The Wiccan Warrior

As previously mentioned I am exploring the idea of "warrior magic" and all that entails (it is a rather loaded subject lol). Luckily one of my coven brothers had a book titled Wiccan Warrior by Kerr Cuhulain, which I borrowed have gotten half way thru, skimming the rest.

It is a interesting book, and one with good messages that I think ALL practitioners of any pagan faith (personally I think ANYBODY period) should read. He makes wonderful points on personal responsibility, a big issue to me that seems to be lacking in today's society. And I felt that his ideas for rituals and magical practices were very helpful. I was excited to see some one talk about braiding/knotting as a magical working as it is often over looked.

However there are many things that I feel were neglected in way of taking on a Warrior Path in your life. I will say that it may not have been the intent of the book to be a gateway to that Path. If it were my main issue is the self-centric tone of the book.

I applaud up and down anyone saying/teaching/preaching personal responsibility, but in the context of a "warrior" there is so much more than one's self. In the book this is because the root of the "wiccan warrior" is the Wiccan Rede : "Do as thou wilt, an harme none."

This is a rede, and philosophy that I will always have problems with, and why I will never be a Wiccan. My issue stems from they fact that the rede, and how it is applied in the book, is a rule. An unwavering guideline by which all your actions are to be judged. Rules do not bend, rules do not see circumstance, they are unmovable. Which is funny, since Kerr spends a great deal of time talking about how the "wiccan warrior" needs to be changeable and fluid, yet he attaches himself to such an fixed idea.

I'm going to state here and now, that I am not a pacifist. I firmly believe that some situations call for a use of force, I do not believe that all violence is morally wrong. That said I agree with Kerr that a warrior uses only as much force necessary to resolve the situation, and that in the society we live in now the situations were force is needed are extreme and rare.

I believe that to be a warrior, or to say you are one, is to say that there are certain things that you are willing to fight for. Indeed there are things that you are willing to die for.

Historically, warriors were not solitary. They had a tribe, a society, a clan that they were apart of, that they protected. That is an essential foundation to the warrior for me, to protect. Whether that be emotionally, physically, financially, a warrior is driven to protect.

When you reflect that against the rede, it doesn't mesh. The rede doesn't cover other people, in it's simplicity it deals only with the self and thus is somewhat contradictory to the nature of a warrior.

I felt that to be a book about a Warrior Path he needed to talk about connections with your social circle, and your duty to them. This can be as all encompassing as want to protect the rights of the less fortunate of the world, to as intimate as your family and friends. You need to have a loving connection with people that makes you want to be a better person for them.

I completely agree with Kerr that a warrior path is a constant betterment of ones self, through will and constant self-analyst. Were we disagree is in that drive, while you should want to make yourself better for your own sake that falls under a general healthy adult lifestyle to me. A warrior is driven further by their love and need to protect and up hold, either ideals and philosophy or just their special people.

So if the rede is too stoic of a rule by which to live for a warrior then what guides them? How do they make their judgments of morality?

A warrior needs a Code. A set of principles to which they are willing to fight for and strive to uphold in their everyday life. A Warrior Code isn't as rigid as the rede, it is a every changing goal to achieve. And as a thinking self-analyzing person that Code grows with you. It is not afraid to be challenged and reforged with new insight. It is up to the warrior to have the willpower to uphold themselves to their code, and there is great personal responsibility in that.

I would encourage anyone who is intersted in taking a Warrior path, to contemplate deeply on the princeples and ideals that they cherish above others. What do you look for in people that makes you respect them? Is is their honesty? Loyalty? Courage?

Once you've identified what qualities you value and what they mean to you, you can start to compose your own code. Think about different situations that may come up in your daily life and decide how you would like to handle them with those values in mind, and do it! If you value charity, does that mean that you give the man on the street money when he asks? Or does it mean that you donate money to organized cause? Volunteer? All of the above?

As I said, your ideas will change as you change but the point is to continue to try act in a way that you can look back without regret on your actions. It's a process but then if it weren't, it wouldn't be a living path.

*deep breath*

So if you managed to make it through all of that congratulations! I do have more to say on the book as there was one more important issue that I thought was lacking. But I feel that this point is valid to stand on it's own.

Next time on A Celt in the City, The Physical Warrior. Bound to be controversial lol!

Slán go fóill

Branwen

Of Bannocks and sewing projects

A lazy day, not a whole lot to really report upon but I was making another bannock yesterday (which went over well at my house anywho lol) and thought I'd share the recipe.

Lughnasadh Blueberry Bannock

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar*
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 package of fresh blueberries

1. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Cut butter into flour mixture with pastry cutter. Add buttermilk until dough is soft**. Stir in blueberries.
   
2. ***Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 5 minutes, or until smooth. Form dough into a 7 inch round. Place on a lightly oiled cake pan or cookie sheet. Cut 1/2 inch deep cross side to side. Score with cross 1/2 inch deep on the top.
3. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 40 minutes.

Those are the directions as was inscribe in one of my grandmothers many cookbooks. However I took a few liberties.

* I added about a tablespoon more sugar to mine to make it sweeter.

** I added the whole cup of buttermilk and then some. Personally I like my pastry to be on the moist side and anything less than that would make it a bit too dry for my taste.

