#cornish paganism

[wolverinesorcery]

Montol Lowen and oh please let the sun rise

[thedansemacabres]

there truly is something to people looking at the Bucca and taking Gemma Gary’s book at face value and running with it in their practices without ever being able to place Kernow on a map.

[pysksos]

Bucca as one with dominion over moorlands is such a delicious idea. While Their home is the Sea and the Weather, Cornish moorlands are so interlinked with both of those it's impossible for Them to not also have their home there.

[wytchoftheways]

[apilgrimpassingby]

Firstly, Halloween isn't pagan (here's a good video on the subject, and here's an article covering the same ground) in any meaningful way.

Part of the reason this sucks is that there actually was a Celtic pagan fire festival that persisted well into the Christian era. But it wasn't Halloween, it was Halloween's calendrical inverse, Beltane (or Calan Mai in Welsh, or May Day in English) on the 1st May.

On both Calan Mai and Scottish Beltane, it was customary to select someone to jump over a fire or run between bonfires three times for good luck and a good harvest, and in Cornwall (which, if you weren't aware, is one of the Celtic nations) and neighbouring Devon it was customary on May Day for people to jump over fires for luck and lead cows between bonfires for their protection (Chainey, Dee Dee, 2018, A Treasury of British Folklore: Maypoles, Mistletoe and Mandrakes, National Trust Publishing, National Trust Publishing, p.23). The smoking gun here is that the Sanas Cormaic, a 9th century Irish glossary, states that on Beltane in pre-Christian Ireland druids would lead cattle between fires for their protection (see previously-linked article about Halloween not being pagan).

Likewise, there were traditions about May Day being a time when faeries were about. In Wales, it was a time when faeries were particularly active, including a portal to the faerie world on the mountain of Brecon opening and fires being lit to ward them off (Chainey op cit), and in Scotland it was one of the four "quarter days" (the others being Lammas, Halloween and Candlemas) when faeries were particularly active, and hence cunning women (folk magicians) often talked to faeries on this date (Harte, Jeremy, 2004, Explore Fairy Traditions, Heart of Albion Press, pp.136-137).

So, in short, if you want a Celtic festival of bonfires and faeries that survived centuries of Christianity, your day isn't the 31st of October, it's the 1st of May.

[maypoleman1]

21st January

St Agnes’ Day

St Agnes by Domenachino (1625). Source: Wikipedia

Today is St Agnes’ Day. Agnes is believed to have been a Christian, born to an aristoratic Roman family in the fourth century AD. She was executed in 350 during Diocletian’s persecution of Christians aged just thirteen. A number of miracles are said to have taken place around her execution, including the failure of kindling when the Roman authorities attempted to burn her to death following her refusal to renounce her faith. A soldier then killed her by stabbing her through the throat. She is honoured by most Christian churches as one of the virgin saints, and is often depicted in the company of a sheep, probably due to a possibly deliberate misreading of Agnus Dei (Lamb of God). For this reason today is said to be a good day to bless sheep and all things woollen.

For some reason Agnes’ story has also found a home in Cornwall, but it is an altogether more fanciful tale, if no less dark. The chaste Agnes became the object of affection of a Cornish Giant named Bolster. Nothing Agnes could say would dissuade her gigantic suitor from his pursuit although the young woman’s constant rejections led Bolster to take out his frustration on the local settlements. Agnes therefore devised a cunning ruse to rid both her and the locality of the tiresome giant. Agnes persuaded Bolster to prove his love for her by opening a vein in his wrist and filling a hole at Chapel Porth near Truro, with his blood. The simple-minded giant had no idea that the hole led under the sea and had no bottom. As Bolster slowly lost consciousness, Agnes rolled him to a cliff edge and kicked him into the waves to drown. The grateful local people named their village St Agnes in her honour. Given this rather unchristian homicidal behaviour, it is likely that this Cornish Agnes is descended from a pagan giant-killing Celtic heroine.

[astro-witchery]

—ℐ𝓃𝓉𝓇ℴ𝒹𝓊𝒸𝓉𝒾ℴ𝓃—

My name is Sasha. I am a cosmic/astro/lunar witch. This means: I do a lot of rituals around the moon cycles, I tend to also do intention setting based on lunar phases, and live my life by astrological and cosmic patterns and magic.

