PaganSquare.com - WitchesAndPagans.com

Mythic Moons of Avalon
by Jhenah Telyndru
Llewellyn Books, 2019
(www.ynysafallon.com)
Reviewed by Molly Remer,
brigidsgrove.com

Rich with insight and lore from Celtic myth and legend, while also steeped in a steady structure of contemporary spirituality, Mythic Moons of Avalon is best for people with a specific interest in lunar workings, lunar magic, and Celtic traditions, and specifically, the stories of Avalon. It makes no pretense at being an authoritative historical compendium and is clear that this is a specific and modern approach with some ancient, historical roots and a deep connection to the physical landscape and terrain of the mystery, culture, and spirit of Avalon and Arthurian Britain (for a modern age).

The book is organized in month by month sections, some of which can feel repetitive, though the workings do build on one another as the book progresses. I did find it somewhat easy to inadvertently start to skim parts of the book due to repetition.

Excellent for a small group study as well as a personal journey of devotion and exploration, Mythic Moons of Avalon is definitely best suited to serious practice rather than casual curiosity. This is a book that is meant to be working into and through. It is meant to be treated respectfully and approached with dedication by someone serious about journeying into the depths of Avalonian mystery and tradition as well as into their own psyches and souls, applying the stories, wisdom, lunar phases, and herbal correspondences to their own lives.

This year the summer solstice, longest day and height of the solar year, falls on Sunday the 21st of June. This is a time of fiery solar energy. Traditionally a time of faery revels, magic and great power, this is the perfect time to trust in your heart’s desire and seize your destiny. Throughout Britain and Ireland, it has been traditional to light a beacon fire at this time, and to seek spirit contact as well as a time for magic divination and blessing.

There is a host of plant lore connected to this time of the year in the Celtic traditions, but the main plants of the season are the elderflower, Vervain and St John’s wort. Gather Elderflower beneath the moon for healing tisanes or to make cordial, but vervain ‘the enchanters herb’, useful for all sorts of magic and scrying, blessing your sacred space and the highly protective St John’s wort are best gathered at dawn.  

Sometimes you may feel dull

and worn,

May 9, 2021

Here we are, this deeply into the month of May, and it’s snowing.

That’s what I get for not having sex on May Day. 

Well, I’m going to remedy the situation, right now. It’s not too late. 

Ancients knew to bless the budding green and burgeoning crops by making love in Spring. 

“Are you a bruja (witch)?” I asked Abuela Petra on a hot summer day in New York.  I wanted to know more about her fortune telling business.

Abuela stared at me with a distant gaze.  I felt drops of sweat glistening on my forehead as I remembered Abuela’s devotion to the Virgin Mary.  In a tremulous voice I asked: “Did I insult you?”  

Don’t mind me,

I’m out getting lost

Beltane is nearly here, and I think most of us are feeling a certain change in the season- in nature but also in our daily lives, its been a long winter metaphorically and spiritually and we find ourselves emerging into a new time wondering what the future holds. I always take my signs and omens from nature- and at this time the main sign to look for in the UK and Ireland at least, is the hawthorn blossom. This year it is flowering a little later in my garden than other years, but its not far behind where I’d expect. Traditionally it flowers for Beltane ( May 1^st) - some folk only celebrate Beltane on the full moon when its in blossom and I like this idea, there’s a lot to be said for astronomical dates for the cross quarter days, but following the organic flow of nature seems to suit me best.

Hawthorn is a tree associated with faeries. Most ‘fairy thorns’ are isolated hawthorn trees, marking ancient places on the land, or where the energy is particularly special- these are favoured places for faeries and can act as access points to the other world, but Hawthorn also has a place in the Irish ogham lore, where it is the 6^th letter H for Huath / Uath meaning frightful or horrible. The Ogham alphabet serves as a mnemonic device for a whole host of lore and can be very useful in magic and spiritual training. Hawthorn’s lesson can indeed by frightful. In the texts called the Bríatharogaim ("word oghams") which explain the meaning of each ogham name, Huath the hawthorn is described as  Condál cúan-  ‘pack of wolves, or pack of hounds’,  Ansam aidche - ‘Most difficult night,’ and Bánad gnúisi - ‘Whitening or blanching of the face.’ These point to a time of challenge, of facing our fears or other ordeals- yet hawthorn is also associated with such folkloric figures as the May Queen, (its known as Queen of the May) and connected to ideas of romance and eroticism. The great teaching here is all about undergoing challenges and how if we come through ‘a difficult night’ we may find we know ourselves better, becoming the true of heart, worthy of the May Queen, the sovereignty of the land and our own souls. In this way the hawthorn teaches us about sovereignty, and how that comes from within, through right action with ourselves and others, and how becoming worthy of that divine union with sovereignty means we need the wisdom of the heart most of all- wisdom born from experience and compassion. This isnt fluffy stuff, but it is beautiful, born from hard work, and deep care. It is by this heart’s wisdom, that we gain access to the otherworld and its blessing.