Rheims Cernunnos
Gallo-Roman relief, 1st century CE
My personal experiences, including religious and spiritual experiences, community interaction, general heathenry, and modern life on my heathen path, which is Asatru.
The Pagan Community Statement on the Environment is standing the test of time so far. Most of what's written in it is still as relevant now as it was when it was written. That's not a sad statement about lack of progress, but rather a happy statement about the foresight to keep it general instead of talking about really specific issues. At the time, I wanted to put in more specific, solvable calls to action, but my fellow committee members were right to distill it to more general principles.
I helped write the Pagan Community Statement on the Environment, representing Asatru. Although working in committees with a series of revisions by others inevitably led to some friction, I think the result was great work. I started my writing and editing on the project in 2014 and the Statement was published on Earth Day 2015.
...This started with a prank. It turned into a profound insight. Here is the story.
I usually do a mild prank every year on April 1st, in which I say or post something that is not true and see if anyone believes me. When I worked in a call center, one year on April 1st I told everyone there was a UFO in the parking lot.
...When I first started my perfume and health journey with my Gila Lizard Powers (GLP-1) I was amazed at how many pagan indie perfume houses there were. Later I became amazed at how pagan-friendly the Fragrantica forum was, and at how many pagan mythology inspired fragrances there were from mainstream niche houses. It's been about a half a year and I have dug into the database enough to find out that Lancome was openly working Magie Noire in 1978.
On March 28 the front page of Fragrantica carried an article in which a perfume reviewer expressed a desire to give a blood sacrifice to Artemis. Link here: https://www.fragrantica.com/news/Hellenist-A-French-House-Greek-Myths-22332.html
...I headed in to March on the great health news I got in February (see previous post) and I am definitely ready to keep up my Monster Powers and my dedication to perfume. One of my most significant magical and religious experiences of early March is not about perfume, though, but about dance. And of course, Thor. And the Gila Monster!
It was the 5th and it was supposed to be raining. My housemate showed me the weather radar and asked why it wasn't raining yet. I went outside to check, and it smelled like rain. Not the petrichor smell, that happens after it starts raining. There's a particular smell to the air when it's full of water. I had already ground coffee and brewed a fresh pot, which often is enough for Thor to appear. I said, "Maybe if I do my Rain Dance it will rain."
...Heathens were known for high grooming standards, in comparison to other European peoples. They even had a day of the week set aside for ritual bathing, Laugrdagr, which later became Saturday. How much this custom was influenced by Rome and Byzantium is an open question, but the question that intrigues me right now is: what did they use for fragrances? Or did they not use them?
My new fascination with perfumes and my lifelong study of heathen history intersect here. I didn't recall ever seeing any mention of what perfumes the ancient heathens made or wore, either in the Viking Age or before. But I thought that possibly it was because I was not seeking that information when I read about those times.
To think, last summer, before I started my Monster Powers journey, I thought I had nothing left to say on this blog. lol. For those just joining this series now, it begins last fall when I first started my Gila Lizard Powers medicine (GLP-1) and became obsessed with perfume.
I resumed working on the Gila Monster tapestry after my housemate's family's visit. I put all my weaving stuff back in the front room that gets good morning light.
...Recently I found another frog statue in my garden. I suppose I probably put it there once, but finding it really helped me feel better about having to take out some trees. I had been feeling slightly bad about that even though I had waited until they were in full winter dormancy and also bade them goodbye and thanked them and let them go, like I would do for any thing, living or not, that I felt had some sort of spirit and which was dead or broken or otherwise had to go.
I would not have found it if everything had gone exactly to plan. A Keystone Cops level of incompetence by a series of 4 different companies led me to be the one that had the spade in my hand that day. It was meant to be; I was meant to find it, for my personal reassurance from the spirit of the land.
...
Rheims Cernunnos
Gallo-Roman relief, 1st century CE