I am also an astrologer (I’ve been practicing and studying for over 6 years). I’m a Sagittarius sun, Sagittarius moon, and Cancer ascendant in Tropical Astrology. {Scorpio Sun, Sagittarius Moon, and Gemini Ascendant in Western Sidereal.} I study all types of astrology but I’m most well versed in Western Tropical and am studying Traditional Hellenistic Tropical Astrology to blend the aspects of both together.

I also do tarot, oracle, & dabble with other forms of divination. Plus, I believe myself to be claircognizant and use this to help aide in my witchery.

I consider myself an Agnostic Pagan and Witchy. I am also and animist. I identified as a Hellenic Polytheist for a while but have recently decided to explore my ancestry and it’s relation to other spiritual paths (absolutely not in a folkish or racist way btw!) I am adopted and it’s always been really hard for me, not being able to explore my ancestry and do ancestor work within my spiritual practice.

I am possibly a mix of Anglo-Saxon, Devon, & Cornish descent. My adopted family is of Scottish, Welsh, & French descent. I’m still putting together my biological family tree. This very hard for me to do as I don’t have a lot of access to info being an adoptee. (I am not claiming I have certain rights to cultures because of this, I am just trying to learn about my ancestors and their spiritual practices to find answers about my own inherent beliefs about spirituality that I was born with.)

I have always had a love for religious and philosophical studies. I had very profound spiritual experiences at a very young age (for example: I knew I was reincarnated without even really knowing what death was or about spirituality). Most people in these spaces have a similar story to starting off Christian and not being satisfied (or being traumatized) by their church. I grew up Baptist and when I could explore other options after I left home I did.

I currently research: Christian Sects (especially Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy, but also really enjoy niche fringe sects and “folk Catholicism” or “Christian Witchcraft”), Pagan and Polytheistic religions (Hellenic Polytheism, Proto Indo-European Polytheism, Anglo-Saxon Heathenry, Norse Heathenry, & Celtic Polytheism or more specifically Cornish/Devon/Welsh Druidism), Hinduism, Buddhism, Atheism, and honestly I could add more to list but I don’t want to ramble on. This does not mean I am an eclectic witch or that I mix pantheons or practices, I just enjoy reading/studying all types of world religions and I’m still searching for the right practice for me.

This is just a place where I can share and reblog helpful info and share aspects of my craft ~

☾ ⁂ ——————— 🜸☆

𖦹 This Account Stands Against Bigotry 𖦹

This account is accepting of all people of all religions and belief systems that are not harmful to others. This account is a safe space for LGBTQA+ identities, disabled folks, mentally ill folks, plural/multiple folks, & strangers/travelers/homeless folks. This account is against racism, homophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, ALL the problematic isms.

I don’t do DNIs bc I prefer to block people.

I am happy that you are here! If I follow you back it will be from my main account @s4shiii

Feel free to send asks to get to know me more, to inquire about readings, or ask astrological questions. I do offer full paid astrological natal chart readings in Western Tropical & I also offer tarot card readings all for a sliding scale price! ~

[raayllum]

what fae like qualities do you believe aaravos has?

I don't know enough about the fae to say definitively (I've read some works depicting fae, such as The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser from the 1500s, A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare, some other folklore myths) but I try to stay away from sources that are too Christianized for stuff that's more Pagan / northern and western Europe and the 1500s has plenty already.

When in doubt I'm loosely using wikipedia / old class notes for reference but if there's a site or source I think is cool and helpful I'll note it down below.

There is some that are generally common knowledge, such as:

Fae being mischevious tricksters with very particular phrasing. They don't tend to often be outright malevolent as a motivation, but often do harm to humans anyway either due to ignorance or blue-orange morality.

Blue-orange morality (for those who don't want to watch a video) is basically when a creature or being does not have a morality that operates that we would define it (on a spectrum of ethical right or wrong actions per consequence or intention). A good example is the spirits from ATLA (not LOK) or One-One from Infinity Train. He's a helpful little robot guy and he loves his friends, but he is ultimately bound and operates within the Train's rules. It's not that he can't deter from the Train's rules without distress or that he doesn't want to, it's that deterring from the Train's rules just doesn't compute to him as even a thing to do. He's operating on his own unique level and it's what turns him from a S1 ally to a S2 antagonist (but not villain).

