The Grey Mare on the Hill now available

It has been a long time coming  but finally word has been received that the devotional anthology to the Great Horse Goddess, The Grey Mare on the Hill has finally arrived.

 

Lovingly complied by Lee Davies, a devotee of the Brythonic Goddess Rigantona, this anthology focuses on the "constellation" that is found over the British landscape, that being the constellation of Great Goddesses of the Land, of Sovereignty and of the Horse.

 

From the Indo-European origins of Horse Goddesses to the Medieval Rhiannon of the Mabinogion, the Grey Mare has been upon the Hills above us.   Amongst the pages of The Grey Mare on the Hill can be found devotional works from many devotees of the Great Goddess of the Land, the Mare Goddess, the Giver of Sovereignty; and lays out their offerings for Her.  Poetry, devotional spaces and essay works set upon an altar of paper to be offered up to her.

Solstice Special - Two Books and Save Nearly 15%

 

From now until the end of the calendar year you have the opportunity of purchasing both of these wonderful publications for only $60.00** (inclusive of postage anywhere in Australia).  If you are interested in taking advantage of this offer (and save nearly 15% of both titles), then all you need to do is to order here using Paypal.

An anthology that honours Sekhmet

As I recover from a number of what can only be described as labour intensive months in order to get Call of the God: An Anthology Exploring the Divine Masculine within Modern Paganism finished and available to the public, I am delighted to announce that another project that I have contributed towards are also now coming to fruition, that being a devotional anthology to the Egyptian Goddess Sekhmet entitled Daughter of the Sun: A Devotional Anthology in Honor of Sekhmet.

 

Sekhmet is a complex Goddess, an ancient and ferocious deity impossible to fit into a single, simple category.  She was perceived as a warrior and healer, guardian and hunter, as well as being both a mother and daughter.  Some of her names included "Eye of the Sun and Arbiter of Justice", "Mistress of Dread", "Lady of the Slaughter" and "The Drunken One".  As such, to the ancient Egyptians Sekhmet was truly a being of awe and power, as well as of grace and wrath.

 

Call of the God now available

It has been a rather long and somewhat drawn out process that was plagued with computer and later health issues, but finally Call of the God: An Anthology Exploring the Divine Masculine within Modern Paganism has been finalised.

 

This anthology is a unique smorgasbord of essays, poems, fiction and artwork depicting the numerous manifestations of the God and how the Divine Masculine is depicted within modern Paganism around the world and is now available for purchase through Createspace as well as Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and all other affiliated online stores.

From the Roaring Deep - An Anthology to Poseidon

Poseidon. Amphitrite. Nereus and the Nereids. Triton and Tethys.

Iris and the Graeae. Proteus and Styx

and Medusa.

 

They are of the sea, and more than the sea. They are the primordial ocean from which life arose, and which continues to sustain the world. They are the saltwater in our blood. They are storm and wind and tide and crashing waves. They are glorious beings of water and salt and light, avengers of injustice and providers of bounty. They are fathers and mothers and lovers. They are wrathful and exuberant, compassionate and wise, quixotic and impulsive and shrewd.

 

They are Powers most worthy of our devotion, our prayers, and our respect.

 

Hail Poseidon and the Spirits of the Sea!

Update: Call of the God - Arrival of the Proof

The proof copy of Call of the God: An Anthology Exploring the Divine Masculine within Modern Paganism arrived today with its draft cover.  Finally the completion of this anthology is edging all that bit closer.

 

I am still not happy with the template I have been using for the cover and while I don't mind what I have been able to produce, there is still something that I am not 100% sold on.  So I have commissioned a graphic design friend of mine to work his magick in order to see what he can come up with.  While this magick is happening, and due to the various delays experienced this year, I thought I would at least order a proof to ascertain what the interior looked like and whether any subsequent changes needed to be made in an attempt to speed up the actual manifestation of this project.

Update: Call of the God

It has been a while since time has permitted an update with respect to the proposed anthology about the Pagan divine masculine, Call of the God: An Anthology Exploring the Divine Masculine within Modern Paganism, to be made.  And I am delighted to advise that whilst the progress seems to have been fraught with a number of obstacles, the anthology is now in its final stages.

 

The first change was in the extended title to encapsulate the fact that this is indeed a joint project showcasing contributions received from writers, poets, ritualists and artists from around the world.

