Written by Kaylus the Grey
Written by Kaylus the Grey
Here is the Beltane ritual for 2018.
Hail North, the keeper of the dark, the land of the deep thicket, creeping vines, and the land of the Dwarves. Awaken this day to the wanderers of Twisting Yew, We honor you and welcome your energy into our ritual.
Hail East, the keeper of whispers, the bearer of messages, the land of the mist, the talking leaves, the howling Night, and the land of the Fae. Awaken this day to the wanderers of Twisting Yew, and those of us who are Guardians of the Roots. We honor you and welcome your energy into our ritual.
Hail South, the keeper of flames, the land smoldering ash, burning truth, building creativity, land of the Salamanders. Awaken this day to the wanderers Twisting Yew, and to those of us who are Guardians of the Roots. We honor you and welcome your energy into our ritual.
Hail West, the keeper of the ponds, the land of the Underworld, land of emotions, land of the Nymphs. Awaken this day to the wanderers Twisting Yew. We honor you and welcome your energy into our ritual.
Hail Twisting Yew, the fuel for our internal fires, the revealer of knowledge, the guide to the Gods. We honor you and welcome your energy into our daily life.
Welcome. Have you felt the fire? Have you felt the rain? Have you touched the mud? Have you smelled the incense? Can you see the change? Can you feel her presence walking in the woods? Look, there She stands. The Forest Protector Artemis! Hail Artemis Protector of the forest and animals. We offer you ___ to protect our animals, our forests. We offer you __ in thanks and in honor for what you do. Participants walk under the path of arrows shot from Artemis’s Bow. When all have been blessed return to circle center.
Have you felt the sun? Have you seen the buds? Have you smelled the earth? Have you touched the air? Can you see the change? Can you feel his presence among the fields, among the roots? Look, There He stands. The Golden God, riding on his mighty boar, Gold-Bristled! We offer you __ to pass on fertility and prosperity to our fields and to us. We offer you ___ in thanks and honor of what you do. Participants walk past Freyr as he throws seeds/grains over them. When all have been blessed return to circle center.
Now is the time to put affirmative intent into the seeds that you have planted last we were together. Accept the energetic blessings of Artemis to protect your will. Accept the energetic blessings of Freyr to grow your will. Accept the energetic blessings of the essence of Fire, of Loki, to allow the necessary change within ourselves. When all have fortified their intentions begin the closing.
Your intents have been reinforced, it is up to you now to make them manifest. Once more feel the energies, merge with the energies present. Honor them and thank them. Our time in this sacred space is coming to an end. The influence remains. Let us depart with what we needed. Sound the Horn.
To West
To South
To East
And
To North,
Thank you for sharing this time and space with us. Leave if you must but know that you are welcome always to stay.
Written by Kaylus the Grey
Hail North, the keeper of the dark, the land of the deep thicket, creeping vines, and the land of the Dwarves. Awaken this day to the tribe of Twisting Yew, and those of us who are Guardians of the Roots. We honor you and welcome your grounding energy into our ritual.
Hail East, the keeper of whispers, the bearer of messages, the land of the mist, the talking leaves, the howling Night, and the land of the Fae. Awaken this day to the tribe of Twisting Yew, and those of us who are Guardians of the Roots. We honor you and welcome your moving energy into our ritual.
Hail South, the keeper of flames, the land smoldering ash, burning truth, building creativity, land of the Salamanders. Awaken this day to the tribe of Twisting Yew, and to those of us who are Guardians of the Roots. We honor you and welcome your searing energy into our ritual.
Hail West, the keeper of the ponds, the land of the Underworld, land of emotions, land of the Nymphs. Awaken this day to the tribe of Twisting Yew, and to those of us who are Guardians of the Roots. We honor you and welcome your cyclic energy into our ritual.
To Twisting Yew, Teacher, Wander, stripper of false, Awaken us to your call, to Your path. We honor you and welcome your blessings upon our ritual.
Today there is a mid winter thaw, Imbolc is on the horizon. The thaw is enough to show the bones of Winter’s carcasses. Thawed enough to reveal the ground and it’s muddies promise of growth. Imbolc is the time of great promise, the time of healing and letting go. A time for planting, a time for the future harvest to be born into the womb of the Earth.
This is a time within the Twisting Yew where the past and the future meet. Here is where
You make your choice for the coming season. Will you choose to hold the pain and keep looking back? Will you hold the lessons and the scars to plant the future? Only you will know which choice is yours to walk this season. Only you will plant your harvest.