There tends to be an emphasis on names, deals, and exchanges, i.e. if a Fae says "Can you give me your name?" and you tell them it, they own it and you by extension now, stuff like that. Also have a tendency to give humans they like, or humans who do nice things for them, gifts (whether it's actually a beneficial gift is sometimes debatable).

The Fae often lure humans away from the Ordinary Realm into the Faerie Realm, where time and magic work differently. Sometimes this means being whisked away, or unknowingly stepping through fairy rings. This can include both the Seelie and the UnSeelie Court (Scottish folklore).

Examples of the Fae in popular culture include Spirited Away (don't eat the food!), changeling myths (faerie leaving their babies in place of your own, nowadays seen as a connection to old stories of Autistic individuals), arguably Coraline (film and book), will-o-the-wisps, and other figures in Welsh, Cornish, and broad European folklore, etc.

Variants / similarities include huldufolk (Icelandic and Faroese folklore), sirens (Greek), kelpies (Scottish), etc. Over time Christian (bc of course) associations have also been applied as both demoted angels and tempting devils, but that sort of works given one of Aaravos' most prominent comparisons is Lucifer, and Prometheus, who were as crafty and clever as they come.

Basically:

Aaravos emphasis (or lack thereof) regarding his name and the general mystery surrounding it — "My name would mean nothing to you" even in the face of Viren's demands

We see the emphasis on phrasing given that it's been stated by the crew that Aaravos never lies, but we know he purposefully obscures and omits information

Entering into deals and exchanges with humans, giving them gifts and promises (Ziard's staff, Viren's rule for himself and Viren's life for Claudia)

Him seducing Viren yes I said it / everything with Sir Sparklepuff tbh

Fae can also sometimes set trials to pass or tasks for people to fulfil, similar-ish to Aaravos giving Viren a little fetch quest for them to communicate / "Those who fail tests of love are simple animals."

We don't know what Aaravos actually wants, exactly, or why, but given the indifference of the other Startouch elves to humanity's plights (and the fact they've let Aaravos wreak havoc and have never stepped in to stop him) it's a far bet their long, illustrious lives have given them a decidedly warped morality, and that Aaravos is pretty indifferent to other people's immense suffering at this point, too

His mirror realm being its own sort of faerie realm that he can bring Viren in and out of

Aaravos having multiple names and monikers — the Fallen Star, the Midnight Star, one of the Great Ones — much the way the Fae folk have many — the Good Neighbours, the Fair Folk, the Kind Ones, the Wee Folk, the Others (citation).

This isn't as much of a thing but all the nature motifs surrounding Aaravos (Elarion as a flower, the nature-esque patterns on the box that held the Key and that match the key, the flower and vine emulations on his mirror).

[underragingwaves]

THE LAST KINGDOM ∞ 1x06 Uhtred catches the eye of a lovely pagan queen, and his band of raiders becomes mercenaries for a Cornish king. But he soon faces the fury of Alfred.

[wolverinesorcery]

Hi! I hope this isn't overstepping, long story short I'm a USAmerican who recently discovered I have Cornish ancestry (my dad's mom had an affair lol and my bio grandfather came from Cornish settlers). I am starting to explore my spirituality and was curious about learning more about Cornish folkways, and maybe trying to learn some Kernewek... Is your discord server still open/active? I hope you're having a good day/night!

Yeah - my celtic server is still open! Here's a link: https://discord.gg/Rth7EubU & if you're wanting to learn kernewek then I can't reccomend dyski kernowek more

[thedansemacabres]

I think paganism would be better off if following gods from your “ancestors” was rather phrased as “gods of my culture”. Because well, for many of us, the Christian God is the god of our ancestors, especially the ones I argue matter most to our personal identities which are recent ancestry. After all, my Slovak family worshipped the Lord, but I choose to worship Morena to be closer to my culture. I also think this helps to include people who were adopted into cultures, whether by families or growing up there.

