One might think a grocery store parking lot an unlikely place for religious gnosis. Truly, one does not need to adventure into the mists of a primeval forest or climb to the peak of a mountain to experience the gods, for they are all around us all the time. Though I enjoy a nice hike, of course, the gods are there wherever I go. 

It was the day after the summer solstice. I had not done any big ritual on the solstice with my kindred. I had gotten up to try to view the Parade of Planets before dawn, which proved to be less than perfect viewing despite the clear night, since I live not quite 6 miles from the brightest place on Earth (the Las Vegas Strip.) That afternoon at tea my housemate and I clinked teacups as if they were drink glasses and toasted the beginning of summer, so we did have a ritual, even if it was brief and simple. 

This morning I had gone outside and smelled monsoon. I had looked up at the sky and noticed the clouds and wondered, "Rain? That looks like rain. It smells like rain."

When I went out to do some errands, I thought about the local monsoon, which is what we call the summer weather pattern in which storms drive away the heat. As I have mentioned previously here on my blog, I had noticed an unusual amount of rain the fall that the first Thor movie came out, which is why I had started looking to see if the pattern held. The Marvel Thor movies are a little silly, but each time America honors Thor with a movie, and little children run around with toy Thor's Hammers and people think about and talk about Thor, it rains a lot. I noted that and hoped Marvel / Disney would keep them coming. Last year it was very dry and hot, and by this spring Lake Mead was so low they were finding dead bodies in it (bodies in barrels who were not meant to be found.) Now the lake level is a complicated thing involving interstate politics, but rain would help anyway, because it would break the heat and water the land. So I was hoping the pattern would hold. I have not yet seen the movie but I've seen lots of social media posts with low opinions of it. Then again, the reason I had even watched the first movie was because there were people on the net calling for a boycott and I wanted to see if it was OK for my fellow heathens. 

So I thought, maybe the content doesn't matter. Maybe all that matters is that people are thinking about and talking about Thor.

At that very moment, I felt a sudden pinprick of cold on my hand. "Was that-- a raindrop?"

A few more raindrops fell. Yes! It was a raindrop, and it meant yes! Thor doesn't care if the stories are silly, only that we honor him by speaking his name. 

I was overcome with joy. I wanted to toast Thor right then, but all I had with me was a flavored water I had just bought off the woohoo case. I asked within and it was OK, so I went ahead and raised a toast. 

After I got home, it started raining again, more heavily. This time I was able to toast with some hot coffee, one of his preferred beverages. 

Well now. I guess I have a movie to see. 

I'm setting this post to post on Thursday, the day of Thor. Hail Thor! 

Image: a Thor's hammer on a red background, photo by Erin Lale