Hallmarks of 2015 for Pagans
As we wrap up 2015, it’s important to think of what has been accomplished and what more needs to be done. While pagans are still a pretty small, religious minority, it is indisputable that our numbers are growing along with our influence in public life.
Since the beginning of the Neopagan movement in the 1950’s (along with more ancient traditions dating back to Medieval Times), pagan and occult practices have been limited to small (and mostly secretive) gatherings.
But now as public religious acceptance grows, these gatherings are becoming less secretive and more public. In fact, we have seen things happen in 2015, that have not occurred in hundreds – and perhaps even a thousand years.
In the beginning of this year, Scotland saw its first gay, Pagan wedding.
Then plans were announced in Iceland to build the first temple to the Norse Gods since the Viking Ages.
Meanwhile, the U.K. announced the creation of a druid college.
In April, Northern Ireland certified its first pagan priest since the time of St. Patrick. Ironically, the name of the pagan man himself is Patrick. Who says the Gods don’t have a sense of humor?
Another big story in April was when a Wiccan Priestess was invited to give the opening invocation before the Iowa State Legislature.
Then in October, the Cascadia Grove of Ár nDraíocht Féin outlined plans to build a shrine to Cernunnos, God of liminality, commerce and the forest.
In terms of other big news, the U.S. Supreme Court made gay marriage legal nation wide this June.
And of course, last but not least, the metal heads of this blog will be mourning the loss of the metal god and legend Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead who recently passed. I realized since I wrote my last article, that I shouldn’t say RIP, because I can’t really see Lemmy sitting around quietly for too long. It’s more likely that he’ll be rocking out with the gods in Valhalla and writing some of the best damned metal anyone ever heard with Dio.
So this new years raise a glass in toast for all the good, bad, and ugly that happened this year. And let’s hope to make 2016 even more exciting and eventful than 2015.
Iceland to Build First Temple to Norse Gods Since Viking Age
ORIGINAL ARTICLE (More Information Here)
Ásatrúarfélagið website (The group for which the temple is being built)
For the first time in 1,000 years, a temple to the Norse Gods will be built in Iceland. Most pagans these days tend to worship in each other’s houses or outside somewhere, since our numbers are pretty low. So this will definitely be a historic landmark for Iceland – if not for the whole Pagan community in general.
Icelanders will soon be able to publicly worship at a shrine to Thor, Odin and Frigg with construction starting this month on the island’s first major temple to the Norse gods since the Viking age.
While the number of Norse Pagans is small in Iceland, the rate of growth itself is pretty large. The number has tripled in the last decade. So it makes sense that a temple will be built to accommodate this growing community.
This temple will be a place where weddings, funerals and initiation rites will take place.
After 1,000 years of oppression the old ways will re-emerge once again.
Amon Amarth – Thousand Years of Oppression
RELATED ARTICLES
Powerful Words from the New Orleans Poet, Sunni Patterson
“Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere”
A great note to end the week with, some spiritual brilliance from this internationally known New Orleans poet.
According to her bio, Sunni’s mission is to aid in the awakening, the revival, and the remembrance of our gifts and voices, enabling us to move to a greater space of self empowerment, creativity and actualization.
I noticed the African words in the middle of the poem are names of the West African, Yoruba Gods. I think it’s interesting that she chose to put them in the middle of the poem deliberately. On my blog you can also read more about Yoruba or the Gods of Yoruba.
SUNNI PATTERSON’S OFFICIAL WEBSITE
TEXT OF POEM:
We have not always found comfort in killers.
We have not always found solace being rocked
in the bosoms of those who silently pray
and openly destroy.
No, not always have we mistaken mimicry for mastery
or pretending for knowing
or enslavement for freedom.
But across my memory —-
across my memory marches millions -—
bold, regal, resilient, confident —-
unshackled feet stumping up spirits
to guide us through this fickle material world.
We like sun and moon folk,
universal souls praying our prayers,
singing our songs.
Eshu, Ogoun, Shango, Yemaja, Oshun, Obatala, Oya,
Damballah, Ayida Wedo, Loa, Nkongo, Olodumare and Yami.
We know all of you by name.
We are people of beginnings, of culture, of strength.
Not always have we given into the empty threats
and scare tactics of the powerless ones.
Not always have we allowed the blood of our sons and daughters
to color the streets while we’re walking asleep,
marching to the beat of that siren song.
They’re still wearing their sheets,
with nooses in reach,
showing their teeth and smiling, it seems.
But I hear in the breeze
in the rustle of the trees
and the dangling of the feet,
they say, please, don’t let them ever forget.
