The Juggler Blog - Film Review - Ondine

Over at The Juggler Blog there is a nice review of a new Neil Jordan movie - Ondine:


"...This is how Jordan’s film begins as well- the fisherman (very agreeably played by Colin Farrell) is hauling in his nets- when he spies a beautiful sylph-like maiden in its midst. He quickly revives her, but she has no memory of who she is; she begs him not to let anyone else see her. Intrigued and enchanted, Farrell moves Ondine into a small cottage (that formerly belonged to his mother) and begins a fascinated romance with the lovely and strange woman whom he pulled up out of the ocean and who has such affinity for the water.

Jordan’s films are always visually ravishing and Ondine celebrates the exceptional scenery of the Irish sea-coast; it is a lyrically beautiful movie, a charming Irish fable about a water-spright and the mortal man who loves her. Farrell (who so often, as in Minority Report and Alexander,has to “hide” his Irishness) is delightfully sly and witty speaking with his native inflections; he is also a very naturalistic actor, with an admirable talent for the unaffected performance." ...(Cont.)..

New movie - The Pagan Queen

"Libuse, the Slavic queen of 8th century Bohemia was gifted with supernatural powers, a visionary and a seer. In a turbulent time of cultural change Libuse envisioned the modern city of Prague and ruled over her tribes with gentle wisdom during the magical times before Christianity and scripture, which are remembered in myths and legends. The film recreates the pagan culture and rituals of the dark ages in a realistic fashion and was shot on location in the Czech Republic in reconstructed Slavic settlements and ancient forests. It will be released in the US June 29 on DVD by Vanguard Cinema after its theatrical run in Europe in winter 2009/2010."

More
Plot Summary for The Pagan Queen
The Pagan Queen Sample
THE PAGAN QUEEN - film trailer
THE PAGAN QUEEN (with Joy Divison) -

Родноверие(Slavic pagan)
Nature & Slavic Paganism
Slavic mythology
Perun - Slavic Thunder God
Arkona - Slav'sia Rus'

Ancient Peruvian Sun festival

 In Cuzco, Peru thousands celebrate the Festival of the Sun or Inti Raymi around the solstice.  We get a view of this celebration from Ron Verzuh of the Vancouver Sun  

"...The Inca Empire thrived for about 100 years through the mid-1400s and abruptly ended in 1532 when the Spanish conquistadors rode into Cusco on horseback and began destroying what the Inca people had built. In 1572, the Spanish banned Inti Raymi as a pagan ritual that challenged Catholicism.

The crowd that had gathered -- as many as 100,000 onlookers -- awaited the emperor. Cheering erupted as he arrived on the shoulders of his guards. As he raised his arms, the sun seemed to blink at him, indicating that it was still up there somewhere despite the heavy cloud cover. Then, miraculously, it began to shine. The crowd oooed and ahhed." ...(Cont.)...

More
Inti Raymi - Wikipedia
The Inti Raymi or Festival of the Sun
"Inti Raymi", the Sun celebration

English priest goes to Witch Camp

Mark Townsend - an Anglican priest went to a Witch Camp over the summer solstice in Pendle, England, and reports on his his experience among pagans in his article for the Guardian - A priest at Pendle Witch Camp  

Mark Townsend

"...During the time I served as a vicar, I naturally began to use my own magical illusions as a tool to evoke wonder and awe – and to try to get people to think twice. I did this because many Christian folk seem to me to be living largely disenchanted lives. Perhaps it's all the dogma, the rather stale services, and the general heaviness of establishment religion that closes so many people to mystery and wonder. Pagans, on the other hand, are radically alert to the magic of life, the planet and everything around them. They use symbol and ritual in such a way that connects powerfully with the human soul and makes sense not just to the mind, but to the heart and imagination, also."  ...(Cont.)...
 
