them.

The Celts used rabbits and hares for divination and other shamanic practices by studying the patterns of their tracks, the rituals of their mating dances, and mystic signs within their entrails. It was believed that rabbits burrowed underground in order to better commune with the spirit world, and that they could carry messages from the living to the dead and from humankind to the faeries.

The Celtic warrior Oisin hunted a hare and wounded it in the leg, forcing it to seek refuge in a clump of bushes. When Oisin followed it he found a door leading into the ground and he eventually emerged into a huge hall where he found a beautiful young woman sitting on a throne bleeding from a wound in her leg. The transmigration of the soul is clearly seen in Celtic lore such as this, the life of the body is not the end of the spirit, this is understood to take other forms successively.

In Europe there are wide-spread remnants of a cult of a hare goddess and man has for centuries feared the hare because of the supernatural powers with which he has endowed her solitude, her remoteness and her subtle, natural skills. Active at night, symbolic of the intuitive, and the fickleness of the moon, the hare is an emblem of inconstancy. Like the moon which is always changing places in the sky, hares have illogical habits and are full of mystery and contradictions. Certainly it has never been regarded as an ordinary creature in any part of the world, and in ancient Egypt the hare was used as a Hieroglyph for the word denoting existence

Many divergent cultures link the hare with the moon and Buddhists have a saying about the "shadow of the hare in the moon" instead of the man in the moon. They see the hare as a resurrection symbol. The moon is perhaps the most manifest symbol of this universal becoming, birth, growth, reproduction, death and rebirth. The moon disappears, dies and is born again, and this underlies most primitive initiation rites, that a being must die before he can be born again on a higher spiritual level.

The symbol of the hare was used deliberately to transfer old pagan religion into a Christian context, and the Albrecht Durer woodcut of the Holy Family (1471-1 528) clearly depicts three hares at the family’s feet. Later superstition changed the Easter hare into the Easter rabbit or bunny, far less threatening than the ancient pagan symbol and very few people will be aware that the hare ever held such standing.

As the ancient beliefs died, superstitions about the hare were rife and many witches were reported to have hares as their familiars.

Today we talk of a lucky rabbit's foot but for many generations a hare's paw or foot was used as a charm against evil, a throw-back to the long forgotten belief in Eostre the Celtic dawn goddess.

As Christianity took hold in Western Europe, hares and rabbits, so firmly associated with the Goddess, came to be seen in a less favourable light — viewed suspiciously as the familiars of witches, or as witches themselves in animal form. Numerous folk tales tell of men led astray by hares who are really witches in disguise, or of old women revealed as witches when they are wounded in their animal shape.

Although rabbits, in the Christian era, were still sometimes known as good luck symbols (hence the tradition of carrying a "lucky rabbit’s foot"), they also came to be seen as witch–associated portents of disaster.

Despite this suspicious view of rabbits and their association with fertility and sexuality, Renaissance painters used the symbol of a white rabbit to convey a different meaning altogether: one of chastity and purity. It was generally believed that female rabbits could conceive and give birth without contact with the male of the species, and thus virginal white rabbits appear in biblical pictures of the Madonna and Child. The gentle timidity of rabbits also represented unquestioning faith in Christ’s Holy Church in paintings such as Titian’s Madonna with Rabbit (1530).

Hares were strongly associated with witches. The hare is quiet and goes about its business in secret. They are usually solitary, but occasionally they gather in large groups and act very strangely, much like a group of people having a conference. A hare can stand on its hind legs like a person; in distress, it utters a strange, almost human cry which is very disconcerting to the listener. Watching such behaviour, people claimed that a witch could change her form at night and become a Hare. In this shape she stole milk or food, or destroyed crops. Others insisted that hares were only witches' familiars. These associations caused many people to believe hares were bad luck, and best avoided.

A hare crossing one's path, particularly when the person was riding a horse, caused much distress. Still, the exact opposite superstition claimed that carrying a rabbit's or hare's foot brought good luck. There is no logic to be found in superstitions.

The Hare.