As you have made your choice we take this remaining time with the Twisting Yew to honor the spirit of the season. In days past this was a time to Charm the Plough.
Lay the planting tools out.
Hail Freyr! Lord of the Fields! This is time of the year to lay your sword down and bless the seeds
Hail Freya! Maiden of the Spring! This is the time of the year for your shifting into Falcon and see where to best sow the seeds.
We Honor you Vanic Twins for your gifts, for your blessings upon us with our sacrifices.
Drizzle some over the tools
Pour some beer over the tools
Sprinkle some grain over the tools
Put some honey in a bowl
Pour some beer into a horn/cup
Place some grain on a plate
Blessed Nerthus. Mother and Body beneath our feet. Forever we honor you and your abundance. Bless this Plough, Bless these tools that will soon embrace You, so that we shall share in your abundance this coming year. You who open the Earth to us we offer this milk
The first milk of the season. Drink deeply, Drink passionately of our sacrifice.
Pour the milk into the ground.
At this time participants may bring their personal tools to be blessed, add their own sacrifices and offerings etc…
Thank You, Freyr
Thank You, Freyja
Thank You, Nerthus
Go if you must
Stay if you Will
Hail North, the keeper of the dark, the land of the deep thicket, creeping vines, and the land of the Dwarves. Thank you for sharing your grounding energy in our ritual.
Hail East, the keeper of whispers, the bearer of messages, the land of the mist, the talking leaves, the howling Night, and the land of the Fae. We thank you for sharing your moving energy into our ritual.
Hail South, the keeper of flames, the land smoldering ash, burning truth, building creativity, land of the Salamanders. We thank you for sharing your searing energy in our ritual.
Hail West, the keeper of the ponds, the land of the Underworld, land of emotions, land of the Nymphs. We thank you for sharing your cyclic energy into our ritual.
To Twisting Yew, Teacher, Wander, stripper of false. We thank you and for sharing your blessings upon our ritual.
Written by Kaylus the Grey
I crawl in the dark
I can not see.
You are a Witch!
You can see in the night!
The time has come to pass
The blind shall wander no more!
I, Hekate the Torch Bearer, have returned to
light the way evermore!
Return to you
Return to sight
Open eyes
and see the Night!
I have always been plagued with misplacing items, things like keys and shiny pens, change, metal objects. Growing up my family attributed missing items to gnomes, fairies, leprechauns, and just being plain forgetful. I started looking into ways to help curb this mightly annoying aspect of my life after I misplaced an iPod classic and my Blackberry Curve. I tried having a designated place for things with some success. Using an everyday carry bag. That option had more success. I also tried minimizing stuff.
One day someone suggested that I should make a shrine to the Faerie Queen. So I did, I figured what the hell, right? What is this going to hurt? After a while of providing offering and thanks, I began to misplaced fewer things less frequently. This also included using a combination of methods that have shown some success. Another outcome from the practice of honoring and showing thanks was sensing a request of me. I was to build a spirit house or Faerie house if you would like. I spent a few days looking at different materials located around my home and thinking about what design to build. I had everything already except some moss. I bought a bag of moss from a craft store.
The base was leftover from a framing project, a small chunk of 2×4.The walls were harvest from a dead pine tree. The door frame and roof are made from bark found on the ground. The roof tiles are made of shells and tourmaline. Some shells were from a necklace, others were picked off the coast of Washington state, very kindly donated by my partner. The tourmaline is from my collection. I place one shell upside down to hold cone style incense to give the look of a working chimney.
Once it was built, I hung it in it’s home to be. It hangs in a nice bay window. Here it does not get disturbed by every day going on off the household, or the new kitten. Furniture is in the works.
Until Next time, May your Roots never rot, and May your growing never stop.
Gypsy wind
I hear your call
the promise of
adventure
the unknown
change
knowledge
As loud as the sound
of my heart, I hear you.
My bag is packed
My home is ready
I’ll fly with you.
Gypsy Wind
Howling
Screaming
Blowing down the trees.
Gypsy Wind
Bring the Ravens
Run with the Wolves
Gypsy wind
Do you hear
the beat of the hooves
For Grimnir is about!
Written by Kaylus the Grey
No, I am not talking about the Mankey that stole Ash’s hat in the early episodes of Pokemon. I acquired a copy of Jason Mankey‘s The Witches Athame this past week. As a Pagan of twenty plus years, I already knew what and how to use an Athame but that never stops me from reading new and old books. This book is just a year old and packs a good bit of information for its small size and young age. In all my years I never delved into the history of this particular tool. After reading this book, I now know a considerable bit more about the early references and uses of the Athame in witchcraft. The first half of this pocket book is dedicated to the history of the Athame and of ritual blades. A good 80% of the history is new information I have not come across. That in and of itself is something, because I have read lots of pagan 101 books.
