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Hymn to the Sun
Hail to you, mighty king of the sky,
ray-bearer, light-bringer from on high.
Your beams bring life upon the earth,
heralding dawn and each day’s birth.
In the East you wake, the light of dawn,
spark of the day from night reborn,
constellations flee before your path,
summon us now to the morning hearth,
of heat which wakens the growing things,
people and animals, the birds that sing,
and stir your rays through the leaves of green,
where chlorophyll rises towards the unseen,
magnetism of your powerful crown,
in joy at the heat that is beating down,
upon and around us, to nurture all life,
and thaw the cold places, frozen in strife.
You chase away blackness to the corners of the world,
a lamp in heaven for all to observe.
puller of the seasons and tides of time,
light-bringer whose face with brightness chimes,
a torch to guide the heavens aside,
your clergy go forth in you defined.
At the zenith rejoice in your burning heart,
In the height of heavens your descent will start,
towards the sharp declining west,
at the turn of day’s compass of your behest,
in the boat of the night you end the day,
at sunset you drop, in bloodied sky, away,
Great Hawk that flies with the flying Sun,
between the poles, forever young,
a star to beckon in our dreams,
as from you brilliant wisdom streams.
©Cradlehag(Ali Sutherland)2008
A very Happy Solstice to you All!
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Posted by Autumnlady on Thursday, June 19, 2008 (22:39:57) (49 reads)
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Druids fear shadow will be cast over view of 'birth of the Moon'
Druids fear shadow will be cast over view of 'birth of the Moon'
IT IS a rare lunar spectacle whose significance dates back to ancient times, drawing visitors to the Isle of Lewis from across the world.
But now the druids, pagans and witches who gather at the Callanish Stones fear the next time they visit their treasured view of the Moon could be ruined by a 53-turbine wind farm.
According to local belief, the Callanish Stones were erected so they would have a special relationship with a range of hills opposite, known as the Old Woman of the Moors.
Also called Sleeping Beauty, it is thought to resemble a pregnant woman on her back, and every 18.6 years the Moon appears to rise through her legs, as if she is giving birth.
It then sets between the Callanish Stones, as visitors beat drums and celebrate the lunar cycle.
Hundreds of new age celebrants gathered at the stones for the spectacle in 2006, but in 2024 when it is next due, they are worried it could be ruined by a wind farm.
Beinn Mhor Power plans to build turbines on the Eisgein Estate in Lewis, some of them on the Old Woman of the Moors. One would be built on a lump that looks like her knee, and others would be on the skyline.
Archeologist Ian McHardy said the lunar phenomenon is mentioned in the Historic Scotland guidebook for the area.
"I think it's an integral part of Callanish and should have been afforded higher protection. The wind turbines would be a significant part of the view."
Alice Starmore, a tour guide who has lived on Lewis all her life, said: "Every 18.6 years when the Moon in its cycle around the Earth is at its lowest, it appears between her knees, as though she gives birth. It's a lovely, life-affirming event.
"It's one of our most mysterious and intriguing national treasures. It's something that we should take care of. It couldn't be any more inappropriate than building turbines on her. We might as well say that we should build turbines on Stonehenge."
If the proposed wind farm gets the go-ahead it would be the first in Scotland to be built on a National Scenic Area and Ms Starmore is worried it would have an impact on tourism.
Thirty of the turbines would be in the South Lewis, Harris and North Uist National Scenic Area.
The application comes in the wake of the failed bid by Lewis Wind Power to build Scotland's largest wind farm on Lewis.
Ms Starmore said: "We have just finished celebrating the fact that the entire northern peatlands won't be covered in them, and now we have this one right in the heart of the most spectacular landscape that we have. It has been very stressful for us."
It has also attracted opposition from the John Muir Trust, which is worried it could set a precedent for other wind farm applications on scenic areas, and Scottish Natural Heritage.
Helen McDade, head of policy at the John Muir Trust, said: "It is ludicrous that the government would even entertain the idea of marching turbines across such a world-class landscape.
"Scotland can easily meet its 50 per cent renewable target by 2020 without encroaching on designated areas of national importance such as this one.
"Callanish is Scotland's equivalent of Stonehenge and must be left unscathed by industrial development so that it can be fully appreciated by future generations."
A public inquiry finished last week into the plans for the Eisgein Estate and a decision is expected to be made by a Scottish Government reporter later this year.
BACKGROUND
BEINN Mhor Power has scaled down its original proposal for 133 turbines to 53. There have been 3,900 objections and 85 letters in support.