Pendle Witch Camp

Religion and Science

Krista Tippett, over at The Huffington Post, has an interesting evaluation of the interaction between science and religion in her post - Religion and Science: Finding Their Kindred Spirits

"...Einstein put it this way, helpfully: science is good at describing what is, but it does not describe what should be. That is one way to talk about the role that religious and spiritual practice, our sense of what is right and sacred, plays in human life. And for the record, I don't believe that spiritual and moral life ceases in the absence of belief in God. Einstein didn't believe in the personal God of traditional religion. But he did profess a "cosmic religious sense" driven by "inklings" and "wonderings" rather than answers and certainties. Its hallmarks were a reverence for beauty and a sense of wonder that, he acknowledged, he shared with lovers of art and religion."  ...(Cont.)...

An academic & Paganism at The Wild Hunt

P. Sufenas Virius Lupus has written one of a number of guest posts at The Wild Hunt Blog while Jason is away at Pagan Spirit Gathering.  Mr Lupus is a as a professional academic and adjunct instructor who has some important ideas in his post titled - Paganism, Magic, and Witchcraft: It’s Academic

"...The academic engagement with Paganism, as well as Pagan involvement in academia, could be very useful indeed. But, until academia takes modern Pagans as subjects of useful study on a wider basis, as well as considers practicing Pagans as equally viable to study such subjects (whether modern Paganism or ancient and medieval literature, culture, history, and magic), then full religious equality within the Ivory Tower will not be a reality.

In my opinion, it is no coincidence that questions of hermeneutics are at the forefront of academic discussions of methodology in many fields; but it is the god Hermes who is at the root of the very practice of interpretive sciences, if you like, both etymologically and functionally."  ...(Cont.)... 

Forest transition and climate change

Here is an interesting article from Scientific American titled Forests Transition as New England Warms:

"...In Canada and the Pacific Northwest, vast stretches of pine are being denuded by mountain pine beetles marching eastward.

In the upper Midwest, deer and earthworms are flourishing in the warmth, stripping the forest groundfloor and pushing out natural conifers.

In New England, the majestic hemlocks that were grist for Longfellow and Frost are doomed by the steady advance of a pest in warmer winters.

"To see hundreds of acres of dead forest like this in New England is remarkable," said Foster.

He moved with long strides through a thick underbrush of huckleberry and cat brier recently to a crest of the island, crowned with ashen-colored trunks of dead oak. The view of dead trees, he said, was "startling."  ...(Cont.)...

Summer Solstice celebrations with video

Litha - Summer Solstice
Litha
Litha
Celebration of the Summer Solstice/Litha
Summer Solstice Sunrise 2009 Glastonbury Tor
Avebury - Summer Solstice 2009
Summer Solstice at the Rollright Stones
Cumbrian Druid Order at Castlerigg
Stonehenge Summer Solstice 2009
Stonehenge Summer Solstice 2009
Summer Solstice celebration festival in Somerset England
Midsummer in Sweden
Midsummer in Sweden
Små grodorna
Midsummer Festival 2009 - Kernave, Lithuania
Latvia's midsummer's night festival or "Ligo!"
Summer Solstice "Kupala 2006" in Russia
Wicca - Filhas da Deusa - Ritual Litha
2009 Seattle WA Solstice Parade
Seattle Fremont Solstice Parade 2009
Belly Dancers in the Fremont Solstice Parade
Billion Belly Dance Parade
Santa Barbara Solstice Parade 2009
Summer Solstice Celebration 2009 at Live Earth Farm
One Day's Faces at Summer Solstice
Lisa Thiel - Litha (Summer Solstice Song)
Rasa Vitalia - Summer Solstice - San Rafael CA
Kristin Hoffmann~"SONGS of LIGHT"~Solstice Festival
Summer Solstice Sunrise At Arbor Low
Summer Solstice Glastonbury Tor with Mushroom Song
Paris fete de la musique ( Paris Music Solstice Celebration)
Solstice Song
maddy prior summer-the swimming song
Jethro Tull Songs From The Wood
Of the Wand and the Moon: - Summer Solstice
Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke - See The Sun
Enigma - Following The Sun
Meera Dance Of The Solstice
Reflections ~ Summer Solstice

Starhawk - The Oil Spill and the Soul of Nature

Here is Starhawk's latest blog at the Washington Post titled - The Oil Spill and the Soul of Nature

"...In the Pagan view, ecocide is a heinous crime on a level with genocide--for indeed, to kill an ecosystem is to destroy the people and cultures that depend on it for survival... ...(Cont.)...