*** I did not knead the dough. I hate kneading dough. Besides my added buttermilk made kneading a near possiblity. So instead I made sure to stir that dough good, with a nice sturdy wooden spoon. You want to encourage it to congeal into a round shape.

Then I turned it out onto the greased cookie sheet and lightly floured my hands, and shaped it nicely into the 7" round. I cut the slashes as the direction said, and sprinkled some sugar on top (what can I say I have a sweet tooth)

And Tada! One yummy dessert or breakfast piece to enjoy.

Well cooking aside I have a few sewing projects I need to get underway. If you know me, I generally like to try to make a new outfit for each sabbat. Well Samhain is the one I'm worried about now, I have a great idea for a fairly simple dress that I've always wanted to make. The question is can I get the image out of my head into the real world accurately.

Here is my design board so far:



I'm pretty positive I want it to be made from black linen, maybe a medium weight cotton. But a few questions remain to be answered. Will I be able to cut it out in two pieces as I desire? And what the hell am I going to do with the lacing?

The two piece thing I'll find out when I do the mock up, as well as if a single circle skirt will be enough flow for me. But the lacing thing... I dunno. I want it to be versatile so that I can wear layers under it and not, which makes grommets not really ideal. As grommets don't feel so nice against skin. I could hand cover the grommets with thread. But that's a lot of work. Or I could do eyelets but again that's a lot of work. Especially since I want to be able to lace it up at least down to slightly above the knee, so I could wear it in the mundane world and feel comfortable as well.

I may cop out and figure out a ribbon combination...hmm...must do some tests I guess.

Well that's about all that's happening in my world. Besides watching PBS and the Celtic Thunder concert yet again (I'm such a sucker for these things)

Ciao m'dears!

Branwen

Lughnasadh and Other things

Strange how on the days when the clouds and fog roll in are the days when I feel the most restless. Like I need to go out and DO something, which is odd because I don't like being cold and it is definitely chilly out there. I think if I could do anything today I'd go to the beach. Muir Beach or someplace similar where there are more rocks than beach and the cliffs dive off into the most beautifully haunting scenery. Have a bonfire and just listen to the waves. Hmm...really need to get a drivers license lol.

In any event, Lughnasadh went off fairly well I think. It definitely flew by me. I clearly recount, everything leading up to the ritual (I was very anxious to do a good job), but once it started time slipped away from me. It's happened before, usually when I'm painting, where I just get enveloped into the task/feeling and lose touch with the details and the time. Gotta say it was the first time I had a lot of speaking to do and it happened.

There was just a lot going on for me, and at the same time I wasn't thinking comprehensively. What I mean by that is, usually I'm a detailed thinker. This happens and then this because it connects with this and has the feeling of such and such ect. ect. ( I'm afraid some of my Wildflower brothers and sisters find that out at the planning session lol) But none of that was going through my mind at the ritual.

Maybe it's because I was warding and thus had to disconnect and engage at the same time, maybe it's because I called a Goddess who took an active interest in what I was up to, whatever the case everything was a blur. And I was amazing calm. I don't know if many people know this, I know that one of my coven sisters has witnessed it once but probably paid no heed. I get very nervous, when I was younger it was extreme stage fright and I couldn't really talk in groups. As time went by and I decided I didn't want to be the wallflower anymore I just sorta...well did the things that frightened me anyway. Remnants of that still remain, most noticeably my hands shake. Uncontrollably. In fact last Grove of Artemis when Rabbit told me I was to light the candles I had the damnedest time getting it done properly.

But not this time, not with Tailtu there. I don't even think there was a quiver in my voice, but I'll have to attested to others for that because well....I don't really remember clearly lol.

After the closing everything felt light and festive and just plain good. The Bannock was a hit, (at my house as well) and I got quite possibly the best compliment I could have imagined from a lovely Irishman that appears mysteriously at some of our rituals. He said I reminded him of his grandfather and told me all these wonderful tales and stories of childhood in Ireland, he was so charming and funny and he seemed genuinely impressed with the story of Delaney's Donkey I told that night. One of these days I will make it over there to Ireland, listening to him I felt so homesick for a place I've never been lol, silly me.

I truly enjoyed the group roundup after circle, I think that is something we should strive to do every circle. I like the evaluation, especially when so much of it was a blur to me. I was glad to find out that the ritual did run a little fast but it was hot, and that it wasn't completely my own reality of it. I was half expecting for ritual to be over and find out we had run long and then my head would have really been spinning.

I do love all my brothers and sisters, they are such special people. And they think I got some sort of something to bring to the table, and that is something I'll always treasure and strive to make them proud. So yay to everyone that is reading this, you know who you are, I love ya!

At some point though it hit me, this just plain old tired-ness. My feet ached as if I'd walked miles and miles, and really no matter how many time I walked around that circle that just didn't make sense. My throat felt hoarse and my whole body just felt like curling up into a ball and sleeping a very long uninterrupted sleep. And that is exactly what I did lol.

In the aftermath of it all, I got some very nice responses to my storytelling, so hopefully I won't be gun shy about it next time a story is needed and a traditional one just cannot be found. To go ahead to piece what we need together again lol.

Well now that I've gushed and probably made very little sense, I think it's time to get off the computer. I think I might go outside and pull weeds or something, this cooped up feeling is just not working for me.

Slán go fóill

Branwen