 

Imbolc and "Dancing the Sacred Wheel" is back in stock

Jonquils in my garden

During the last few weeks or so something amazing has started to occur - life is starting to return to the earth's surface after it's long winter sleep - or at least it is becoming more noticeable as the early cautiously making their appearance.   In my garden the delicious scent of jonquils awaken the senses as they emerge from between the ever flowing irises.  A fragile warming of the air can be felt as winter, usually the season of rest and withdrawal, comes to an end, and even the sun appears to linger longer in the sky.

Catkins and new growth is starting to appear all around the garden on seemingly dead plants marking another sign that life is returning to the land.

Update: Call of the God - the end is in sight

"Cernunnos Australis" by Cathy Hartley

It certainly feels like it has been a long time between updates and Windows 8 and Outlook 2010 deciding they would not talk to each other, the fact that I have any hair on my head at all is quite an amazing feat in itself.  But despite these setbacks, progress has been happening (albeit at a slower than anticipated pace) with respect to this my first edited anthology.

 

The manuscript to Call of the God: An Anthology Exploring the Divine Masculine within Modern Paganism has been received back from the proof-reader and I am currently in the process of going through the suggested amendments as well as other notations.  Some additional images have been added and the order of contributions slightly adjusted to attempt a better flow and even connection  between the submissions received, with the word "anthology" added to the title.

Call of the Wild God - talk on Tuesday, 5 May 2015

Pan by Vittorio Ulinovich

While my own compiling of the many submissions received for the upcoming anthology, Call of the God: An Exploration of the Divine Masculine within Modern Paganism is making progress slowly but surely, I will be actually presenting a talk on the God at the upcoming Pagans in the Pub held at the Hotel Metropolitan, 46 Grote Street, Adelaide on Tuesday, 5 May 2015, starting at 7.30pm.

 

Entitled "Call of the Wild God", during this talk I will be sharing some of my thoughts (and maybe even personal discoveries) about the divine masculine who these days tends to be found lurking amongst the shadows, slipping through nightmares, or even teasing our peripheral vision ... Yet, if we ignore Him too much, He is also renown for crashing into our well-ordered lives, bringing with Him much chaos and destruction (and if we are lucky, with a hint of mischief!).

Update: Call of the God

Hermes, draw near, and to my pray'r incline, angel of Jove [Zeus], and Maia's son divine;

Studious of contests, ruler of mankind, with heart almighty, and a prudent mind.

Celestial messenger, of various skill, whose pow'rful arts could watchful Argus kill:

 

 

Despite being faced with a number of distractions (including dread computer issues) since the submission deadline for Call of the God: An Exploration of the Divine Masculine within Modern Paganism closed at the end of January, I am delighted to announce that progress is being made as the majority of accepted submissions have been collated in the order of the first draft that has already reached some 70,000 words, as well as artwork and photographs.  Once this process has been completed, I should be in a position to ascertain whether a second submission call is necessary in order to better fill in the gaps. 

 

Interview on The Wild Hunt Blog about the Australian Sabbats

Effect of the Sampson Flat bush fire
(January 2015)

It was a great honour to be recently interviewed by Cosette Paneque for the "Around the World" section offered by The Wild Hunt blog, and being able to share some of my thoughts and views on the often confusing Wheel of the Year from the perspective of being south of the Equator.

 

One of the comments raised queried why the insistence of "shoehorning" a "Northern European Winter Orientated Agricultural belief system into a Land that has hardly seen Agriculture and doesn't have as harsh winters"? 

 

Update: Call of the God

Pan (artist unknown)

Io Pan ! Io Pan ! Come over the sea
From Sicily and from Arcady !
Roaming as Bacchus, with fauns and pards
And nymphs and styrs for thy guards,
On a milk-white ass, come over the sea
To me, to me, ...

 

 

With the submission date now having passed, the somewhat arduous task awaits for me in sifting though the numerous submissions received both by email as well as Facebook message, sending off appropriate "permissions to publish" and then attempting to collate the essays, poems, artwork and stories into some form of order that will take the reader on a journey through a rather testosterone inspired smorgasbord of devotion and maybe even discovery.

Contributions are needed for a Bast Devotional

For anyone who may had thought that they had missed the date to submit contributions relating to the Egyptian Cat Goddess, Bast (Bastet) being put together by the good folk at Neos Alexandria / Bibliotheca Alexandrina then fear not, the new editor has decided to reopen the submission call for The Queen of the Sky Who Rules Over All the Gods: A Devotional Anthology in Honor of Bast until the end of February 2015.

 

Make the most of this opportunity and send your Bast-related poems, recipes, rituals, essays and particularly short fiction stories through to the editor.