The book also offers personal accounts from the Author and a few other notable Pagans. It is a great introduction to Athame rituals and uses in Wiccan practices. The second part of the book contains the uses and rituals for an Athame. If you want to make your own, the book covers the different materials and a few methods of making your own.
All in all this was an entertaining and surprising informative read. So if you have a quiet evening with nothing on your agenda, pick this book up and settled down for a couple hours. you will not be disappointed. Maybe you will but reading is good for the soul!
Until Next time, May your Roots never rot, and May your growing never stop.
The ritual should take place during a new moon. The full ritual I used for my Scimitar is at the end of the instructions. You are basically presenting a tool to be acknowledged as sacred and only to be used for its new purpose or task. If it has revealed a name to you, now is the time and place to use it. During the acknowledgment part of the ritual, hold the item in both hands as you would if you were going to give the item to a person. Hold this position until you feel that every presence has acknowledged the tool. The statement of what the tool is being dedicated to will follow next. Examples would be dedicating a quill and ink to a Gods of words to write in their honor or to write in honor of the path you walk. You may dedicate a sword to help you cut away fears you may have of walking down your path. Be wary of dedicating a weapon to a God.
Once you have stated the intended use of the tool it is time to seal the dedication. Start by holding the item in one hand in front of the top of your head and say “By The Gods.” Next draw the item down to your right knee approximately. When you reach the point say “ By The Old Ways.” Then move to your upper left shoulder approximately and say “By The Current Way.” From here move across to your right shoulder and say “By the Future Way.” Next move down to your right knee say “By My Way.” At this point, you have made an invisible star. You shall make a circle around the invisible start to form a pentacle. As you are forming the circle say “So Mote It Be.” You start the circle right at your left knee down around to the right knee in a clockwise direction. When you feel ready, end the ritual.
Full Ritual.
Quarter Calls
Hail North, the keeper of the dark, the land of the deep thicket, creeping vines, and the land of the Dwarves. Awaken this day to the tribe of Twisting Yew, and those of us who are Guardians of the Roots. We honor you and welcome your grounding energy into our ritual.
Hail East, the keeper of whispers, the bearer of messages, the land of the mist, the talking leaves, the howling Night, and the land of the Fae. Awaken this day to the tribe of Twisting Yew. We honor you and welcome your moving energy into our ritual.
Hail South, the keeper of flames, the land smoldering ash, burning truth, building creativity, land of the Salamanders. Awaken this day to the tribe of Twisting Yew. We honor you and welcome your searing energy into our ritual.
Hail West, the keeper of the ponds, the land of the Underworld, land of emotions, land of the Nymphs. Awaken this day to the tribe of Twisting Yew. We honor you and welcome your cyclic energy into our ritual.
“Tonight we/I Stand here to witness the dedication of Pale Claw, Scimitar of Kaylus to the use of Twisting Yew, to the use of teaching Pagan ways, and to the protection of Kaylus in all these endeavors. I offer to the blade for acknowledgment, awakening, and blessing.”
“By the Gods. By the Old Ways. By the Current Ways. By the Future Ways. By My Way. So Mote It Be!”
Let it Be known that Pale Claw is now in service. May no one tempt it to deviate from its service. May it never need to extinguish life.
We/I shall part from this ritual.
Hail North, the keeper of the dark, the land of the deep thicket, creeping vines, and the land of the Dwarves. Thank you for sharing your grounding energy in our ritual.
Hail East, the keeper of whispers, the bearer of messages, the land of the mist, the talking leaves, the howling Night, and the land of the Fae. We thank you for sharing your moving energy into our ritual.
Hail South, the keeper of flames, the land smoldering ash, burning truth, building creativity, land of the Salamanders. We thank you for sharing your searing energy in our ritual.
Hail West, the keeper of the ponds, the land of the Underworld, land of emotions, land of the Nymphs. We thank you for sharing your cyclic energy into our ritual.
By proxy
By UPG
Does it matter
Is it the same
A leap of faith
A walk down the insane
Do you see
Can you feel
Is your filter clogged
Do the drugs awaken
Do the prescriptions cloud
Is your culture ignorant
Is your society ambivalent
Are you neighbors malevolent
Are you strong enough to hear your own drum
Are you brave enough to walk alone.
Written by Kaylus the Grey