Hares are considered unlucky, as the witches constantly assume their form in order to gain entrance to a field where they can bewitch the cattle. A man once fired at a hare he met in the early morning, and having wounded it, followed the track of the blood till it disappeared within a cabin. On entering he found Nancy Molony, the greatest witch in all the county, sitting by the fire, groaning and holding her side. And then the man knew that she had been out in the form of a hare, and he rejoiced over her discomfiture.

Or:

A tailor one time returning home very late at night from a wake, or better, very early in the morning, saw a hare sitting on the path before him, and not inclined to run away. He approached, with his stick raised to strike her, as he did so he distinctly heard a voice saying, "Don't kill it." However, he struck the hare three times, and each time heard the voice say, "Don't kill it." The last blow knocked the poor hare quite dead and immediately a great big weasel sat up, and began to spit at him. This greatly frightened the tailor who, grabbed the hare, and ran off as fast as he could. Seeing him look so pale and frightened, his wife asked the cause, on which he told her the whole story; and they both knew he had done wrong, and offended some powerful witch, who would be avenged. However, they dug a grave for the hare and buried it; for they were afraid to eat it, and thought that now perhaps the danger was over. However, the next day the man became suddenly speechless, and died before the seventh day was over, without a word evermore passing his lips; and then all the neighbours knew that the witch-woman had taken her revenge.

When you next see hares boxing in the fields, remember that they are not simply soft cute animals. They carry millennia of mythology, folklore and tradition with them. Mankind's reverence has helped them to shape the rituals and traditions that we still celebrate across the world.

Keep smiling.



 

The History of Irish Soda Bread.

If you thought that soda bread was Irish then you would be wrong. It appears that honour belongs to the First Nation Indians on the American continent who used soda ash in baking their bread. Now we have made it our own and it has become known as Irish Soda Bread. This turn of events was brought about by poverty for the use of soft wheat flour and bicarbonate of soda was ideal for making what was then known as ‘Quick bread’ getting it to the table a lot faster than yeast based bread. In1908 2/3rds of the flour used in Ireland was soft wheat from the U.S. 90% of the flour used in Belfast and 80% of the flour used in Dublin was soft wheat

In 1850 it was reported that during the failure of the potato a large amount of bicarbonate of soda was used by the poor in the preparation of bread. This resulted in a shortage of bicarbonate of soda and unscrupulous dealers rose their prices accordingly. Crooked dealers also sold substitutes for bicarbonate of soda that caused many deaths.

In 1835 pre-packed ‘Royal Baking Powder’ was introduced. This combined bicarbonate of soda with cream of tartar to create the acid/alkali combination resulting in the release of carbon dioxide gas this in turn causes the bread to rise. It was introduced in baking around 1840, how it was first introduced is still unsure.

Sour milk was used in the making of soda bread in Ireland in the early years, a great way of using up something that would be normally thrown out.  However, buttermilk is used today. If you wish you can now buy a buttermilk powder that you just add to water.

Before baking your loaf, cut a cross on the top with a sharp knife. This is said to ward off the devil and protect the household , in reality it allows the bread to heat right through.  The shape of the loaf can differ depending on where you live. In the Southern part of Ireland it is shaped and baked as a round loaf with the cross marked on the top. In the Northern part of the Island it is flattened into a round disc and then divided into four equal triangular shapes. Each is then cooked on a flat griddle.

Bread making formed an important part of daily life within an Irish household. Most families lived in isolated farmhouses and with kitchens that had an open fireplace and no oven. Bread was baked on griddles or three legged black iron pots (Dutch ovens), hung on a crane over a turf fire. Due to the fact that the pot had three legs you could place it directly onto the hot embers, place a few hot embers onto its lid and here it would bake. You ended up with a lovely loaf that was tender and dense with a hard crust and a sour, tangy taste.

In our house n south Mayo soda bread was called farl, (pronounced farel).  The word derives from the Gaelic Fardel which literally means ‘four parts’ and this refers to the way you cut the cross into the top and when the bread is cut into four quarters when baked.

When the bread has been cooked it is wrapped in a clean tea towel until it has cooled down and this keeps the crust soft. Unless of course you eat it straight away. All that’s left to add is fresh butter, jam, and a nice mug of tea. On a cold spring equinox day like today, freezing wind and biting cold rain. A nice slice of farl with a hot mug of tea is just right. Keep smiling and don't forget the jam.

