Paganistan: Notes from the Secret Commonwealth
In Which One Midwest Man-in-Black Confers, Converses & Otherwise Hob-Nobs with his Fellow Hob-Men (& -Women) Concerning the Sundry Ways of the Famed but Ill-Starred Tribe of Witches.
Wreath or Unicorn?
A worshiper crowns a standing stone with a wreath of flowers.
A worshiper sets a pewter unicorn on top of a standing stone.
Which of these two is the worthy offering?
Here's how you determine worthiness: focus. Does the offering enhance, or does it detract? To rephrase: what do you see first?
When you approach the standing stone crowned with the wreath, you see the standing stone. In fact, your appreciation of said stone is enhanced by knowing that someone else has venerated the Stone by giving it a gift.
When, however, you approach the standing stone with the unicorn statue sitting on top, you don't even see the standing stone. Because the human eye is drawn to the anomalous, what you see first is the unicorn. The stupid little geegaw has reduced the Stone to mere platform.
The wreath stays.
The unicorn, though, has got to go.
(The lone exception to the rule against setting something on top of a standing stone that I know of: When you sacrifice to a standing stone, it is acceptable to leave the severed head of the sacrificed animal on top of the Stone. This, by tradition, is counted as an enhancement, if a terrible one.)
It's the heart of pagan worship to treat the icon as you would treat a person. To crown someone with flowers is an act of honoring.
To put a pewter unicorn on someone's head is not even to be thought of.
Is the offering worthy or not?
Ask yourself: Wreath, or unicorn?
Photo: Robin Grimm
Bull Stone, Sweetwood Temenos, WI
Comments
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Sunday, 31 July 2022
So mote it be.
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Pour a jar of mint tea over the stone. Step back two paces and set down the jar, bow twice, clap twice, bow once again. Say: "Thank you for your presence, you make the forest feel bigger and stronger just by being here." Pick up the jar and leave.