Sonoran Druidry: Winter season, week 1

Winter (December & January & February)

Seasonal Deities: Aonghus and Dagda

In modern neopaganism, and especially in modern Druidry, winter is seen as a season of death and hibernation. Within the Celtic cultural sphere winter begins at Samhain (generally celebrated on or around October 31st/November 1st) and continues through to Imbolc (January 31st/February 1st). However, in the Sonoran desert of the American southwest winter is a season during which there is much life and even growth. How then do we reinterpret the ritual significance of this season?

As understood by the majority of neopagans the Celtic ritual year is divided by four high days: Samhain; Imbolc; Beltane; and Lughnasa. Each of these high days represent a distinct season with an approximately equal length of three months each. Thus the Sonoran winter presents a second quandary for Celtic neopagans in that it is one of five distinct seasonal periods, rather than the four seasons traditionally associated with northern and western Europe.

If we are to understand Druidry as an earth-centered religion and philosophy, with its primary emphasis on reverence for the sacred earth and the life it springs forth, it then follows that the local patterns of soil and weather must largely influence the ritual calendar.

This first week of December has been not only sunny and mild, but also wind, rain, and cool temperatures. On the whole it has been very spring-like. There will probably be no hard frosts for another month yet.

The preeminent Druid's bird, the Droelin, is ever present in the form of the Cactus Wren, as is the Gila Woodpecker. The Desert Mistletoe berries in my yard are not yet ripe, but when they are they will attract Silky Flycatchers in numbers.

Week 2's post will begin to address the Druid Lore for the season, in particular that of Aonghus and Dagda.

Gardening highlights for December week 1:

• Composting leaf fall continues.

Winter vegetables, root vegetables, and even chiles and tomatoes can be grown outdoors if care is taken to protect them from frosts. Experiment with any or all of the following techniques:

• Tunnel gardening.
• Cold frames.
• Hot beds (solar water heat).
• Planting in compost.

Cultural History for December week 1:

• La Fiesta de Guadalupe
• La Fiesta de Tumacácori
• Tucson Marathon
• Anglo-Irish Treaty: December 6, 1921.
• Ends Irish War of Independence.
• Establishes Irish Free State.

Sources Cited
Desert Gardening. Brookbank, George. Fisher Books.
Sonoran Desert Museum
Wikipedia

Naoi Beannachtai,
Eremon

Dithreabh na Croí

Hermitage of the Heart,
That which inward lies.
Swept clean with breathing.
Illumined through the window of the eyes.

Naoi Beannachtai,
Eremon

First Principles part I

"In the eleventh hour,...the environment looms before us as an outward mirror of our inner condition." ~ Theodore Roszak

I am aware that I am injuring myself through unhealthy eating eating and lack of exercise.

In the same way I am aware that I allow myself to make lifestyle choices that are detrimental not only to the Earth, but to other people in other lands.

In the quiet hour of the World, I resolve to change myself.

"Meditation is the heart of Druidry." ~ John Michael Greer

Moon of Slings

Sunset rains pelting orange steel.

Monsoon month.

Lightning and hail, spear and stone.

Lugh is yet present.

Sunrise

Air heavy with monsoon humidity early this morning. Swept a clean patch in gravel with feet for sword exercises. Forearms tight, muscles bulging. Wrists loosened. Coyotes sing with the sunrise.

Solvitur Ambulando

March 31 2014

I smell of desert herb, dust, and chemical toxic sweat. My face is burnt from the mid-morning sun. The morning was still cool at 8, but has warmed up since. I have said that summer is here. Perhaps it is not yet. The vernal equinox is ten days past. Went out in mutant dress as befits the state of things.

As I picked my way through stone and thorns resumed my silent dialogue with friends real and imagined. The two Pauls were on my mind in particular though J and the strange one were present in my head as well. The stone circle needed tending. In order to concentrate my efforts I concentrated on the octet section between vernal equinox and Beltane. Inner ground was cleaned of stones. Stones were piled on the edge of the templum. Conversation drifted across the subject of soil. 

The Tucson Mountains are thought to be the collapsed rim of a large volcano. They are primarily composed of rhyolite. Colors range from black and lavender to grey, ochre and red. There is almost no organic layer to be found. Mineral dust, gravel, stone, and boulder are omnipresent. As soon as a plant or animal dies it is eaten by a succession of living organisms. Coyotes and javelina scavange. The sun dessicates. Birds peck. Ants carry away everything down to the last leaf and twig. What comes from the earth must surely return to the earth. In the cool dark of the ant kingdoms the remains of the surface world fungus and mold, providing nourishment for them, ultimately finding its way back the mineral and organic amnesia.

Woodpecker barked angrily at me from saguaro top nests. The circle walls grew. The circle had been filled with tiny white flowers when I entered. Larger yellow flowers were golden islands in their midst. Stubborn creosote towered over all. Hunched over moving tiny stones, I saw the smallest purple blossoms working their way upward through pea gravel and downward through dust.

I have made post holes in the desert below three foot depth. Never did I see moisture, nor feel any coolth in the earth. Honors are made to Brigit and the rising sun. Narrow trail is enjoined. Even small stones are felt through thin sole of shoe. That is as it should be. Minimal separation from earth. Wildflowers everywhere. Resolve to seed the circle with desert poppy. Must find packet of seed in forgotten hole of home.

A fine layer of the white flowers is everywhere like the fine hair of someone’s forearm. I cannot step but I crush them. I cannot avoid them. I am organic. I cannot remove myself from this system. My effect is concrete by simple presence. All systems are thus. All elements interact. There is no observer, only the participator.

Don't Recycle Paper

It's bad for the environment. Really. I know we've been told since the late 60's that we need to recycle paper in order to save the planet, but it's just not so. Here are some compelling reasons why:

1. Transporting recycling materials increases the use of petroleum and electricity. Most of our electricity in this country is still generated by burning fossil fuels. See where this is going?
2. Before paper can be recycled it must be de-inked. Commercial recycling of paper requires the use of toxic chemicals to de-ink the paper. These chemicals are non-recyclable and are extremely hazardous to the environment. http://www.treecycle.com/papers/we_lived.html


3. Recycling paper requires huge amounts of energy input from non-renewable fossil fuels, much more than is used for recycling plastic. http://www.reusablebags.com/facts.php?id=7


4. Commercial recycling of paper puts money in the pockets of huge corporations, at the expense of the environment.

So, what's a Druid to do?

1. Use less paper. This is the single most important thing you can do. I make an effort to find products in reusable packaging, such as glass or metal.


2. Precycle. The second most important thing you can do is to be more selective about the paper that you do purchase and use.


3. Reduce paper recycling by collecting other people's paper. I use old phone books and newspapers as foundation fill for my rainwater harvesting landscape. It raises ground elevation quickly, and it breaks down beneath the soil on its own with no additional energy input.


4. You can shred it for compost, even bury it in your yard.


5. Just don't burn it, trash it, and especially, don't recycle it.