Source:www.sodabread.info/sodabreadhistory

 

The legend of the Snowdrop.

Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, a place where the sun shone every day, where they were warm and happy and had everything they could possibly wish for or want.  Unfortunately for them it was winter when they landed on earth, heavy rain, cold winds and dark grey skies. Eve spent every moment shivering, something she had never experienced before, she never needed to wear clothes, she didn’t even know what clothes were.  It was so cold that she felt as if her blood was beginning to freeze, and then the snow began to fall.  

At first the snow looked so pretty but that soon wore off, the blizzards made her eyes sting, her face hurt, her fingers were going numb and her body began to freeze.  Eve fell into a deep despair, would this cold never end, would she ever feel the warmth of the sun upon her face, would she ever feel warm again? She fell to her knees and began to cry. 

God hadn’t abandoned Adam and Eve completely, he had sent an angel to watch over them Upon seeing Eve kneeling in the snow in a state of deep despair sobbing her eyes out the angel asked her why she was so sad.  Eve told the angel that she despaired of ever feeling warm again, she had given up hope of ever seeing the sun, of ever being happy.  

The angel reached down and picked up a snowflake, gently she breathed on it and let it fall back to the frozen ground.  Every time she did this the snowflake turned into a small flower as white as the snow upon which it fell until Eve was surrounded by a carpet of small pure white flowers. 

“Why have you done this for me?” asked Eve,

The angel replied “To show you that winter will end, the flowers will bloom again and the sun will shine. This gift I give you is the gift of Hope”.

The flowers that the angel made became known as Snowdrop and they give us hope of a new spring, a new beginning, and new life.

So never give up for the sun will shine again tomorrow.

Keep smiling.

SilentOwl.

Love you forever.

A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say, "This child is driving me MAD!"

At night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

The little boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was nine years old.  He never wanted to come in for dinner, he never wanted to take a bath, and when grandma visited he always said bad words. Sometimes his mother wanted to sell him to the zoo!

But at night time, when he was asleep, the mother quietly opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep, she picked up that nine-year-old boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

The boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a teenager. He had strange friends and he wore strange clothes and he listened to strange music. Sometimes the mother felt like she was in a zoo!

But at night time, when that teenager was asleep, the mother opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep she picked up that great big boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

That teenager grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a house across town. But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and drove across town. If all the lights in her son's house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of his bed. If that great big man was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

Well, that mother, she got older. She got older and older and older. One day she called up her son and said, "You'd better come see me because I'm very old and sick." So her son came to see her. When he came in the door she tried to sing the song. She sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always...

But she couldn't finish because she was too old and sick. The son went to his mother. He picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And he sang this song:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my Mother you'll be.

When the son came home that night, he stood for a long time at the top of the stairs. Then he went into the room where his very new baby daughter was sleeping. He picked her up in his arms and very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang:

I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

From book by Robert Munsch. I recommend his books. http://www.robertmunsch.com

This shows that love can be displayed in many different ways. Here it is the mother's love for a child.

Keep Smiling and Happy Valentine's Day.

SilentOwl.

Timeless Love.

Once upon a time, long, long ago. When the world was full of wonder.

All the feelings and emotions in the world lived on a small Island: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge and all the others, including Love.  One day the elders gathered them all together and told them that the Island was going to sink and so they must all build boats and leave.  All obeyed, all that is except for Love. Love wanted to wait until the last possible moment.

When the Island had almost sunk into the sea, Love decided to ask for help.  Richness was passing in a boat so love called out to him,

“Richness, can you take me with you?”

“Sorry Love, I cannot. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat and there is no place here for you” answered Richness.

Love next asked Vanity who was sailing by in her boat.  However, Vanity was also unwilling to help her

.

“I cannot help you, Love, You are all wet and might damage my pretty paintwork” said Vanity.

Next to pass by was Sadness. Love called out to Sadness,

“Sadness, take me with you”

“I cannot help you, I am so sad that I just want to be by myself” replied Sadness.

Happiness, loneliness, fear, anger, all passed by each unwilling to help. Each had their own problems.