[pysksos]

A little sweet Bucca Dhu ✨

[wytchoftheways]

Horned God Invocation: ⛦

By the flame that burneth bright

O Horned One!

We call thy name into the night

O Horned One!

Thee we invoke by the moon led sea

By the standing stone and the twisted tree

Thee we invoke where gather thine own

By the nameless shrine forgotten and lone

Come where the round of the dance is trod

Horn and hoof of the goat-foot God

By moonlit meadow on dusky hill

When the haunted wood is hushed and still

Come to the charm of the chanted prayer

As the moon bewitches the midnight air

Evoke thy powers, that potent bide

In shining stream and secret tide

In fiery flame by starlight pale

In shadowy host that ride the gale

And by the fern-brakes fairy-haunted

Of forests wild and wood enchanted

Come! O Come!

To the heartbeats drum!

Come to us who gather below

When the broad white moon is climbing slow

Through the stars to the heavens height

We hear thy hoofs on the wind of night

As black tree branches shake and sigh

By joy and terror we know thee nigh

We speak the spell thy power unlocks

At Solstice, Sabbat, and Equinox

Word of virtue the veil to rend

From primal dawn to the wide world's end

Since time began---

The blessing of Pan!

Blessed be all in hearth and hold

Blessed in all worth more than gold

Blessed be in strength and love

Blessed be wher'er we rove

Vision fade not from our eyes

Of the pagan paradise

Past the gates of death and birth

Our inheritance of the earth

From our soul the song of spring

Fade not in our wandering

Our life with all life is one,

By blackest night or noonday sun

Eldest of gods, on thee we call

Blessing be on thy creatures all.

🕯️🐐🕯️

🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿

[lazywitchling]

Jes' Collection of Witch Books

I said I would make this list, so here I am, making this list.

These are all the Witchy (and witchy-adjacent) books I own and/or have read. It's a long list, so it's going under a cut!

Key of Symbols:

📗 Read

📖 Reading

📚 Not Yet Read

Books that I own

📗 Rebel Witch by Kelly-Ann Maddox (Review)

📗 A Dabbler's Guide to Witchcraft by Fire Lyte

📗 Spellcrafting by Arin Murphy-Hiscock

📗 The House Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock (Review)

📗 Witchery by Juliet Diaz (Review)

📚 A Witch's Guide to Spellcraft by Althea Sebastiani

📚 All That is Sacred is Profaned by Rhyd Wildermuth (edit: nevermind, he's a transphobe now)

📚 Reclaiming Ourselves by Emma Kathryn

📚 In the Midnight Hour by Anthony Rella

📗 Weave the Liminal by Laura Tempest Zakroff (Review)

📚 Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways by Gemma Gary

📗 Grovedaughter Witchery by Bree NicGarran (@breelandwalker)

📗 The Sisters Grimmoire by Bree NicGarran (@breelandwalker)

📚 Witchcraft by Anastasia Greywolf or Tamsin Chamberlin (don't buy this one: here's why)

Books I read from the Library

📗 The Modern Witchcraft Spell Book by Skye Alexander (don't buy this one: here's why)

📗 Backwoods Witchcraft by Jake Richards

Zines and Pamphlets

📗 A Pagan Anti-Capitalist Primer

📗 Brainscan 33: DIY Witchery by Alex Wrekk (@upthewitchypunx)

📗 Brainscan 34: A Dabbler's Week of DIY Witchery by Alex Wrekk (@upthewitchypunx)

📗 Everyday Magic #1

📗 Everyday Magic #2

📗 Exploding the Tangerine by Clint Marsh & Oliver Bly

📗 Five Principles of Green Witchcraft by Asa West

📗 Hex Your Ex

📗 The Witchy Zinester's Pocket Book of Spells

📚 Twin Peaks Tarot Spreads

📚 Sow Sprout Grow Tarot Spreads

Charity Bundle E-Books

These all came as a bundle, so the quality will vary as it does with any bargain grab-bag. I'm not linking these unless I've read (or am reading) them because it takes a long time, and I have no idea if they're good or absolute shit. If you want to learn about these, you know how the internet works.

