I’m back… Soon!

Sorry guys, I took some time off from the magical realms! I do this kind of mystical retreat every year between Yule and Ostara, when Winter falls on the land and when nature hibernates. Ostara is almost here, and I’ll be back on the blog and post more often. For the time being, here are a new design that I just finished today. This is an updated version of the layout of my current Altar:

Morsoth’s Irish Witchcraft Altar (2017)

Soon I’ll post about my ADF Dedicant Program (I still need to do some correction and revise some texts) and I’ll add pictures of my new Travel Altar!

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Ophiuchus: The 13th Zodiacal Sign

In January 2016, NASA reminded us that there are, in fact, 13 constellations in the original zodiac. It’s just that 3,000 years ago, when they were drawing up a plan for the signs of the zodiac that would correspond with the months of year, the Babylonians already had a 12-month calendar — so they left poor Ophiuchus out.

Ophiuchus is one of thirteen constellations that cross the ecliptic. It has therefore been called the “13th sign of the zodiac”. However, this confuses sign with constellation. The signs of the zodiac are a twelve-fold division of the ecliptic, so that each sign spans 30° of celestial longitude, approximately the distance the Sun travels in a month, and (in the Western tradition) are aligned with the seasons so that the March equinox always falls on the boundary between Pisces and Aries. Constellations, on the other hand, are unequal in size and are based on the positions of the stars.

The constellations of the zodiac have only a loose association with the signs of the zodiac, and do not in general coincide with them. In Western astrology the constellation of Aquarius, for example, largely corresponds to the sign of Pisces. Similarly, the constellation of Ophiuchus occupies most (November 29 – December 17) of the sign of Sagittarius (November 23 – December 21). The differences are due to the fact that the time of year that the sun passes through a particular zodiac constellation’s position has slowly changed (because of the precession of the equinoxes) over the centuries from when the Greeks, Babylonians and the Dacians through Zamolxis originally developed the Zodiac.

With that and the fact that the earth’s axis no longer points in the same direction in mind, NASA explained that the signs as we know them have completely different date ranges now.

Here the new dates for all 13 signs:

• Capricorn: January 20 – February 16
• Aquarius: February 16 – March 11
• Pisces: March 11 – April 18
• Aries: April 18 – May 13
• Taurus: May 13 – June 21
• Gemini: June 21 – July 20
• Cancer: July 20 – August 10
• Leo: August 10 – September 16
• Virgo: September 16 – October 30
• Libra: October 30 – November 23
• Scorpio: November 23 – November 29
• Ophiuchus: November 29 – December 17
• Sagittarius: December 17 – January 20

I’m still a Cancer, which doesn’t surprise me!

My Take on Divination Categories

Psychologist Julian Jaynes (1920-1997) categorized divination into the following types:

• Omens and Omen Texts: Chinese history offers scrupulously documented occurrences of strange births, the tracking of natural phenomena, and other data. Chinese governmental planning relied on this method of forecasting for long-range strategies. It is not unreasonable to assume that modern scientific inquiry began with this kind of divination; Joseph Needham’s work considered this very idea.
• Sortilege (Cleromancy): This consists of the casting of lots, or sortes, whether with sticks, stones, bones, beans, coins, or some other item. Modern playing cards and board games developed from this type of divination.
• Augury: This ranks a set of given possibilities. It can be qualitative (such as shapes, proximities, etc.): for example, dowsing (a form of Rhabdomancy) developed from this type of divination. The Romans, in classical times, used Etruscan methods of augury such as Hepatoscopy (actually a form of Extispicy) (for example, Haruspices examined the livers of sacrificed animals). Augury is normally considered to specifically refer to divination by studying the flight patterns of birds. But also, the use of the rooster through Alectryomancy may be further understood within that religious character and likewise defined as a cockfight, or cockfighting with the intent of communication between the gods and man.
• Spontaneous: An unconstrained form of divination, free from any particular medium, and actually a generalization of all types of divination. The answer comes from whatever object the diviner happens to see or hear. Some religions use a form of bibliomancy: they ask a question, riffle the pages of their holy book, and take as their answer the first passage their eyes light upon. Other forms of spontaneous divination include reading auras and New Age methods of Feng Shui such as “intuitive” and “fuzion”.

In addition to these four broad categories, Julian Jaynes add palmistry, also called chiromancy, a practice common to many different places on the Eurasian landmass; it has been practiced in the cultures of India, Tibet, China, Persia, Sumeria, Ancient Israel and Babylonia. In this practice, the diviner examines the hands of a person for whom they are divining for indications of their future.

Source: Wikipedia

I don’t totally disagree with Julian Jaynes, but it seems that this way of sub-categorize divination is somewhat erroneous or misguiding. To me “Omens” and “Augury” and “Spontaneous” are part of the same category because there are messages received without really asking for them. The other category from my list are divination perpetrated by the diviner itself, by casting a lot, by studying the movement of a tool, or by analyzing subliminal messages reflected in a reflective object or element. Look at this at my own version only and not as the definitive and absolute version used by every diviner!

Cleromancy (Sortilege): Sortilege is the taking of omens by the drawing of lots.

• Cartomancy (Tarot, Lenormand, Eteilla, Oracle, Playing Cards)
• Runes (Elder Futhark Runes, Witches’ Runes)
• Ogham
• I-Ching
• Throwing the Bones (Bones, Dice, Dominoes, Shells, Stones)

Dowsing: Divination by movements generated from a tool, answering a question or searching what is hidden.

• Pendulum
• Spirit Board (Ouija)
• Rhabdomancy (Water Dowsing Rod)

Scrying: Foretell the future using a crystal ball or other reflective object or surface.