The decision on the Beinn Mhor Power plan will come in the wake of the Scottish Government's rejection of a 181-turbine project on Lewis.
The plans by Lewis Wind Power were turned down last month after nearly four years of debate. Supporters believed it was a chance to advance the country's renewables industry and the economy of the Western Isles.
But environmental groups said it could threaten birdlife and damage the island's peatlands, which store carbon.
The £500 million project had been controversial since it was put forward in October 2004. Of 11,022 representations, 10,924 were against the plan, with only 98 in favour.
Lewis Wind Power has said it is considering its next move.
The Scotsman
Image “The Standing Stones of Callanish” (c) 2005, 2007 Stu Jenks
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Posted by Autumnlady on Saturday, May 31, 2008 (08:26:05) (79 reads)
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Stonehenge 'a long-term cemetery'
Stonehenge 'a long-term cemetery'
Stonehenge served as a burial ground for much longer than had previously been believed, new research suggests.
The site was used as a cemetery for 500 years, from the point of its inception.
Archaeologists have said the cremation burials found at the site might represent a single elite family and its descendents - perhaps a ruling dynasty.
One clue to this idea is that there are few burials in the earliest phase, but that the number grows larger in later centuries, as offspring multiplied.
Under the traditional view, cremation burials were dug at the site between 2,700 BC and 2,600 BC, about a century before the large stones - known as sarsens - were put in place.
Professor Mike Parker Pearson, from the department of archaeology at the University of Sheffield, and his colleagues have now carried out radiocarbon dating of burials excavated in the 1950s that were kept at the nearby Salisbury Museum.
Their results suggest burials took place at the site from the initiation of Stonehenge, just after 3,000 BC, until the time the large stones appear at about 2,500 BC.
The earliest cremation burial dated - a small pile of burned bones and teeth - came from one of the pits around the edge of Stonehenge known as the Aubrey Holes and dates to between 3,030 BC and 2,880 BC - roughly the time when the Stonehenge monument was cut into Salisbury Plain.
The second burial, from the ditch surrounding Stonehenge, is that of an adult and dates to between 2,930 BC and 2,870 BC.
The most recent cremation comes from the ditch's northern side and was of a 25-year-old woman; it dates to between 2,570 BC and 2,340 BC, around the time the first arrangements of sarsen stones appeared at Stonehenge.
The latest findings are the result of the Stonehenge Riverside Project, a collaboration between five UK universities. Details of the research are to be featured in National Geographic magazine.
Royal circle?
Professor Parker-Pearson, who leads the project, said: "I don't think it was the common people getting buried at Stonehenge - it was clearly a special place at that time."
He added: "Archaeologists have long speculated about whether Stonehenge was put up by prehistoric chiefs - perhaps even ancient royalty - and the new results suggest that not only is this likely to have been the case, but it also was the resting place of their mortal remains."
Two other Stonehenge experts, Professor Tim Darvill, from the University of Bournemouth, and Professor Geoff Wainwright, from the Society of Antiquaries, have a different theory about the monument.
They are convinced that the dominating feature on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire was akin to a "Neolithic Lourdes" - a place where people went on a pilgrimage to get cured.
They recently carried out a two-week excavation at the site to search for clues to why the 4,500-year-old landmark was erected.
BBC News
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Posted by Autumnlady on Thursday, May 29, 2008 (22:24:20) (97 reads)
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The Vernal Equinox
The wheel has turned.
The Vernal Equinox happensThursday morning at 05.48
The Sleeping Lord
Hail to the sleeping Lord of the Land,
whose forehead is radiant with inner light,
who rests with morning in his right hand,
and calls to bring forth summer’s might.
His body is strong and fortified,
in care of the living turning wheel,
and his rising cannot be denied,
as up through the earth the new seeds feel
Their way through the slumbering form,
of the Lord recumbent in his dreams,
in the folded strata of rocks transformed
down ages through which wisdom streams.
And narrowed now, our eyes await him,
to help him to rise from a long wide bed,
where over the horizon he can brim
and ascend to the skies in a blaze of red.
©Cradlehag(Ali Sutherland)2008
In the northern hemisphere the vernal equinox marks the start of spring and has long been celebrated as a time of rebirth. Many cultures and religions celebrate or observe holidays and festivals around the time of the vernal equinox, such as the Easter holiday period.
The astronomical Persian calendar begins its New Year on the day when the vernal equinox occurs before apparent noon (the midpoint of the day, sundial time, not clock time) in Tehran. In India, the colourful festival pf Holi is celebrated at this time whilst the Japanese have the day off on this day for visiting their relatives.
