dryadofephesus

[dryadofephesus]

i think every british journalist should just be gunned down

[dryadofephesus]

Does anyone else ever feel like they keep walking into a wall in regards to their spiritual path and practices? It's like I keep flickering in and out of my Wicca based path, and it feels like I keep losing resonance with my gods? I'm seriously unsure what's happening with me spiritually rn

[dryadofephesus]

Good lord it's HOT out today. Went outside to do a rite to bring in some storms and rain since we're uhh, plagued with a megafire rn. Hopefully the neighbors weren't too weirded out by hearing someone call on Astarte and Ba'al but it feels good saying their names, and getting their names in the heads of those who over hear. And perhaps, maybe if anyone over heard my rite, it'll encourage them to look to the Gods of Old

[dryadofephesus]

[CANAAN] "She p[lunges] knee-deep in knights' blood, hip-deep in the gore of heroes..."

Anat reveling in bloodshed, as is her signature.

[dryadofephesus]

Instagram

[dryadofephesus]

Why is Wicca not a preferred way of practice? I’ve read a couple of posts, and Wicca isn’t favored.

Moral puritanism and performative outrage, plain and simple. There's nothing inherently wrong with Wicca or Wiccans. Some people in the community just aren't doing the work and seem to think that decolonizing our thinking begins and ends with screaming BOYCOTT at anything they deem even remotely reprehensible.

Let's do some of the work and dig a little deeper, shall we?

The main complaint is that Wicca started with people who had problematic worldviews and has had some growing pains and issues with racism, sexism, cultural appropriation, and bad actors in the community as it has evolved, reaching into the present day.

But here's the thing - SHOW ME A RELIGION THAT DOESN'T HAVE THESE PROBLEMS SOMEWHERE IN ITS' HISTORY OR CURRENT CULTURE. GO AHEAD, I'LL WAIT.

It's neither fair nor reasonable to judge a religion based on its' beginnings, or to dismiss the ability of a community to grow and evolve over time, or to pretend that the modern witchcraft movement doesn't owe a large part of its' existence to Wicca. Like it or not, if it weren't for Wiccans, we wouldn't have the kind of organization or recognition that we do, nor would we have had certain landmark legal cases that led to pagans being able to claim the protection of law against religious discrimination in the States.

(And because someone somewhere is going to demand the encyclopedia answer - This is not to discount the contributions of other groups, but the historical fact remains that the people responsible for the foundations of Wicca kickstarted the movement in the UK and subsequent practitioners brought it into public view in a positive light during the counterculture movements of the 1950s and 1960s. And it was Wicca that was first pagan religion in the US to be recognized and therefore included under the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. This does not change the CULTURAL AND SOCIETAL response to witchcraft or paganism, or the problems that witches and pagans still face in other places, only the presence of civil rights that were not there before. And that has, in fact, contributed to an increase in wider normalization and acceptance. We may not owe EVERYTHING to Wicca and Wiccans, but we would not be where we are as a movement or a community without them.)

Not to mention, Wicca hasn't even been around for a whole century yet and already it's being judged like it has the same kind of cultural and political clout that, oh say, Christianity does in much of the Western world. And it's no coincidence that a good number of the criticisms leveled at Wiccans are the same ones flung at Christians.

Wicca DOES have a strong influence on modern witchcraft, because Wicca and Wiccans were such a big part of the foundation of the movement. Furthermore, many of the published works viewed as standard beginner texts were written by Wiccans or heavily influenced by Wiccan ideas and concepts. Admittedly, there was a tendency for quite some time to think of Wicca and Wiccan tenets as the default for modern witchcraft, and now that we're moving away from that and discovering just how much of our thinking relies on that framework and the ideas present within it, there's backlash happening.

It's important to try and decolonize your thinking as much as possible when it comes to witchcraft. But that involves more work and more effort than just pointing fingers and broadly condemning anything remotely problematic or anything that's ever been touched or influenced by people whose moral and ethical codes don't pass muster under a modern lens. We cannot and should not expect people from 50+ years ago to toe the line when people living today can't even do so reliably.

So to wrap it all up - there's nothing wrong with Wicca and there's nothing wrong with being Wiccan. We are none of us completely unproblematic and until we address the fact that issues with racism, sexism, manipulation, cultural appropriation, and so forth exist in MANY parts of the modern witchcraft and pagan community, we don't get to tar and feather any one group. A bit of critical thinking and self-reflection, and a great deal of Knowing Our Own History, is the key to moving forward here.