• Crystallomancy (Crystal Ball, Mirror Scrying, Lithomancy)
• Pyromancy (Fire Gazing)
• Hydromancy (Water Gazing)

Omen: Phenomenon believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change.

• Chiromancy (Palmistry)
• Tasseography (Tea Leaves Reading)
• Augury (Auspice and Ornithomancy)
• Oneiromancy (Dream Interpretation)
• Clairvoyance (Mediumship)
• Astrology
• Numerology
• Geomancy

I must say, I have still trouble figuring out where should I put Tea Leaves Reading and Palmistry. They are Omens, but they feel out of place… Anyway, please tell me if you agree, disagree, or if you think I forgot an important technique to you!

ADF DP Program Submitted!

It’s all done! Yesterday, I finished the revision of my Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF) Dedicant Path program and I submitted the journal for review. I already received a confirmation with the name of the person from the committee currently reviewing it. I highly doubt that it’s going to be approved at the first row but, at least, the process as started!

I’m happy and very proud of me! This was my second attempt for the DP. The first time, I started it in November 2013 but I gave up halfway. On Samhain 2015, I was determined and I restarted the program from the very beginning and now – exactly one year later – it is completed!!

Samhain 2016

Below are two pictures taken during my Samhain ritual, held on November 1st, 2016 between 7:48pm and 8:30pm.

Main Altar – Samhain 2016

Incense and Candles Altar – Samhain 2016

ADF DP: Revision and Submission!

My ADF Dedicant Path program is finished!!! I made my Dedicant Oath on October 16, 2016 in a solitary ritual. I won’t post the text and the recap here, as they are too personal to share. However, I’m currently in the revision process and I’ll submit the final texts on Samhain 2016, as planned!

Week 51 – Creating a Plan for Living Your Druidism

Homework: Start by going back to your original set of questions from Week 1. There, we asked a lot of questions about what you expected. Look over the answers, and get a feel for what they implied back then and what they mean to you now. Now, we’re going to look at what you found, and what you expect now that you have finished your Dedicant studies.

Looking at all the things you’ve done, what was the hardest requirement to you?

Was it one you expected? Do you feel that you fully understand the requirement, or is there room for improvement?

The meditation sessions were the hardest, and the essays about the Two Powers. I’m sure I understand the requirement, and I know this is important, but I had a hard time concentrating at first. I must admit than my meditation sessions are way better now with a year of practice behind me. There is room for improvement and my goal would be to meditate every day instead of once every 2-3 days.

What was the easiest requirement for you? Do you feel that you learned something from it? Describe the value of the requirement in a way that has meaning to you.

I’m tempted to say the High Days study and the ritual recaps. It was easy to write about these, however, it was rather hard to respect the word count! I had to edit the texts many times to be sure to not go over the limit, and this is the reason why all of them are between 373-375 words! If I learned something it would not really be on the text themselves, but how to summarize my ideas! I had to focus on Celtic and Norse cultures, because there is no enough room to speak about everything else! My preferred size would have been 200-600 words. The value of this requirement is to make sure that we know the differences in focus and themes for eight High Days. I probably learned some trivia here and there, but most of it were already common knowledge for me.

Which requirement surprised you the most?

The one about Nature Awareness (Week 21)! I had to make serious researches about my city’s policies on garbage, recycling and compost. I also learned more about the natural surroundings near my home.

What things did you learn that you would most like to continue with?

Meditation, for sure, as it makes me calmer and it grounds me. It was not specifically learned through the Dedicant path program, but I will certainly go deeper with divination and omen readings. ADF is strong on Ogham and Runes, but I connect a lot with the Rider-Waite Tarot and the Tarot of Marseilles. The ancient Celts were known to do omen readings through Augury or Anthropomancy, and they used Ogham for writing, not really for divination. If Ogham is accepted in ADF, I truly hope that Tarot is also welcomed. Tarot cards come from later versions of the Etteilla deck, but the Tarot of Marseilles was commonly produced for fortune telling, which makes the Tarot a very powerful tool. I studied a lot about Tarot lately and I’m now able to do readings without any books since a month now! I also want to study older Tarot or playing cards traditions, like the Piquet, the Eteilla, the Lenormand, the Visconti-Sforza Tarot, and even modern decks like the Thoth Tarot or the Golden Dawn Tarots.

Now that you have given your Dedicant Oath before your gods and your community, how do you see yourself living that Oath daily? What sort of things will you do to fulfill the Oath you took?

I’m Pagan since 2013 and I now naturally live my spirituality everyday in all facets of my life, whether I am home or at work. I fulfill my oath by honoring the High Days, the moon phases and I also do devotional rites daily.

Have you considered starting a Grove (or helping to lead your current one)? Is there a leadership position in a Guild or a SIG that you’re interested in? Would you like to run for an office in ADF?

No! I’m a member of an ADF Grove in Ottawa, Canada, and all is very well like this for now! Maybe, with more experience, and in some years, if older members want to pass the torch to newer members for any kind of leadership in rituals, maybe then I would be interested. For now, I want to concentrate on my study with the Seer Guild, starting as soon my Dedicant Path work is accepted and approved. I for sure, would like to do the omens in rituals once I’m comfortable enough with Ogham and Runes castings and interpretations.

Where do you see the skills you learned as a Dedicant being the most useful? Will they primarily be useful to you, your community, to ADF, or to other Dedicants?

The skills I learned will be more useful to me, and this is meditation practices. My personality somewhat remained the same through the year, but the dedicant program only strengthened my will to help in my community with the environment issues.

What are the next goals you wish to set for yourself, either personally, spiritually, or within ADF?

Personally: To learn the most I can before crossing over, and to collect books and metaphysical items.

Spiritually: To be able to meditate in a level where I can travel in the Akashic Records.

Within ADF: To become a knowledgeable seer.