Lughnasadh It’s pronounced LEW-NAS-AH.  One of the eight Pagan Sabbats, the focus is typically on an early harvest aspect and/or celebrations of the Celtic god Lugh.  During the Middle Ages it included large gatherings for ceremonies, athletic contests, horse racing and feasting, among other activities.  More recently, Lughnasadh observances were typically held atop hills and mountains.  The tradition of climbing hills and mountains has survived in some areas, reinterpreted as Christian pilgrimages.  (I’m thinking Sound of Music in robes, but that can’t be right.)  Since the late twentieth century, Celtic neopagans (us, kinda) have celebrated Lughnasadh–or observances based on it–as religious holidays. Hey, any excuse for a party! (Sources: Wikipedia, learnreligions.com)…

Weyland’s Whey July 13th “Sounds Like Salem” Part Two Column “Tact is after all a kind of mind reading.”  –Sarah Orne Jewett Sounds Like Salem, Part Two: Here There Be Pirates” Salem is most famous for witches, real and imagined, past and present, sure.  But there were pirates here too.  Lots of ’em.  And plenty roamed the North Shore during the Golden Age of Pirates (1650s to the 1730s). Guys like Black Sam Bellamy, who captured over fifty ships in the course of his career, including famous slave ship Whydah Galla.  Black Sam was one of the youngest and richest pirates ever, nicknamed the “Prince of Pirates”.  He and his crew perished…

  “In Wicca, rituals are ceremonies which celebrate and strengthen our relationships with the Goddess, the God and the Earth.” –Scott Cunningham   Doubleheader Say it “LEE-tha””.  (Don’t fret if you’ve had it wrong for years, I just learned how to pronounce it last week.)  I prefer the name Midsummer, cause to me it just sounds cooler.  Either way, this Summer Solstice Sabbat celebrates the year’s longest day.  The focus is usually on the power of the sun. This year’s Litha overlaps the June esbat.  To me, that definitely adds another layer to the celebration!  I plan to do a Sun Salutation in the morning and a Full Moon circle…

“Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the will.” –Aleister Crowley MUSIC Review Faun German group.  Pagan, folk, medieval music and darkwave.  Performances combine medieval and modern instruments like the hurdy-gurdy, lutes, bagpipes and celtic harp.  Their vocals are in diverse languages including Latin, Greek, German and English.  Formed in 1998. I had the good fortune to score a telephone interview with one of the band members a few years ago during my first stint with PaganPages.  (How many years ago?  Oh, about umpteen, back when I was still in my frisky fifties!)  It was an absolute pleasure and the friendliest interview I’ve…

Working on My Dreams The Weylander has many interests.  Coffee!  Pizza!  And dreaming.  Especially lucid dreaming, in which you realize you’re dreaming while you’re actually doing so.  This can help you achieve a sort of control over events in your dreams.  I can do it once in a blue moon.  In the most recent one, Sparkle and I were walking down a road at night.  I told her we needed a car.  She said we didn’t have one.  I said, “I’ll make one.”  And suddenly we were cruising down that country road.  (I didn’t notice what kind of a car it was, but the steering wheel was on the right.  Maybe…

Weyland’s Whey  by Weyland Smith For Your Deliberation Cody’s Wish Cody Dorman was born with a rare genetic disorder called Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome.  It severely impacts growth and development.  During a Make-a-Wish visit to Gainsborough Farm, Kentucky, in 2018, a 5-month-old weanling came over to Cody and his wheelchair and placed its head in his lap.  They bonded.  The horse’s owners decided on the name Cody’s Wish. Cody and his family often journeyed to watch the horse compete.  At the 2023 Breeder’s Cup, the horse’s final race before retirement, expectations were low.  Too many great horses.  No way Cody’s Wish could win.  When the bell rang, he started out at the…

Weyland’s Whey Beltane for Old People The Beltane Sabbat is, among other things, a celebration of union betwixt and between masculine and feminine energies.  This includes already established families (love and commitment) as well as the making of new ones (hubba hubba). Happy Anniversary, Sparkle It will never be long enough.  But eight years is a good start. Feliz Cumpleanos, Delinquent Yeah, we celebrate our little dog’s birthday.  Wanna make something of it? Music Review Keiko Matsui has made several absolutely incredible songs.  Love and Nothing Less, from her Euphoria album, is my current favorite.  Vocals by Lalah Hathaway and harmonica from Gregoire Maret.  Sparkle and I needed a song we considered “ours”. …

     by Weyland Smith   Wey’s Predictions (He’s been wrong about everything else!) Pagans–especially Wiccans–won’t like using AI to construct spells, help write how-tos, or do magickal research.  An absence of flesh and blood humanity will be thought to  taint the effectiveness of supernatural dealings, and many will avoid all use of AI in their shadow work.  No real magick is possible in it, they’ll say.  (Two flaws in this logic: just how human are the entities and forces we’re dealing with already?  And aren’t these objections akin to believing you have to write out spells in longhand instead of using a keyboard to ensure success?)  This trend won’t…