A change is also coming at this Equinox. From now on, as it fills the skies on its similarly endless cycle, it is the Sun which will become the main influence upon the land. Even in March the Sun's presence in the sky is a little more obvious and feels just a bit stronger too. Leaves begin to grow again. Buds begin to knobble branches and the birds have returned. Things are starting to wake up again.
And if this is a time of rebirth for the Sun, it can also be utilised as a rebirth for the self: the beginning of, perhaps, a creative project, an ambition, a new career or a new relationship. It may take a spiritual form and bring deeper understanding or present an opportunity for physical movement, a change in direction too.
In Paganism, Male and Female are constantly symbolised and that is, perhaps, the most important basic aspect of our spirituality. This can be represented literally in Rites and Festivals with a Male and Female taking on the roles of God or Goddess but, more importantly, it can also be found in the self. We take particular care to appreciate and develop both of those aspects within ourselves. There is a balance to be found here and, following the cycle of the year, we see how that balance can be found inside whether we are male or female. In this way, if there are projects to be developed or changes to be made in our lives, we can use both of our opposite aspects in harmony to achieve the best results.
This combination, often between Nature and Science, can work wonders and we Pagans go to great lengths to develop it in our Rites. Fire gets out of control without water to keep it safe; water can produce steam when fire is added! In the same way the land will be watered over the Spring months and then the corn will be ripened by the sun. Just enough of each element and we get our harvest.
Contemplating these things is what the Equinox is all about, as well as the excitement of seeing blossoms coming out and the fields suddenly blooming with flowers.
The Sun is returning to wake us up again!
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Posted by Autumnlady on Wednesday, March 19, 2008 (03:47:46) (209 reads)
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Druid Grave Unearthed in U.K.?
Druid Grave Unearthed in U.K.?
Historical records tell of a mystical, priestly and learned class of elite individuals called Druids among Celtic societies in Britain, but there has been no archaeological evidence of their existence. Until, perhaps, now.
A series of graves found in a gravel quarry at Stanway near Colchester, Essex, have been dated to 40-60 A.D. At least one of the burials, it appears, may have been that of a Druid, according to a report published in British Archaeology.
Mike Pitts is the journal's editor and an archaeologist. He studied classical Greek and Roman texts that mention the Druids in early France and Britain. The most detailed description, Pitts found, dates to 55 B.C. and comes from Roman military and political leader Julius Caesar.
"Druids, he says, were prestigious ritual specialists who performed human sacrifices, acted as judges in disputes, were excused action in battle and taught the transmigration of souls -- when you die, your soul is passed on to another living being," Pitts told Discovery News.
Other historians link the Druids to soothsaying and healing practices.
Within the wooden, chambered burial site, researchers have excavated a wine warmer, cremated human remains, a cloak pinned with brooches, a jet bead, divining rods (for fortune-telling), a series of surgical instruments, a strainer bowl last used to brew Artemisia-containing tea, a board game carefully laid out with pieces in play, as well as other objects.
"This person was clearly a specialist and also clearly wealthy and powerful, as indicated by the special grave and its apparent location within the compound of a 'chief.' That would all fit Caesar's Druid," he said, adding that Caesar likely also visited Stanway during his lifetime.
The surgical kit found in the grave includes iron and copper alloy scalpels, a surgical saw, hooks, needles, forceps and probes. Pitts said the collection mirrors basic medical tools from other parts of the Roman world.
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Posted by Autumnlady on Thursday, February 14, 2008 (10:10:19) (270 reads)
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Excommunicated pastor praised and condemned by Pagans and Christians
Pastor Phil Wyman would be the first to agree that he’s a black sheep among clergy. An expert on Wicca, a well practiced interpreter of dreams, Wyman has been an avid participant in the city’s annual Halloween celebration, supporting a holiday many Christians believe to be a symbol of darkness and the occult.
A little over a year ago Wyman was excommunicated from his church, accused of getting too amicable with the city’s Wiccan community because of controversial missionary tactics that included operating a pagan-Christian discussion forum, offering Web site links to pagan sites and fostering personal friendships with witches.
Today the church continues to operate, although it no longer has a parent church, and has about 45 members.
Wyman’s mission is to break stereotypes about Christians and Wiccans. He says many Christians don’t realize Wicca is a nature-based religion.
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Posted by Autumnlady on Saturday, January 19, 2008 (10:32:14) (391 reads)
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Return Of Shaman's Mask Magical To King Islanders
Four decades after it was abandoned, King Island holds an almost mystical pull for former inhabitants and their descendants, its crumbling homes still perched on stilts, clinging to the steep, rocky terrain.