"The world needs to shift to values which have long been held by Pagans but are certainly not unique to us. Indeed, every religion holds within it an imperative to care for and nurture creation. We must make a shift to a culture that values life over profits and the health of the environment over the financial balance sheet. To do so is not only a moral and religious imperative but a matter of survival. We are meant to be earth healers, not destroyers, and a moral person is one who cares for the web of life which sustains and supports us all."

Midsummer in the Baltics

Here is a story about Summer Solstice festivities in the Baltic region of Europe from the Baltic Times

"...In both Latvia and Estonia couples are encouraged to go into the wilderness to look for the mythical ''fern flower'', this, in fact, a euphemism for outdoor love making. A Latvian NGO working to educate young people about sexual health appropriately calls itself ''Papardes Zieds'' or fern flower after the popular myth.

Estonian folklore talks of a particular couple Koit (dawn) and Hamarik (dusk) who only ever meet once a year on Jaaniohtu or Midsummer's Eve and exchange a quick kiss before going their separate ways.

While Latvians just search for the fern flower, Estonians are also on the lookout for Jaaniuss or glow-worms said to make their first appearances around about June 23. This is not a myth and not a euphemism.

Another tradition both nations share is the lighting of a Midsummer bonfire and the jumping over it. The ritual seemingly brings good luck to whoever successfully avoids the flame, and brings prosperity. The fire is also lit to frighten creatures away from the new crops thus ensuring a good harvest."  ...(Cont.)...

More on Baltic Paganism.
Neopaganism in Central-Eastern Europe
Midsummer Day
Baltic Religion
ROMUVA
The BALTIC RITE
The Recurring World Tree in European Paganism
The Latvian Dievturi Church
The Baltic Crusades
Lithuanian_mythology
RELIGION IN THE MEDIEVAL BALTIC
YouTube
Oi, tu, bijun, bijuneli
Saule Perkons Daugava - an essay for non-Latvians
Latvia's midsummer's night festival or "Ligo!"
Midsummer Festival 2009 - Kernave, Lithuania
Kūlgrinda - bernužėli kareiveli
Kūlgrinda - Nuslaide saulala
Kūlgrinda - Apėja sauliutė
kulgrinda - zeminnika kweitaakedi
Kulgrinda live  
Izdejot laiku 
IZDEJOT LAIKU - Četras stihijas / Four elements
TDA DANCIS - Pie Daugavas  
Gatves deja
Mana dziesma
Dziesma, ar ko tu sācies

Van Morrison - Into The Mystic

Van Morrison was born George IVAN Morrison on August 31, 1945 in Belfast Northern Ireland.  His father was a shipyard worker with a large collection of American blues and Jazz records that Van listened to as a child.   His family roots descend from the Ulster Scots who settled in and around Belfast. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about him:

"His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely viewed as among the greatest ever made."  ...(Cont.)...


I believe that his music is inspired and inspiring.  He has alot to say to those with spiritual and Pagan sensibilities.  See if you agree.


More from Van Morrison
Van Morrison - "Moondance" - Live 1980
Van Morrison - Celtic new year
Gloria - Van Morrison, John Lee Hooker
Enlightenment - Van Morrison
van morrison-high summer
Van Morrison Twilight Zone
PHILOSOPHER'S STONE - Van Morrison
Van Morrison Magic Time
Van Morrison In The Garden
VAN MORRISON - WILD NIGHT
Rave On John Donne - Van Morrison
Van Morrison Live at the Montreaux Jazz Festival
Van Morrison Domino
Cold Wind in August - Van Morrison
Foreign Window - Van Morrison, Bob Dylan
Crazy Love - Van Morrison 
Van Morrison - Steal my heart away
Van Morrison Precious Time
Van Morrison I'm Not Feeling It Any More
Van Morrison Song Of Home
VAN MORRISON DAYS LIKE THIS
TIME Magazine Interviews: Van Morrison
Van Morrison Part 1
Van Morrison Part 2  

June - Pagan Values Month

In the Pagan Blogosphere the month of June has been dubbed Pagan Values Month.  The essay on this topic over at the Meadowsweet and Myrrh Blog I find interesting and compelling:

