The Ramblings and Wanderings

Author Archive

“If you wind up with a boring, miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest or some guy on TV telling you how to do your shit, then YOU DESERVE IT.” Frank Zappa

“Paganism is wholesome because it faces the facts of life.” Aleister Crowley

“Modern morality and manners suppress all natural instincts, keep people ignorant of the facts of nature and make them fighting drunk on bogey tales.” Aleister Crowley

“The Tradition you draw upon is native to the land upon which you stand, solely because the power must ever be drawn direct through the earth wherever you might happen to be. The circle is the gate which opens in the Earth and allows in/egress through the powers of the Land.” Andrew Chumbley

“In early Stone Circle times, people did not distinguish thier Life-Faith by any special title or categorical description. Religion in the sense we see it nowadays had no particular meaning, It was taken for granted people would relate themselves with whatever was there however came most naturally to them, and on the whole there was an overall kind of general pattern most of humankind appeared to recognize in common.” William G Gray

“All humans must be free to find Life-Faith for him or herself.” William G Gray

There Peggy was dancing with Dan
While Maureen the lead was melting,
To prove how their fortunes ran
With the Cards ould Nancy dealt in;
There was Kate, and her sweet-heart Will,
In nuts their true-love burning,
And poor Norah, though smiling still
She’d missed the snap-apple turning.
On the Festival of Hallow Eve.

Snap-Apple Night, by Irish artist Daniel Maclise in 1833

An ancient Elder stands alone
With dark-leafed ivy overgrown:
Thick perfume, and the milky white
Flowers in the growing night.
Here in the bark your eye may trace
The outline of a wizened face,
But few are those who’ve lived to see
Who lives within the Elder tree.

A Danish king with men four score
Came to England to make war;
They fought their way up to the wolds,
Pillaging and stealing gold,
Until at last one summers night
He came to camp in old Rollright.
He came there shouting, Stick, stock, stone!
As England’s King shall I be known!

Three of his men were less than sure
That he was right to thus wage war;
A wee way off they stopped to stoop,
And huddle, in a little group.
But up the hillside forged the king,
His other men stood in a ring;
They stood there chanting, Stick, stock, stone!
As England’s King shall he be known!

But as the King climbed up the hill,
All down his back he felt a chill;
He turned around: naught could he see
But a gnarled old elder tree.
He shrugged his shoulders and he grinned,
Why, it was nothing but the wind!
He climbed on, laughing, Stick, stock, stone!
As England’s King shall I be known!

And yet it seemed the air grew colder;
He felt a hard hand grasp his shoulder.
He whirled about, and who was there
But the Elder Witch! She gave a glare,
And as she spoke, the King did shake:
Seven long strides shalt thou take,
And if Long Compton thou canst see,
King of England thou shalt be!

The King looked up the gentle slope,
He laughed, Why, Witch! You have no hope
Of stopping me! In seven strides
I’ll see around me on all sides:
In six I’ll be atop this hill,
And you’ll be forced to grant my will!
He strode on, snickering, Stick, stock, stone!
As England’s King shall I be known!

But as the King began to stride
Before him rose a barrow wide;
It hid Long Compton from his view.
His sword upon the ground he threw,
You Witch! You hag! That isn’t fair!
Curse you and your tangled hair!
He grabbed her wrist, cried, Stick, stock, stone!
As England’s King shall I be known!

The Elder Witch laughed hard and long,
And at last she sung her song:
Long Compton town thou canst not see,
So England’s King thou shalt not be.
Rise up stick, and stand still stone,
For England’s King thou shalt be none.
Thou and thy men hoar stones shall be,
And I shall be an Elder tree!

An ancient Elder, now a hedge
Blooms along the pathways edge:
And beyond, a ring of stones,
With moss and lichens overgrown.
And higher up the gentle slope
Stands the King, bereft of hope,
And another, huddled group of three:
Rollright stones, and Elder Tree.

Traditional Folktale about the Rollright Stones (I am unsure of the author, if you know, please share)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollright_Stones

http://www.rollrightstones.co.uk/

The War of the Ring

Shadows strange and cold are growing,

the darkness is slowly deeping

Dreams of a great wave crashing

over green fields drowning

Where were you when the Westfold fell?

Courage hewn in the heart of Helm’s Deep

Ride with speed my horse lord brother

let us fight and die together

In a forest deep and groaning

an ancient force no longer sleeping

The filthy fires of war and evil

drowned in nature’s roaring fury

Do not despair when all hope is lost

and the white city is burning

ride in wrath at the world’s ending

Face evil in a charge of fearless frenzy

Death, death, death, death!

blows the mighty horn

Against and enemy so great

today the world of Men decides it fate

And when the Nazgul are screaming

a shield-maiden finds her valour

Did Denithor see the Witch King fall

while he burned of his own making?

Slake my thirst in Mordor

Heavy burden around my neck

Carry me up the mountain Sam

There is no going home again

The White Rider is coming,

will he keep faith knowing

the world’s hope is resting

in the hands of a little half-ling?

Be strong standing at the Black Gate

Lies spoken by Mouth under hood

The smallest can also be bravest

Fight for all that is green and good

Destiny dances on Smeagol’s shoulder

Did you see it when the great Eye failed?

Once the last white ship has sailed

go tell Rosie you’re home forever

Juniper

The Hedge: A very English and Anglo-Saxon term for the Veil between Worlds. To “thin”, “prune” or “create a gap” in the Hedge is akin to opening a gateway to the otherworld.

Hedge Riding: Also known as Walking the Hedge or Crossing the Hedge, soul flight or shamanic journey.

Laying, or Raising, the Hedge: Somewhat similar to Circle casting, or creating a Grove in Druid ritual, the witch visualizes a hedgerow growing up about the ritual space, acting as a filter to keep certain spirits and entities out, while keeping others in.
Also used as a method to create or mark out a gap in the Hedge (or Veil between worlds) so that witches can interact with, or enter into, the otherworlds.
Laying the Hedge may also be used to “dam in” the Bloody Acre. There are many different interpretations and methods.

Walking the Hedge: 1) The state of being where a witch stands “with one foot in this world and one foot in the otherworld”; a kind of ritual or altered state of consciousness.
2) Also refers to soul flight and journey into the other world.

Happy reading folks!

http://www.archaeology.org/

http://www.tangledwoodstradition.org/

http://diannesylvan.typepad.com/dancing_down_the_moon/2008/01/witch-please.html

http://www.ancientscripts.com/