Because until the people voicing these complaints most loudly can realize the head-splitting irony of condemning Wicca in one breath and celebrating the Wheel of the Year or venerating a Maiden-Mother-Crone-model goddess in the next, we're not actually getting anywhere.

Anyway, I hope this helps to answer some of your questions. For more information, I highly recommend reading Margot Adler's "Drawing Down The Moon" and Ronald Hutton's "Triumph of the Moon" for a more comprehensive overview of the history of the modern witchcraft movement. Both are written from an outside scholar's perspective and are presented as research rather than rhetoric. Part of knowing where we are and deciding where to go next is knowing where we started and where we've been, after all.

[dryadofephesus]

I give my praise to the Savior, The Great Mother, Magna Mater!

Our Lady of many breasts who provides nourishment unto all beings.

Our Lady of Power, whose worshippers rose when her dominion was threatened

Our Lady of The Earth, who provides unto all

Our Lady, The Queen of Heaven, of whom incense is burned unto, of whom cakes are baked for, and for whom fires are stoked

Our Lady, The Great One, Diana of the many names, who has variously been called Artemis, Ariadne, Cybele, Rhea, Ge, Inanna, Ishtar, Tanith, Astarte, and Asherah, amongst many other names.

It is you who receives my worship, it is you who receives my praise, it is you who I live in dedication to. It is you, Our Lady of Ephesus, that I am the child of.

Hail Diana of Ephesus, Great is She, and Great shall She always be!

[dryadofephesus]

The Earth Mother has many names, as all cultures know her, for she is the very earth beneath our feet. Gaia, Ge, Gaea, Terra-Mater, Cybele, Demeter, Damatura, Diana.. all are names of Her.

The Proto-Indo-Europeans knew her as Dheghom-Mater, or Plethwih (all modern spellings for sake of pronunciation). The Germanic Tribes knew her as Nerthus and Jord, The Celts knew her as Litavis, Danu, Modron, Matronae, etc. The Mesopotamians and Sumerians knew her as Ninhursag, The Canaanites as Asherah, Astarte, and Ashtoreth. If the name Gaia is how she comes to you, there's nothing wrong with that, even if you're not a Hellenic reconstructionist or follower of Hellenic religion, after all, she lends her name to the Gaia Hypothesis.

Guys I an eclectic pagan and I worship mother earth but I don't know which names I feel like I should call her. I usually say Gaea but my mother earth I believe in isn't necessarily aligned to greek hellenic beliefs and ideas. (I view her differently) so what should I call her.

[dryadofephesus]

Spring Hunt.

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Legendary grab today. Thank you tree trimmers who said yes when I asked if I could have a branch from the oak they were trimming. I'm going to be trimming it down more after I'm home from work because part of it would make a lovely miniature Stang.

Of course as I work at a cookie store, they got some goodies in return for the kindness.

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Url change:

Silverthornwitchery >>> DryadofEphesus

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—

“ great is artemis of the ephesians . “

¸ .　　 ° 　¸. * ● ¸ .　 ☾ ° 　¸. • ¸ .　¸ .　　 ° 　¸.

[dryadofephesus]

A Litany to Ashtoreth/Astarte

Hear my prayer, oh Astarte. Lady of the Moon, Of the Heavens, Of the Earth. Beloved Goddess, Ashtoreth, of the lineages of Inanna-Ishtar and Asherah!

Listen unto my words. Know, Ashtoreth, that I love you. Know that I see you in the pantheons of the world. Know that I see your divinity everywhere, in all goddesses.