📚 City Magick by Christopher Penczak

📗 Consorting with Spirits by Jason Miller

📚 Herbal Magick by Gerina Dunwich

📚 Hex Twisting by Diana Rajchel

📚 Italian Folk Magic by Mary-Grace Fahrun

📚 Love Magic by Lilith Dorsey

📚 Magic When You Need It by Judika Illes

📚 Magickal Astrology by Skye Alexander

📚 Personal Magic by Marion Weinstein

📚 Plant Witchery by Juliet Diaz

📚 Positive Magic by Marion Weinstein

📗 Queering Your Craft by Cassandra Snow (Review)

📚 Reading the Runes by Kim Farnell

📚 Spellcrafting by Gerina Dunwich

📚 The Big Book of Tarot by Joan Bunning

📚 The Study of Witchcraft by Deborah Lipp

📚 The Witch's Eight Paths of Power by Lady Sable Aradia

📚 The Witch's Guide to Wands by Gypsey Elaine Teague

📚 True Magic by Draja Mickaharic

📚 Water Witchcraft by Annwyn Avalon

📚 Wicca Made Easy by Phyllis Curott

📚 Wishcraft by Sakura Fox

📚 Witch, Please by Victoria Maxwell

📚 Witchcraft Activism by David Salisbury

📚 Year of the Witch by Temperance Alden

[vi-sigoth]

Man... why is it so hard to find normal Gaelic pagans?

Dude. Tell me about it. I suffer everyday.

If I had to guess though—my guesses would be:

1. The Isles were Christianized earlier than, say, Scandinavia, and big swathes of the Slavic regions, so there were less years of recorded pagan practices that we have knowledge of extending into the beginning and middle of the Medieval period.

2. For one reason or another, there’s been a big revival of interest in Norse/Germanic practice. This isn’t necessarily a recent thing, either. You had Wagner heavily leaning into Germanic myth and aesthetics with his Ring Cycle. You had, whether you agree with him or not, Adolf Hitler and his men rejecting the church’s hold on Germany and reviving interest in Germanic belief (what Adolf Hitler and those closest to him personally believed is a whole other can of worms and too long for this post.) the West is fascinated with Norse-Germanic belief and “Viking” aesthetics because I think in many people’s view, the Norse were the last holdout against the tide of Abrahamism in Europe (which unfortunately does a massive disservice to the Slavs and Balts who often held out for much longer, even until the Soviet period). More recently, you have groups like Wardruna and Heilung and their many copycats rising to popularity. You have (ugh) the show Vikings, which, for better or for worse, brought Norse belief and Viking Age culture back into the public eye. Piggybacking off the popularity of that was Robert Eggers’ masterpiece The Northman. You don’t have a lot of this with Celtic culture, either Islander or continental, because:

3. Protestantism simply put, did not succeed in keeping hold of Scandinavia and the northern parts of Germany like Catholicism did for Ireland, for France. That statement might piss people off, but the difference in how secular Sweden is versus Ireland is pretty staggering. (Yeah, yeah, I know, racial and religious demographics are rapidly shifting and people will ask what about Scotland, what about Wales? It’s complicated.)

4. FUCKINF. WICCIANISM. Gerald Gardner and Rocket Graves, may they suffer for eternity, did untold damage to Islander paganism. Gardner cherry-picked from many European traditions, but he used (cherry-picked) Islander Celtic belief as the glue to hold it together, and mixed that with Thelema, and Khabbalah, which, do I even have to explain why neither of these things have no place in Europe? He and Graves took advantage of the burgeoning pagan revivals and general disillusionment with Christianity people had after WWII. Robert Graves’ The White Goddess is now used as a blueprint for reconstructing Celtic paganism. Despite the fact that he couldn’t back up any of his “research” and couldn’t cite a single source, and that nearly every single academic that studies pre-Christian European belief has rejected it as utter nonsense, I STILL see people claiming to be “Druids” who cite this book. So you have The White Goddess, and Wiccanism/New Age nonsense, which has been bleeding for decades into any genuine attempt at reconstruction. People tend to see the hippie or Earth mother types that flock to this and think. “Yeah, no thanks.”