"For the second year running, June's "Pagan Values Month" has seen quite a bit of discussion... not about values per se, but about Pagan self- and community-identity. Eloquent and compelling arguments have been made by not a few of my favorite writers making the case that "Paganism" as a single religion may not exist,* and that continuing to speak and think about the so-called "Pagan community" in this way might not be helpful or conducive to... well, whatever they're hoping religious community is conducive to, I suppose. And what is that, exactly? Here is where I feel the question of "values" becomes essential, and perhaps the key to unlocking the question of self-identity and community-definition, rather than the other way around." ...(Cont.)...

More posts from the Web for Pagan Values Month:
International Pagan Values Month, June 2010
Pagan Values
Creating a Family Code of Ethics
Pagan Values: A Pagan Community Statment on Sexual Ethics
What Comes Around Goes Around
Ethics in Witchcraft
A survey of Greco-Egyptian ethics
The Peaceful Warrior: Pagan Pacifism Without Excuse
Pagan Values: Community
The core values of neopaganism - as I understand them
Pagan Values Month
Valuing Joy
The Value of Information and Knowledge
Pagan Values: INDEPENDENCE
The Charge of the Goddess: A Wiccan Ethic
How well does your child know nature? 
Memoria, and Marguerite Porete Day
Situational ethics in Wicca and Divorce
So long as our love shall last: Pagan Values Project 
The Spiritual Value of Authenticity
Pagan Values and Flying Bison
UnPause, Follow Up and Moving Forward
A Plainly Declared Position
Pushing Back at Life: Paganism, Strength, and Heavy Metal
Passion
An Economy Not Worth Saving
Pagan Values Part 1 - Pagan podcast
PaganFM June 12, 2010 Pagan Values - Jusice

Book review - The Global Forest

Here is an interesting review of the new book - The Global Forest which appears in The New Scientist Blog:

"NO ONE could sensibly deny that trees play an important role in the environment. In The Global Forest, Diana Beresford-Kroeger takes this one step further and argues that trees are the very foundation that all life is reliant upon.

The author's veneration and awe of the natural world began when she was a child, growing up on her parents' farm in Ireland. "It is out of this child, this field with its golden furze, that this book was born."

Employing the story-telling methods of an Irish Seanchaí - "the keeper of legends and oral traditions" - the book is comprised of 40 essays, or "leaves", each of which explore a different theme. The cultural, spiritual and ecological history of trees become interlaced." ...(Cont.)...

Some photos by me from The Forest Group at flickr

A grass roots environmental victory with Mountaintop Removal

Here is another environmental story which is one of local tragedy where people organized across the country and used this type of new media to stop it. Folks began to blog, put out YouTube videos, and challenge the large energy corporations. It appears that the grass roots community efforts are starting to show some amount of success.  The issue is mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. The following YouTube video was viewed about 150,000 times and helped get the word out:


Here is another example of grass roots media at work directed this time at Chase Bank - a major financial backer of this kind of mining.



And a victory is achieved as T. Thorn Coyle reports in her Pagan blog:

"...Today, I bring to all of us the Good News of Reverend Billy Talen, the Rainforest Action Network, Alliance for Appalachia, and everyone else who worked on behalf of the sacred, ancient, mountain range:

Chase Bank will no longer underwrite Massey Corporation to fund mountaintop removal. This is a major victory for all who have worked to stop this hideous desecration in order to extract a major pollutant. This is a triumph over greed and ignorance. This is a raising up of the possibility of beauty. As Reverend Billy himself says, “Earth-a-lujah!”  ...(Cont.)...
More on Mountaintop removal:
Mountain Top Removal documentary trailer
Mountaintop Removal pt. 1 of 2
Mountaintop Removal part 2 of 2
Assignment Earth: Appalachian
Mountain Top Removal
Mountain Top Removal: What do you stand to lose?
The West Virginia Hills
Toxic West Virginia: Mountaintop Removal
Al Gore Mountaintop Removal
Emmylou Harris & Mary Black -"Green Rollin' Hills of West Virginia

Jason and the Argonauts and our debt to Mother Earth

Over at the Huffington Post - Ellen Kanner brings us the story of the arrogance of Jason and how that is a metaphor for our modern environmental predicaments. Food for thought, so check it out here:

"...Well, let's put it this way. Jason got the Golden Fleece, but was so ruthless, he managed to piss off people, gods and his metaphorical mother. Jason didn't honor the Argo, he didn't take care of it and it lay rotting -- and plotting -- in the sun. One day, Jason passed by and a piece of the prow fell off and beaned him on the head, killing him.

