Astrologers and wise elders will tell you that major events happen in the world during the eclipse time; secrets are revealed, scandals occur, stock markets drop and all manners surprise. During these rare celestial occurrences, that which has been hidden shall be revealed. Vikings and their brethren believed the sun and moon were created by benevolent gods to bring light to a dark world. The Norse gods placed the sun and the moon in chariots that flew across the sky, shedding light on the entire world. However, the hungry giant wolf chased the sun and, every once in a while, caught up with it and devoured it, which darkened the sky. When the sun began to burn the insides of the wolf, he would cough it back into the sky. This, according to Nordic folklore, is how eclipses happen.
Eclipses are celestial events that still fascinate us, and you can easily gather a group together for a ritual. Invite enough people to form two circles. Twenty is ideal, so you have ten in each circle. Ask half of the people to wear all gold and the other half to wear all black. Those in black are the Sky Wolves who will eat the sun, represented by those in gold. For safety, everyone needs to wear their best UV protection sunglasses (in gray, brown, or green) to safeguard their eyes.
Yes, it's true: I first met Old Hornie in the woods when I was 16.
And no, I'm not going to tell you about it.
I suspect that many (if not most) of us have experienced something like this: the Encounter that changes everything that comes after.
You might think that more of us would talk about these Meetings. In a community like the pagan community, which lacks (for the most part) central accreditation, such narratives would serve to establish credibility.
But in my experience, people mostly don't want to talk about these things. A holy silence surrounds them. For me, that unwillingness to talk is precisely one of the hallmarks of authentic encounter.
Have any deities ever appeared to you? If the artwork is any indication, they seem to have put in a few appearances to the Minoans of ancient Crete. It's likely the Minoan clergy practiced ritual trance possession, and it's also possible the deities appeared to worshipers in visions during rituals.
The image up top is the Isopata ring, a gold seal ring from a Minoan-era tomb near Knossos. The scene shows four women, presumably priestesses, dancing ecstatically in a field of lilies. Interesting stuff floats around their heads: snake-like serpentine lines, a beehive, and... a small female figure.
Erin Lale
Fellow faculty at Harvard Divinity School posted an open letter to Wolpe in response to his article. It's available on this page, below the call for p...
Erin Lale
Here's another response. The Wild Hunt has a roundup of numerous responses on its site, but it carried this one as a separate article. It is an accoun...
Erin Lale
Here's another response. This one is by a scholar of paganism. It's unfortunately a Facebook post so this link goes to Facebook. She posted the text o...