Suddenly there was a voice,

“Come, Love, I will take you”

It was one of the elders. An overjoyed Love jumped into the boat. She was so happy that she completely forgot to ask where they were going.  Eventually they all arrived at dry land. The elder went on her way leaving Love to decide on where she wished to go.

Love, realising how much she owed to the elder asked Knowledge, one of the other elders,

“Who was that elder who helped me”?

“It was Time” answered Knowledge,

“Time?” thought Love. “Why would Time help me?”

Knowledge saw the look of puzzlement upon Love’s face smiled and said,

“Time helped you because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is”

Ever since then that is the way it has been and now the story is yours.

Keep smiling and Happy Valentine's Day.

SilentOwl.

Heuston Station.

A Valentine’s story.

Séan O’Loughlin stood in Heuston Station near Eason newsagents. He was watching the throngs of commuters as they hurried to and fro going about their daily business. He was waiting, but waiting for what or who, the answer to that lies back about three months ago.

Séan had decided that something was missing in his life; he’d tried all the normal channels, work, nightclubs, and bars. In fact all the social activities where you might hope to meet someone to share your life with but to no avail.  You see Séan was looking for a soul mate; in short Séan was looking for love. One of his friends had suggested dating sites but Séan had tried that before with varying results. Another friend suggested the internet as there were chat rooms where you could meet people and get to know them before making any sort of commitment. Séan decided to give it a go.

He made contact with a woman called Mary O’Neill, she seemed to be someone he could chat to and they began to build a relationship. He sent her a photograph of himself and asked if she would send him one of hers, she refused.  She said that if he really cared for her then looks didn’t matter, its’s inside that really counts. She even refused to use a video link. As their relationship developed they found they had a lot in common, they thought alike and Séan realised that he was falling in love with her through her words even though they had never met.

After three months of writing to each other they decided to meet. They arranged to meet at 6-00pm near the newsagents in Heuston station on Valentine’s Day.  She wrote “You will be able to recognise me as I will be carrying a red rose, I will have your photograph with me”.  The six o clock train arrived and Séan stood waiting in anticipation, butterflies seemed to be going mad in his stomach. Finally he saw a group of people making their way along the platform.  He saw a young blond haired woman with green eyes walking towards him, she wore a coat of the most amazing blue and his heart missed a beat. He smiled at her and was just about to introduce himself when he noticed that she was not carrying a rose.  However, right behind her was a woman who looked to be in her late forties with a tuft of greying hair peeping out from under a worn hat. She was rather overweight and her plump ankles were squeezed into a pair of well worn shoes.  She had brown eyes that seemed to twinkle with a warm smile and a kindly expression. She had in her hand a red rose.

Séan quickly looked towards the woman in the blue coat; she was headed towards the Galway Hooker. He hesitated wanting to rush after her but knowing that he couldn’t. He thought of all those hours writing to each other, the words that meant so much to him.  He remembered how he waited each evening by his laptop waiting for her to log on and he realised that looks were not important, Mary’s words came back to him “Its what’s inside that really counts”.  He realised that although she may not look as beautiful as the woman in the blue coat her beauty lay in her words, her friendship and companionship were the things that had raised his spirits and touched his soul. His sense of disappointment vanished and he turned towards the woman on the platform,

“Hello” he said, “I’m Séan, I’m so happy to meet you after all this time, may I take you to lunch?”

“Hello” replied the woman, “I really don’t know what’s going on but the lady in the blue coat gave me this rose. She said that if you introduced yourself then I was to tell you she would meet you in the bar over there, you know, the Galway Hooker?”

“Yes” said Séan, “I know it, but what’s going on?”

The woman replied, “She said it was some sort of test”

Séan nodded, now he understood. Smiling he thanked the woman and headed over to the Galway Hooker.  

He had passed the test, would you?

The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive.  (Arsène Houssaye, 28th March 1815 – 26th February 1896)

Adapted from a true story concerning Lieutenant John Blanchard a WWII soldier.

Keep smiling and Happy Valentine's Day.

SilentOwl.

What is paganism?

Someone asked me “What is Paganism, what does it mean?”

Well now, that’s rather a broad question and it may be open to very different interpretations but here goes.

