Bright Heart, Bright Mind

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Pay No Attention to That Cross Between the Antlers

“Saint” Hubert, they call him: patron of hunters.

Check out Albrecht Durer's painting of Hubert's famous vision. What do you see? A man, kneeling to a worshipful Stag, praying.

Pay no attention to that cross between the antlers.

You know the story. Maybe you've lived it yourself.

Good Friday, when all good Christians should be in church, praying. You're not among them. You, you're out in the woods instead, hunting.

Hunting.

What do you find there? The Horned, the worshipful Stag: the Animal God, lord of all humanity.

Hubert, hyge beorht in the old Language of the Witches: “bright heart”, “bright mind.”

That crucifix between the antlers? A mere cloak to hide behind during the Hidden Times, a bringing-in of the Old Ways.

The Oracle of the Swamp brings messages of awareness, warning, transformation and hidden beauty but also hidden danger. It is intricate interconnection and a delicate balance of so many forms of life. The Swamp invites you to confront obstacles and to examine and hold space in the darker realms of your existence.

This may be a time for shadow work. Like the tangled, interwoven roots beneath the surface, we are often in turmoil that is hidden beneath our own surfaces and conscious minds. It can be unpleasant, but it might be time to submerge like a stealthy crocodile and confront and untangle the messes within.

Swamps are also places of unexpected and subtle beauty that may not be obvious at first. They are as crucial to the environment as our shadow sides are to our existence. They are part of us and cannot be ignored or toxic stagnation may ensue.

Physically, the Swamp represents awareness and adaptability. Its appearance may suggest that very real, day-to-day physical challenges are present or approaching, for instance health or money matters. Something unseen may be having a profound impact and must be addressed. If it’s been a while since a check-up or other health maintenance, a visit to the doctor may be in order.

“You're glowing,” says my friend. “You must have had a good year.”

It's been three since last we talked: Paganicon as family reunion.

Actually, the year has been anything but good: difficulty after difficulty, setback after setback.

He's right, though, and not the first to remark on it: I am glowing. These are the people among whom I can be my truest self, people that speak my mother tongue.

“I'm always at my best among my own,” I say.

He laughs and shakes his head. Corny, maybe, but it's true for him, too. His family threw him out, literally, when as a teen he came out of the broom closet. Pagans have been his people, too, for more than 40 years.

The Mediterranean climate has its own unique seasonal cycle. In Ariadne’s Tribe, we’ve created a sacred calendar that acknowledges this climate and gives names to three sacred seasons: Summer, Winter, and the Blooming Time. You can find more details about this seasonal structure in this blog post.

Today I want to talk about the Blooming Time. It begins the day after Spring Equinox and ends with the Blessing of the Ships in mid-May, so it’s a fairly short season. We call it the Blooming Time because, although various trees and flowers bloom throughout most of the year on Crete, the wildflowers bloom in profusion during the Blooming Time and flowers are an important symbol of this unique season.

The winds of spring are here, carrying with them change. The earth is warming up and scenting the air. The blackbirds are singing me awake at 5am, and their songs of hope fill my heart. It’s another new day for this hedge witch.

What makes the path of the hedge witch so different from others? What does it share with other witchcraft traditions?  In this blog post, we will look at some of the differences and similarities, to hopefully provide an explanation for those who are seeking a way into this enchanted and enchanting world.

Seriously? Stormtroopers? At Paganicon?

I'm hanging out in the Druid hospitality suite when the masked and armed trio shoulder in through the doorway, scanning the crowd. The room falls silent, like the cantina scene in (speaking of which) Star Wars.

Thank Goddess for precedent. I step forward.

“These are not the Druids you're looking for,” I tell the leader in his white Darth Vader mask.

He turns to his comperes.

“These are not the Druids we're looking for,” he tells them. “Let's keep searching.”

They turn and go. Behind me, the room erupts in laughter and applause.

For some time there was no real certainty as to what causes the otherwordly phenomenon of the aurora borealis. In 2021 scientists finally confirmed that the natural light show starts when disturbances on the sun pull on Earth’s magnetic field. This creates cosmic undulations known as Alfvén waves that launch electrons at high speeds into Earth’s atmosphere where they create the aurora.

Have you ever wondered what our ancestors must have thought and felt when they saw the northern lights? How magical and surreal it must have been for them, almost as much as it is for us even now, despite knowing the exact cause. The lack of mystery does not dampen the wondrous impact the aurora has on the imagination and the soul.

One especially interesting feature that has been discovered is that electrons essentially surf on the Alfvén waves. If they move with the right speed relative to the wave, they get picked up and accelerated much like surfers catch a building wave.

This brings at least one watery allegory into the mix. Yet the aurora and water are more closely related than you might think. All the water on Earth is of interstellar origins and the northern lights undulate in very watery waves and colors. As I often say, we are made of water and starlight, so the convergence of the aurora and of flowing water is not only perfectly harmonious, it creates a powerful visualization tool for grounding, protection, inspiration and manifestation. I call this the Aurora Cascade.

A long, purple and electric blue-green curtain of dancing aurora pours itself out of the sky in a cascade that becomes indistinguishable from a singing, rushing waterfall as it falls closer to the ground. Water and light meld and shimmer in the gentle torrent. Step into the glowing falls and feel it mingle with the waters and the energy in your cells. This is the source, this is what we are made of. It is renewing and it is an ongoing cosmic blessing.

Grounding

We are the center in between the above and below. When sitting or standing within the Aurora Cascade, you are the nexus in this liminal space, the point of origin. All work – meditating, journeying, spell work, manifestation or shamanic work – ideally begins with grounding; rooting and establishing a link, but not just to the below. To the medieval alchemists, water and light were in the same symbolic family, and indeed are two of the main and most essential components to almost all life. The grounding unfolds through a conscious integration of these elemental energies, rooting the individual firmly in the earth’s embrace but also providing a tether to higher cosmic realms.