Part 1 (Photo by Clint McKoy on Unsplash) Chapter 1, Part 2 Flight through the Forest As we flew over the treetops, with the great starry dome overhead, I seemed to be flying upside down over an ocean filled with innumerable lights. The blue child led me deep into the forest, and at one point slowed down to allow me to catch up with him. Then he locked elbows and flew with me, and suddenly all was changed. The trees glowed with light of many colors, like lamps of blue, green, red and violet, each type of tree a different hue. Some trees throbbed with light, while others gave off…

“It was a sunny day. I turned the left rear corner of a white wooden garage and pushed between bushes on my right and the garage wall. Reaching the front corner, I saw a small backyard lawn and the rear of an arrow-flight house. Immediately in front of me were two wooden lawn chairs, as white as the garage, with vertical and oblique slats in a fan-pattern for backs. A little boy, not yet four years old, was playing in a dirt pile with two yellow metal trucks; one a toy steam shovel, the other a dump truck. He looked up as I came around the lawn chair onto the…

Part 1 (Photo by Tj Holowaychuk on Unsplash) Chapter 1 1. A Visit to the Hægtessa I remember when little Dawn had a fever and had trouble sleeping, I went with Mother across the harvested fields to visit the Hægtessa. The green wall of the Hedge, tiny in the distance, grew and threw open its arms as we approached. On all sides it stretched, shutting out the Forest, except where the river ran by, downhill on the right, where the fishing lodge straddled the bank. I knew that far to the left, the hunters’ tunnel passed under the hedge. Beyond the Hedge I could see the tops of many trees,…

(Photo by Florian Klauer on Unsplash)   This document is intended as a commentary on, and companion to, Wendy’s Division of the Soul class. I have called my text ‘Multiple Souls,’ because I believe it is equally valid to say our identity is closely associated with inner spirits. Where we draw the boundary of identity depends on the circumstances. On spirit journeys we encounter deeper levels of ourselves, but we also have to deal with other entities in passing. Some of these are completely independent, others are partly integrated with the soul, partly independent of it. Please bear in mind that this is lore, not information. It isn’t necessary to…

(image from: http://startliving-now.blogspot.ca )   At Yule the world returns to its birth, recalling the awakening of our primeval ancestors as children beside their Mother, the World Tree, in the place of origin in the deep forest, now long lost. The Mother nurtured her children, and reached up to the world of the Sky Gods, through the portal of the Pole-star. This is why the Yule tree is still decorated on top with a star. From that world beyond Polaris the beneficent creative energies of the Sky Gods descended through the Mother to her children. The trees round about the place of origin were radiant with many-colored fruits, each potent with a…

Indoors or out of doors, the witch must find her spot. This is the place where she feels grounded and centered, and for her it is therefore the center, either of her dwelling or of the world. If you have an easy chair set up somewhere in your living room, this may be your spot, provided it is not placed against a wall. Mark your spot with a piece of tape or something similar if you must, though it is enough to note how you feel there and let that be your marker. Now, standing on your spot, use your magnetic compass 1 to face the four directions. Gaze into…

    In October, witches and other pagans receive visits from their ancestors and other dear dead. Traditionally, these visits begin on the new moon after Mabon. At Mabon itself, witches of many traditions journey in spirit to the Summerland and invite their dead to visit them in Middle-Earth. In some cultures, miniature spirit houses were erected or kept for the dead to stay in through this month while visiting. Thus, October is a time to focus on the encounter between life and death. Gort, the Ivy month, runs from September 30th through October 27th. Just as the holly or evergreen oak succeeds the deciduous oak in the Ogham tree…

The tale-finder had traced the story as far as a small tavern in a remote village. Quaffing his ale, he greeted the other guests and, after a customary exchange of pleasantries, asked if anyone present had heard the story Hob told of a midnight gathering of sorcerers. There was some chuckling, and then a giant of a man sitting in the corner replied that he knew the tale, or knew of it. “It isn’t much of a story,” he began. “This farmhand Hob, in some stead over the river, was about to head home for the evening when the Mistress of the farm stopped by and asked him if he…

Filling the Boat with Water The traveler in the penumbra must manage to integrate these strange practices into a reasonably normal life, or he may give the appearance of schizophrenia and wind up in an asylum, like the protagonist of the French film ‘La Vie a l’Envers [Life Upside Down]’. 1 It is probably not possible to avoid a certain appearance of eccentricity, but with circumspection one can avert raising a general alarm. While sitting in an airport and maintaining peripheral vision I found it was enough to wear dark glasses and hold a magazine in front of my face, turning the pages occasionally, to avoid appearing odd. I called…

  Notes on Our Cosmos    I am collecting notes about our cosmos which seem suggestive and relevant. The first thing to note is that our cosmos is local. A cosmos is an ordered habitation, and does not mean everything within reach of our telescopes. It is still under construction and goes through cycles of birth, growth, decay, dissolution and incubation. We shall understand what these cycles mean when we understand how life, evolution and intelligence fit into the dynamics of a cosmos. The Sun is the principal deity and world of our local cosmos, while the Earth is its principal ‘field’ of nurture. The Moon, which is the same…