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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in Bull Stone

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 

Beads on a necklace, memory-amber

 

Call them Northern Songlines.

Some remember by books, but for us the Land itself bears memory. All landscapes are mythic, at least potentially.

I've traveled Route 61 south along the Mississippi to the pagan land-sanctuaries of the Driftless Area for so many decades now that it has become, for me, a pilgrimage-route.

So I've re-cast the journey along the lines of the list of place-names in the Táin that recounts the way taken by Medb's army to fateful Cúailnge.

Each place a bead on a necklace, memory-amber.

 

Journey to the Driftless

 

This was their route, east, south and east again from Minneapolis on the Mississippi, Father of Waters:

 

eastward through Pig's Eye of the Sow, called St. Paul,

southward through Newport of the Red Rock,

through Hastings,

through Red Wing of the Clays, under Barn Bluff,

through Lake City on Pepin, where the water-horse swims,

through Wabasha,

past Trempeleau, Rattlesnake Island, where the Horned came down from Heaven,

Last modified on

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 

It's a chilly Beltane here in Paganistan, but during a precocious run of 80° weather a while back, a friend sent me a photo from the year's first sunning down at Sweetwood Sanctuary.

(And yes, that is the legendary Bull Stone that you see there in medias res.)

I couldn't help myself.

Is that a standing stone between your legs, or are you glad it's Spring? I wrote.

Back came the e-mail with the expected response.

Last modified on

Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Last modified on

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 Paul Bransky on Twitter:

What does a standing stone do?

Raised in 2021, the Bull Stone stands at Sweetwood Temenos, a pagan land sanctuary in southwestern Witchconsin's legendary Driftless Area. Born in the bed of an inland ocean, old before dinosaurs walked the Earth, the six-foot, one ton slab of karst limestone is the standing stone that I know best.

So what does the Bull Stone do?

Its long axis aligns with the Sun, pointing to the places on the horizon where the Sun rises and sets on the day of the Winter Solstice.

Its short axis aligns with Earth: with both a notch on the southern horizon, some two miles distant, where two ridges come together and, to the north, with the sanctuary's Grand Circle.

What does a standing stone do? Easily told.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Steven Posch
    Steven Posch says #
    Even so.
  • Ian Phanes
    Ian Phanes says #
    Is a stang, then, a portable standing stone?

 

Hallowing the Bull Stone

Sweetwood Temenos

 

The people gather at the head of the path.

 

Statement of Intent (Priest)

Stone remembers.

480 million years ago—before the dinosaurs—the Bull Stone formed, on the bed of an inland ocean.

Five years ago, the Warlocks of the Driftless brought it—with the Stone's permission—from its immemorial bed.

Two years ago, we raised it. (I tell you, that Stone wanted to stand.)

Today, we consecrate it.

 

The Story

The Ballad of the Bull Stone

 

Procession

Horns sound. Led by priest, oil-bearer, crown-bearer, and libation bearers, the people process down the hill and through the woods to the Bull Stone.

 

Circumambulation

The people circle the Stone nine times, moving always to the right.

Chant: Giver of Pleasure and Life

 

Mass Anointing

Oil-bearer raises basin of fine oil. People imbue oil with their blessings. People dip hands in oil, anoint Stone, then one another.

 

Hymn

The Shaft Song (Priest)

 

Crowning

The Wreath-Bearer, a young girl, is lifted to crown the Stone with a wreath of leaves and flowers.

Horns sound.

 

Threefold Libation

Two women pour libations of water over the Stone. (Horn.)

A woman and a man pour libations of red wine over the Stone. (Horn.)

Two men pour libations of milk over the Stone. (Horn)

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 

 

Here, said the standing stone.

Now, said the standing stone.

Here now, said the standing stone.

 

Me, said the standing stone.

You, said the standing stone.

We, said the standing stone.

 

Stand, said the standing stone.

Circle, said the standing stone.

Dance, said the standing stone.

 

American Menhir

 

At Sweetwood Sanctuary in southwestern Wisconsin, a circle of pagans stand hand-in-hand around the Bull Stone, silent.

Silent pagans. Fancy that.

Silent, maybe, to listen.

Silent, maybe, for not-knowing.

Silent, maybe, from awe.

Nothing is more awesome than the real.

Last modified on

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 Double Rainbow Guy' Paul Vasquez, a one time MMA fighter, has died - Bloody  Elbow

A double rainbow with horizontal, cloud-to-cloud lightning between the bows.

How's that for an omen?

Sweetwood Temenos in southwestern Wisconsin. The Warlocks of the Driftless have foregathered to raise—finally—the one-ton megalith of pre-Cambrian limestone called the Bull Stone. On the eve of the Raising, we go down to do some site prep.

Thunder has been rumbling continuously in the distance for quite some time: longer non-stop thunder I've never heard before in my life. Clearly, something big is moving in. Well, the rain will be welcome. Here in the Midwest's Driftless Area, as elsewhere, it's been a dry Spring.

Just as we finish our work, the heavens open. Soaked to the skin, we stand there laughing. Some guys strip off. After the prolonged heat and drought, our skin drinks in the cool rain. So does the Land.

Singing a Thunder song, we trudge through the downpour up to the pavilion. The rain drums on the metal roof. We stand, watching and listening.

For a good half hour it pelts down, a good thorough soaking after a long thirst. The Storm rumbles off Eastwards as, nearing its setting, the Sun shines out in the West.

Then the culminating moment of grace when Rainbow spans the East, vast, accompanied by her twin sister.

We stand, marveling. Someone sings a hymn to the Rainbow Goddess, Daughter of Sun and Storm.

Suddenly that final bolt of lightning, brilliant, between the Bows. It's a moment of utter holiness, piercingly beautiful.

“Well, gentlemen, there's our omen,” someone says.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Jamie
    Jamie says #
    Mr. Posch, Congratulations!
  • Katie
    Katie says #
    Beautiful! A very good omen indeed.

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