Paganism is an umbrella term that encompasses many different strands and includes polytheistic belief which is based upon a belief in multiple deities.  These are usually a pantheon of gods and goddesses and have their own spiritual beliefs and rituals. A great number of pagans may construct their various systems of belief and ritual from records and folklore and may be called Neo-Pagan or New-Pagan. Wicca and Druidism may be considered within this group.

There are also indigenous pagans and they base their beliefs upon a system or philosophies that has been practiced and passed from one generation to the next and is native to a place or region. Shintoism in Japan for example.  These practices usually involve beliefs that define a people of a particular area and tradition that makes them a distinct community. These practices and rituals may also be attached to particular sacred places or gods and goddesses and for that reason they may not transfer from one place to another (aboriginal peoples).

Pagans may be trained in particular traditions although this is not true of all pagans. Some may follow their own path or inspiration. Paganism has no written dogma and so you are free to pursue your own vision of what you perceive the creator to be (or not) and experience a very personal journey upon your chosen path. However, paganism is earth based spirituality and is based upon a belief in nature; it believes that all things are sacred to the creator whatever you conceive him or her to be.  All have a spirit or essence be it plant or animal, mountain or stream.

Paganism is in many ways the way of your ancestors, of all humanity.  It is representative of a wide variety of traditions that have a great reverence for nature and although it does not have a written doctrine it is still classed as a religion.  However, it does have some common characteristics with other forms of religious practice as it believes in a divine presence in nature and the natural order of life.  To say that paganism is a religion is open to a great deal of argument, for instance who can really define what religion means?  I know there is a dictionary definition for the word but I’m not a dictionary.

The dictionary definition would have you believe that religion can be defined as a belief in a supernatural power or powers regarded as creating or governing the universe. Buddhism or the Tao to mention just two may find they have an issue with that, and then again who can really define what supernatural really is?  Buddha may have been considered a spiritual leader but how do you define spiritual?  As a druid I cannot be defined by a label, pagan for me has no real meaning if it is used to separate me from me.  As a druid I and others like me (although not all), practice a way of life. I say practice because that is what we do, we practice.  In other words we continue to learn, to grow and to continue that growth until the day we are taken to the Summerland’s to await rebirth.

Pagans should neither define themselves as different nor accept that label being thrust upon them.  Rather than refer to paganism as a religion society should really ask why people’s rights are not protected. I refer to the right of all people to choose their belief and to act upon that choice.  Their choice of symbols should be respected and not denigrated by associating them with the Christian cult of Satanism (Devil worship).  Pagans should be accorded their rights under the laws of the land. They should be entitled to their own rituals such as Hand fastening and given recognition under the marriage laws. Pagans should be allowed spiritual advisors in institutions such as prisons and hospitals and before you say they are it is not the case in all.  I was an inpatient in hospital and never once saw a sign for pagans only for Christians or those of the other recognised churches (Jewish, Muslim).  The same can be said of university/college.  After all isn’t paganism practiced by billions of people the world over and is truly the traditional belief system of all (that which has gone before).

As a druid I would never bless a tank or missile before it is put into action. I would never wear a military uniform adorned with a religious symbol and bless the troops before they go into battle. I would not use my belief as a weapon in order to act as a ‘suicide bomber’ or throw acid in the face of young girls, shoot or stone them.  I am not judging those who may carry out these practices but I sometimes wonder why pagans are considered as people who would 'sacrifice young babies' (tongue in cheek) or 'devil worshipers' while perpetrators of such atrocities are welcomed into the U.N. However, that’s an argument for another day. I do not judge but I will not pretend either.

It is unfortunately part of the human make up to destroy that which is good. Not all humans are guilty of this but there are a great number in their ranks.  It is so easy to abdicate responsibility and blame it all on someone else, “Its gods will”, “by the grace of god”, “god wants you to kill the non-believer”. George Bernard Shaw said it best when he said “Beware of the man whose god is in the skies”; people should not be judged on what they believe but from how they act.

Has that answered the question “What is paganism?” I don’t know, I’m only one person and there are so many different interpretations.  If it does then I thank you, if not, then I thank you and wish you good fortune on your continuing journey.  May your creator bless you, whatever you conceive her or him to be?

Keep smiling.

SilentOwl.