School Time and the Turning of the Wheel

So school is back in session. And, while that is exciting, there is a certain amount of tension in the air. It's a good tension, though: that breathless excitement that you get when you realize that you are hurtling toward some unknown destination that is only visible in the periphery. And you are afraid to even try to look at it too closely unless it changes because you looked at it, changes for the worse. But, it is there, and it is big, and there is the sense that if it crumbles it will crush you, even from this distance. Yeah, that kind of feeling.

So, there has been a semi-scheduled break in my tradition classes. I call it semi-scheduled because the scheduling was out of the control of both my teacher and myself. Schedules conflict, and maybe that's a sign that it's time to slow down a little. I am thankful for the break, though, since it allows me to focus on my school work and ensure that I make the grades I need.

But, minds being what they are, the learning process never stops, and I have been kicking around some thoughts with Nymphaea in our free time. She convinced me to post some of what I've been talking to her about on here, so here goes.

Don't kill me, as these are just my own thoughts, though I welcome comments:

The Wheel of the Year is a big concept within the larger pagan community. It symbolizes everything: life, death, love, hate, light, dark; and the whole is much greater than the sum of its parts. I posted earlier about how, in my view, the Sabbats were divided into two alternating stories: the story of agriculture, and the story of light. I have been thinking about this, and since everything is a mirror of something else, I feel that these can also be related to people on a personal level as the stories of action and body/spirit. This is where it gets tricky, though. I do not agree that the solstices are the turning point of the solar year from light to darkness or darkness to light. Rather, the equinoxes are the turning points.

I drew this out as a sine wave (because nerd) where the solstices are the highest and lowest points (because they are). I mean, I feel that the longest day is pretty obviously the height of the light half of the year (still talking solar here). This puts the equinoxes halfway between, at the line, 0, the perfect balance between positive and negative. However, there is a downward slope after Midsummer before you get to 0, just as there is an upward slope on the other side of Yule. So, the issue, when looking for turning points, becomes whether you are looking for the light/dark dichotomy or the rising/falling dichotomy (incidentally, this works with the moon phases too, since the full and dark moons are the points of power and the quarters are the turning points) . Because, in the standard interpretations that I have heard, people are looking at the rising/falling dichotomy instead of looking at the tone of the season. This is not the way my inner world works. My magic is as light as it is dark, and I wish to celebrate these halfway points as more important explicitly because they are equal as well.

So, as we approach the equinox, the end of the Light draws near and the time of the Dark is just beginning. Let us move away from the physical growth that occupied our spirits and instead feed those spirits. Let them feast at the table of the Lord of the Underworld and his Dark Lady, for this is where wisdom is gained.

Lammas

Well, it's Friday, and I said I would post, so here it is. I slacked (a lot) on the exercise this week. And by that I mean I did a couple exhaustion tests with one of my friends on Monday so that we could gauge were we are for a fitness program (yeah, bodyweight exercises). Beyond that, I did about five minutes of yoga while watching old episodes of Buffy last night. So, the fitness train has currently been delayed.

In other news, my family has a puppy! We are now the owners of a 9 week old Irish wolfhound. And I get to see him tonight. Which means you all get to see him in my next post. I'm thinking about taking the puppy for a run tomorrow to see how much I retained from my few weeks of regular workouts.

On the subject of working out, my body is doing this weird thing of losing fat but not changing weight. It's strange and I have no idea how to deal with it, but I enjoy that my clothes fit better now. At least things are changing.

This past Wednesday was Lammas, Lughnasadh, what-have-you. Feast of the grain harvest, beginning of the harvest season, and the shift into the declining half of the year (declining rather than dark, Earth-centered rather than solar). Here, we eat of the grain god/dess and start setting aside reserves for the long nights ahead. We decided to celebrate together potluck-style over at Nymphaea's place. There we had a feast of savory delights (all centered around grain). I brought a spicy Asian-style honey-chicken dish served over rice, Nymphaea cooked red beans and rice, her roommate cooked corn, there was pie and bread and green beans and beer. We ate with our ancestors, our gods, our community, and the land itself as we took place in this ancient rite, feasting in a place that is just slightly beyond the ordinary.

Everything was wonderful, the cats were adorable, and the only bad part of the night was saying goodbye. Everyone there wanted it to continue forever, but the time came when we had to bid our spiritual guests farewell and step back into our normal lives. It was bittersweet, with much affection felt from both sides, and promises made to meet again soon. It was as profound and moving as could be expected, but it was even more meaningful in its simplicity. We came together as friends and family to share our food and our warmth, and all of the spirits there wanted the same thing, the warmth and laughter and food all around. I'll try to get some pictures from Nymphaea, but if that's not possible, I'll let you know when she posts them.

Until next time, my friends.

Wheel of the Year

So, I have been thinking about the Wiccan Wheel of the Year. I like the Sabbats that Wiccans observe, as they mark important times in the functioning of the year, such as marking the equinoxes, for instance. Casual observation leads an observer to note that the Sabbats are divided into two categories: the equinoxes and solstices, and the others. I looked further into this and applied some knowledge gleaned from meditation.

If one looks closely at the story of the year as told through the relationship of the god and goddess, one realizes that different aspects come into focus at different points throughout the story. In particular, the god and goddess switch between two themes: at one Sabbat, they are deities of the fields and woodlands, while in the next they are solar deities, symbolized by the sun and moon.

Combining these two observances led me to realize that the switch happens at every other Sabbat, so that the first category (equinoxes and solstices) tell the story of a pair of solar deities, while the second category tells the story of earth-based deities that rule plant and animal life. Each set of Sabbats roughly corresponds to one of the four great stages of life: birth, life/marriage, decline, and death. Applied to an agricultural lifestyle, this would be planting, growing, harvesting, and waiting / planning.

When I have done some further meditation on this, I will post my ideas.