You see, not always have we suffered from amnesia.
Not always have we forgotten how to conjure up spirits,
ancestor wisdom,
fix up a mixture,
spiritual elixir,
ancient traditions.
We, like magicians,
god-like vision, we -—
we are people of sight.
So, no, not always have we fallen
for this okie doke
or inhaled the hazardous smoke of the manipulators
or been satisfied with crumbs for meals
our hands have prepared.
Hughes said life for us ain’t been no crystal stair,
but at least the steps are there
to push us up higher,
teach us how to go beyond the destroyer’s disguises,
look them in the eyes and be able to see.
Because what’s surprising when you know the nature of a beast
and especially when they’ve shown the same face for centuries?
So you tell me,
what’s the difference between two sisters in New Orleans
shot point-blank in the back of the head,
and two women bound in their car in Baghdad?
Or government-sanctioned killings in Kenya,
and a sister held hostage in a house in Virginia?
Or poverty in Haiti, poverty in Jamaica,
rape in Rwanda or rape in Somalia?
A sweatshop in China or one in Guatemala?
Or small pox and blankets, syphilis and Tuskegee,
formaldehyde and FEMA, ethnic cleansing and Katrina?
I recall within a speech Dr. King made us aware,
he said injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.
So they can spare us their drama, huh?
We got the heart of them field working mamas.
We carry the torch of that ancestor fire.
So with every fiber that flutters in our being,
with every find that comes from our seeking,
with every hearing that comes from our listening,
and every sight that comes from our seeing,
we must be faithful, strategic, victorious and free.
Metal Albums To Be Released in 2014!
2014 has barely started and already a hellish horde awaits us. Time to break in your eardrums with the new year and check out when the next big metal albums are coming out. Now you know what to get your Valentine’s Day Sweet Heart. ;-D
January 6th: Iced Earth’s “Plagues of Babylon”
January 24th: Primal Fear’s “Delivering The Black”
January 28th: Metallica’s “Metallica Through The Never DVD”
February 4th: Behemoth’s “The Satanist”
February 4th: Truckfighter’s “Universe”
February 14th: Cynic’s “Kindly Bent to Free Us”
February 28th: Manowar’s “Kings of Metal MMXIV”
It’s Time To Follow Nature’s Lead
Many of man’s greatest inventions are mere mimicry of nature. Have you ever noticed that the flight of a helicopter resembles that of a dragonfly or hummingbird? Hovering birds such as eagles, vultures and pelicans inspired the designs of a plane. Reptiles basking in the sunlight inspired solar panels (Human Inventions Inspired By Nature).
Now we are at a critical moment in history where once again, we need to learn from nature. As climate change accelerates and the modern world becomes more polluted – we need to learn once again how to coexist with the Earth. Total destruction of the environment is not a necessity for progress unlike what we have been lead to believe. So how can we live on the planet without jeopardizing our own future?
Here Are Some Lessons From Nature
Recycle: Nothing is wasted in the natural world. All excrement and decay is brought back into the Earth and reused as a fertilizer for plant growth or food for insects and worms. Nature’s “trash” becomes a treasure when it adds new life and richness to the soil. We need to find ways to recycle our own trash back into the economy. We can do this via donating old goods rather than throwing them away, having a compost pile, recycling on a regular basis and reusing many of our goods.
The Perfect Balance of Order and Chaos: Whatever type of government or system we choose for ourselves. It must be one that benefits the planet as well as the people. It must benefit the ecosystem through which we live and lead to the creation of new life, even if this means the destruction of old ideas. Right now most people live under destructive governments with destructive world systems. These systems are powered by war, terror and the destruction of the planet. If these governments cannot reform themselves, they will self destruct and something else will take their place.
The principles of Humanism and Christianity are not sacrosanct. They are not the ideals for the whole planet and everyone on it. We must switch to a system that follows nature’s law, for nature is a complex of chaos and order that protects the whole of life.
Nature Creates Its Own Energy: We must find sources of energy that are renewable and replenishing. We must invest more in solar and wind power, because these are sources that do not damage the surrounding landscape. There is no such thing as “clean coal,” “clean nuclear” or “natural gas.” All of these sources are dirty and toxic to human health. We must phase out coal, nuclear, fracking and oil like we would wean a drug addict off their addiction. Solar and wind will be the vegetables and fruits to a system pigging out on alcohol and potato chips.
SOURCE: To Change Our Direction, It’s Time To Follow Nature’s Lead (Common Dreams)
Metal Gaia 