We don't want the same fate. But we've been ruthless and greedy and will most likely continue to be. Most of us aren't going to row to work, give up our cars or even convert to clean energy any time soon. But rather than further risking the earth's wrath, one thing we can all do -- herbivores and omnivores alike -- is buy and eat food that's local and in season. It's lower in carbon than food freighted in from elsewhere, unless you've got an Argonaut or two rowing it in for you. With spring and summer's abundance, local and seasonal eating's not just easy, it's delicious

The earth has put up with an awful lot from us. We must all pull together and return the favor. Or else.

Call me Cassandra. Just don't say I didn't warn ya.."

Visionary Art of Alex Grey

Alex Grey is considered a "shamanic visionary artist" by many.  Though his work is not specifically all Pagan oriented, his practice of of Vajrayana Buddhism lends his art spiritual and universal themes that we Pagans can relate to.

Alex was born in Columbus, Ohio on November 29, 1953, and was the son of a graphic designer who encouraged his drawing ability. In the 1970's and 80's Alex spent five years at Harvard Medical School working in the Anatomy department studying the body and preparing cadavers for dissection. One can see this anatomical drawing ability in his work. Alex now teaches at The Open Center  in New York City; Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado; the California Institute of Integral Studies and the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York.


More Alex Grey
Alex Grey Web Site
Alex Grey in CoSM The Movie
Works of Alex Grey
Alex Grey interview with Alan Steinfeld of New Realities
Alex Grey on Ayahuasca
Alex Grey Pt.1
Alex Grey Pt.2

Astrology and science

Over at the Magical Buffet Blog I found an interesting article on Astrology and science.

"...However, if you demand of the cosmos some form of empirical evidence of its influences, then you embark on a more rigorous and challenging road. But it’s a road already littered with the unsuccessful attempts in the search for proof. Astrology has failed almost every test of the more than 600 it has been subjected to. With one possible exception.

...The planetary types have their origins in ancient Harran, the birthplace of Gnostic Mandeanism and the mystery schools of Mithraism, but are echoed in the endocrine types of Louis Berman, which gives us one foot in ancient esotericism and the other in science. Astrology and science have never really been able to forge a successful partnership in the past: this may be astrology’s last and best chance of establishing a ‘physics’ of celestial influence."  ...(Cont.)...

Memorial Day

Over at the Pantheon Portal there are a number of heart-felt and thoughtful responses to Memorial Day. Here is one from Julie Maldonado

"...Daddy died long before the legal battle over the Pentacle on military headstones ever took place. But what I learned from him what that, in combat, no one cares to whom you pray. No one cares if you say prayers in English, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, or Gaelic. No one cares what you use to symbolize your faith. It is, sadly, the one occasion in which societal lines of faith, race, gender or orientation have no bearing. You can only rely to the person next to you and be relied upon in return. There are no other criteria.

I’d like to think I try to remember those lessons, even though I pray I will never see combat. And to remember to honor those who have given their lives in service, no matter their faith, race, gender or orientation. I’d like to remember one thing, that they stood, and fell, to protect my right to stand around a cauldron and call upon the name of the Goddess." ...(Cont.)...

Here is another point of view from Galina Krasskova

"...The obligation of respect goes well beyond any ethnic, ideological, political, or social barriers. It’s not about whether one agrees with the reason for the fight. But for those willing to stand up, march off and die, a significant number of our ancestors I might add, we wouldn’t be here. We reap the benefits of those who came before us; therefore, it is right and proper that we honor them. We live in softer, not more enlightened times. We criticize their choices without any comprehension of the necessities involved."  ...(Cont.)...