Until recently, little else remained of the island, an Inupiat Eskimo village, except for traditions, memories and artifacts scattered at museums around the nation. Then came word from a stranger nearly 2,000 miles away who said she possessed an ancient mask a relative brought back from Alaska more than a century ago.
On the back of the relic was a faint inscription: "Taken from a medicine man's grave on King Island."
The woman from northwest Washington e-mailed Charlene Saclamana, tribal coordinator with the King Island Native Community based in Nome, a city 80 miles southeast of the tiny Bering Sea island where many of its residents relocated.
Marilyn Lewis said she wanted to return the wooden mask to its rightful owners. Two weeks later, she traveled to Alaska to deliver the artifact, which is now on display at the Carrie M. McLain Memorial Museum in Nome, named after the museum's late founder, a gold rush pioneer.
"It gives me and my family something tangible from our past. We've lost so much of the culture," said Saclamana, whose parents lived on King Island. "We were eager to have the mask back in our possession. We never had anything that well preserved from the island."
The island, home to about 200 people a century ago, was abandoned for various reasons.
Many of the men were drafted during World War II and didn't return. Tuberculosis killed some people and hospitalized others. Fewer residents returned from traditional summer camping grounds near Nome, where there were jobs and doctors.
Everyone was gone by 1966, several years after the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs closed the village school because of declining numbers and concerns about a potential rockslide.
Lewis, of Port Townsend, Wash., declined to discuss her family's role in the mask's return with The Associated Press, saying "it's not about us." But she told The Nome Nugget that her father's uncle traveled by steamship from Seattle to Alaska in 1898 to try his luck in the gold rush.
The uncle spent three years in Alaska, apparently not searching for gold but instead working as a bartender, probably in Nome or Skagway. He kept notes about his travels but never mentioned King Island, leading his family to theorize that someone sold or gave him the mask.
The uncle gave the mask to Lewis' father in 1927. Her parents kept it until late last year, when they asked her if she would help find its origins.
An Internet search led Lewis to Deanna Kingston, lead researcher in an Oregon State University study of King Island and its former inhabitants.
Kingston put Lewis in touch with Saclamana in early November. Around Thanksgiving, Lewis met a King Island representative at an Anchorage restaurant and turned over the mask.
Saclamana consulted with tribal elders and anthropologist Matt Ganley of the Bering Straits Native Corp. Everyone agreed the mask was the real deal.
Clues include its red-ochre face, beaked nose and black painted hair, which was probably colored with graphite or condensed soot, Ganley said. The mask was likely carved from driftwood.
"It's the style, the whole thing, the types of pigments used, the way the face is presented," Ganley said. "One person told me this looks like a lot of people from King Island."
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Posted by Autumnlady on Saturday, January 19, 2008 (10:13:28) (323 reads)
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Tribes seeking return of bones
BERKELEY — There is a legend at the University of California, Berkeley, that human bones are stored in the landmark Campanile tower. But university officials say that's not true — the bones are actually stored beneath Hearst Gymnasium's swimming pool.
The remains of about 12,000 American Indians rest in drawers and cabinets in the gym's basement. Many of them were dug up by university archaeologists and have been stored under the pool since the early 1960s.
The bones now are at the center of a dispute between American Indians who want to rebury their ancestors and university officials who have been slow to hand over the remains.
Some tribal leaders contend the university is violating a federal law that governs the repatriation of artifacts and remains.
"We don't appreciate them keeping our ancestors locked up in a drawer," said Ted Howard, cultural resources director of the Shoshone-Paiute tribes. "This is a human-rights issue to the tribes. All we're asking for is to be treated fairly."
The bones, along with 400,000 American Indian artifacts, are held by the university's Phoebe A. Hearst Museum, which has a small exhibit space on campus but one of the largest collections of human remains in the U.S. outside a cemetery.
Under the 1990 federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the museum is required to identify the tribal origins of its bones and artifacts and return them to federally recognized tribes that request them.
So far, the museum has repatriated the bones of about 260 individuals. The museum's possession of so many remains troubles American Indians who believe that the spirits of their ancestors cannot rest until their bones are properly buried.
Lalo Franco, cultural heritage director of the Tachi Yokut tribe, calls the bones' current resting place "a dungeon" and the scientists who took them "grave robbers with a license."
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Posted by Autumnlady on Thursday, January 17, 2008 (02:22:04) (325 reads)
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