I know you, Astarte, by many forms! I know you as Artemis, beloved of the Ephesians! I know you as Diana, beautiful one of Lake Nemi! I know you as Hekate, the key-keeper! I know you as Aphrodite, who bestows passion in lovers! I know you as Athena, ever-granting wisdom! I know you as Babalon, who holds the chalice of the blood of life! I know you as Andraste, lady of Ravens and Wolves! I know you as Astaroth, Dutchess of the Infernal Realms! I know you as Aradia, First of Witches! I know you as Gaia, Mother Earth Herself! I know you as Nyx, Nott, Nuit, Veil of Night! I know you as Isis, Goddess of 10,000 Names! I know you as Hathor, Qetesh, Lady of Sacred Pleasures! I know you as Freyja, Valkyrie Queen! I know you in all pantheons, in all names, in all goddesses! Likewise, I know you as Tanith of Carthage! I see how you have become beloved in all nations! I see how your evolutionary line across cultures is interwoven! I see how you are in all goddesses! I see how your essence ever thrives! Oh Ashtoreth, Astarte, I love you in all forms, in all names! I love you, for you teach the art of sacred syncretism! I love seeing how your essence permeates and shifts between pantheons. I love seeing your endless manifestations! I love seeing your beauty! Astarte, my Lady of the Moon, my Lady of Life, of the Vines and of the Trees! Astarte, my Lady of the Witches' Craft! Astarte, Patroness of the Queer! Astarte, my Lady of Undying Worship! Astarte, Ashtoreth! Look upon my litany, hear my words of reverence, and know that I love you! Know that you are within me, and I am of you! Know that I feel your blessings! Ave Astarte, Ashtoreth! Great Goddess Divine!

[dryadofephesus]

This is the Great Mother of All beings who holds dominion over life death and rebirth. She is the moon and it's light, she is the blue sky in the day and dark veil of night. She is far from evil, for she is Nature Itself, neither good nor bad, she simply is, and always will be.

Paul's attempts to quell worship of The Great Mother may have succeeded in the short term, but she can never be destroyed and we find our way back to her, and she welcomes us back with open arms, no matter our previous creeds and beliefs.

Great is Diana of Ephesus, Mother of All, and ever may she reign.

Hail Diana, variously known as Astarte, Asherah, Tanith, Inanna, and Cybele

~ Artemis of Ephesus. Date: Second half of the 2nd century CE. Head, feet and hands restored by Valadier in bronze Medium: Alabaster, bronze Provenance: Naples, National Archaeological Museum (Museo archeologico nazionale di Napoli)

[dryadofephesus]

When I think about my relationship with Diana and reflect on all I know of her, the more I realize she fills that Magna Mater role. When I truly delve into who she is to me, I see not only the crescent crowned goddess of witches, but the many-breasted great mother, whose priestesses embodied her and brought fertility through sexual and sensual rites, whose worshippers rioted in the streets cheering "Great is Diana of Ephesus" when attempts to destroy her worship were made. I see goddess who is surrounded by animals and bees, worshipped in a sacred grove. I see the figure whose been variously named Cybele, Astarte, Atargatis, Asherah, Inanna, Ishtar, Demeter, Rhea, Tanith, Ge and so forth.

While Diana is a huntress yes, it is not all of her. She is everything of nature both wild and tame,

[dryadofephesus]

It can be argued that some of the Gods aren't Hellenic or Grecian at all. Technically, only Poseidon, Demeter, Persephone, Dionysus, and Artemis are Grecian. And that's because they were in those lands from Pre-Mycenean times.

Before Zeus, Hera, Hades, or Aphrodite, etc there was:

Poseidon was called Enesidaone, Poseidawonos, Poteidas, Posedao. He was the horse that rides the shore, and stirs the waves. He was the horse that carried souls to the Underworld and ruled the dead. He was Wanax- King of the Gods. He was the Horse God of the Seas and the Dead.

Demeter was called Sitopotinija, Horta, Deazeia, Damate, Damatura. She was the Earth-Mother, and wife of Poseidon. She was nature incarnate.

Persephone was Preswa and Despoine. The Goddess of Death. The White-Veiled Queen. She was the daughter of Poseidon and Demeter. And the second wife of her father. She was merciless and ruthless. Fair, just, and unbiased. She was impartial as death tends to be.

Dionysus was Diwonusujo, Diwunoso, Dionusos. He was Madness given form. He was the Bull-Horned God. He drove mortals insane. Made mothers devour their children, and fathers kill their families. And people slaughter entire towns. Son of Poseidon and Demeter.

Artemis was Artemito, Artio, and Arktos. She was the wild, free, untamed Bear Goddess of the Hunt. Feral Daughter of Poseidon and Demeter. She was the Forest Queen.

[dryadofephesus]

Wanted to update my altar to Ba'lu Haddu and post pics!

I'm so happy! I've found a lovely shop in my town where I can get lapis, amethyst, even copper! And I have an old sumerian themed dagger so that's fun