There are no recent, big budget, well-filmed, well acted movies that depict any of the Irish, Scottish, Welsh, or Cornish (yeah, remember them? Barely any one else does) myth. Almost no one knows how much Celtic blood is in all of Europe. In Greece, in the southern Slavic countries, in Italy, in Switzerland, and the Netherlands and Austria. Bavarians can up to nearly 50% Celt DNA! So can Spaniards! There are no cool depictions of naked Gauls slathered in blue woad hurling themselves at Roman soldiers, ripping their shields apart with their bare hands, running up their shield walls and diving into the fray, racing through Europe in their immaculate chariots. It’s sad. I’d give my right arm to see a Robert Eggers directed movie about that, or about Fion mac Cumhail. The Celts were just as fierce and powerful as any Viking raider you can name, and what do we get? Derry Girls and movies about The Troubles. Which is fine. Ireland in 1900 and more recently was certainly not a boring place to be. But there’s just so much more.

Best we can do, friend, is keep making people of Celtic heritage aware of their history, their people, their gods, and make THAT Celtic history popular in the culture.

Then we get our Robert Eggers Gaul movie.

[schoolofholywitchery]

🌿Correspondences for Ostara (Spring Equinox)🌿

🌿Other Names: Eostre, Eostre’s Day, Spring Equinox, Vernal Equinox, Alban Eiber, Bacchanalia, Lady Day

🌿Dates: March 19 – 22nd

🌿Colors: Pink, Yellow, Grass Green, All Pastels, Robin’s Egg Blue

🌿Altar Items: Eggs, Rabbits, Potted plants, Seeds, Maiden goddesses, Flowers, Quartz crystals, Cocoons, Bees, Baskets, Lambs, New Moon

🌿Activities: Conception, Egg painting, Gardening/planting a garden, Actualizing potential

🌿Spell Work: Manifestation, Healing, Energizing, Rededications, Removing obstacles, Restoring balance, Love attraction, Abundance, Home blessings, Spring cleaning

🌿Animals: Rabbits, Snakes, Chicks, Birds

🌿Stones: Aquamarine, Amethyst, Rose quartz, Moon stone, Bloodstone, Red jasper

🌿Foods: Eggs, Honey, Sprouts, Fresh fruits, Sweet breads, Seeds, Poppy Seed Cake, Banana bread, Chocolate, Sweet Wine, Milk and other dairy foods

🌿Herbs: Celandine, Cinquefoil, Jasmine, Rose, Tansy, Viole, Acorn, Crocus, Daffodil, Dogwood, Honeysuckle, Iris, Lily, Strawberry

🌿Trees: Birch, Ash, Alder

🌿Meaning: Balance, New Life/Rebirth, Goddes and God in Youth, Non-Celtic End of Winter, Light Overtaking Darkness, Fertility, Balance, New Beginnings, New Love, Growth,

🌿Ritual Oils: Lotus, Magnolia, Ginger

🌿Incense: Jasmine, Light scented florals

🌿Mythical Creatures: Mermaid, Dragons, Unicorn

🌿Goddesses: Aphrodite (Greek), Athena (Greek), Cybele (Roman), Eostre (Teutonic), Eriu (Irish), Gaia (Greek), Hear/Juno (Greco-Roman), Iris (Greek), Lady of the Lake (Welsh-Cornish), Madhusri (Hindu), Melusine (Franco-Scottish), Moon Mother (Native American), Ova (Greek-Etruscan), Renpet (Egyptian), Salamaona (Middle Eastern), Vesta (Greco-Roman), Anna Fearina (Roman), Astarte (Canaanite), Coatlicue (Aztec), Doda (Siberian), Erce (Slavic), Flidais (Irish), Garbhog (Irish), Ishtar (Babylonian), Isis (Egyptian), Libera (Roman), Ma-Ku (Chinese), Minerva (Roman), The Muses (Greek), Persephone (Greco-Roman), Rheda (Anglo-Saxon), Vesna (Slavic), Venus (Roman), Freya (Norse), Rati (Hindu)

#SpringEquinox #Ostara #Spring #pagan #Witchcraft #Witch