Walking the Hedge » Bardic Circle

Put Down that Book

Juniper — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:57:47 +0000

Put away the how-to books for a little while. What further instruction do you need?

Read no more poetry, no eddas, and no hymns. Just throw back your head and pour out your heart.

Read no folklore, no more myths, and no sagas. Put pen to paper and compose your own.

Sing no songs or chants you already know. Sing no verses you have not made up on the spot.

Just for a little while.

Do not dance to the usual beat, pretend that you forgot the spiral dance. No more dance moves taught in a workshop or book. Dance with the wind, dance to the dripping of rain from leaves.

Do not rely on the magickal correspondences of herbs as written by another. Spend some time, and ask the plants yourself.

Forgo the script and the ritual outline. Pick up a stick, take a deep breath and just go. Shouldn’t you know what to do by now?

Forget the fancy prose and weird terminology and practised speech. Pull up a chair, pour a drink and chat with your spirits and gods like old friends for a change.

Just for a little while.

Give in and give up. Shout at the wind. Be unfettered and free.

Step out of your comfort zone. Just for a while.

Rely on your wits and the things you’ve been researching all this time. Rely on your instincts and the practice you have put in. Rely on the relationship you’ve been building with the unseen.

Summer is coming and with it the storms of the season. Give in to that rumbling rhythm in the distance.

Put down that book, come along with me. Unbind your hair, pick up your stick, lace up your boots and let’s go find some adventure out there.

We

Juniper — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:19:49 +0000

Fear not

For we out number them

We who grew up in a world of women soldiers and gay pride parades

We who received our sex education from Dan Savage

We who were raised by single mothers who went to work in steel toed boots

We who Occupy

We who don’t mind skirts on men and hard hats on women

We who are Anonymous

We who can network in milliseconds

We who own the Internets

We who march and demand reproductive rights

We who choose to be stay at home Dads

We who watched 911 and asked “what can we do to make them hate us less?”

We who are gender fluid

We who know there are more than two genders

We who think not in black and white

We who see the shades of grey and delight in them

We who struggle to create marriages built on equality

We who are of mixed race

We who hold tolerance and acceptance as sacred

We are the generation that made Paganism the fastest growing

We are the ones who glutted the numbers and swelled the ranks

We are coming of age

We are having babies

We are raising them with our values

We who will not sit down and shut up

Let them cling to their outdated views

Let them fight in fear

Let them have their last gasp

Turn away

Wait

We out number them

We will out live them

We hold the future in our hands

Be strong

Be true

Be faithful

Be patient

Occupy everything

We are steadfast

We will take their place

We will build what they cannot comprehend

Gather your tools

Cover

Juniper — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 06:14:37 +0000

The empty hand of innocence
Transfusing street of the sorrows
And children of the wood
Hounded, shredding off veils
Unwinding all the sheets of the dead world droning
Overturning tables
Laden with silver sacrificial birds
Beating goatskin drums
Advancing With hands outstretched
And we keep filling them with mercury
Nitrate, asbestos
Baby bombs blasting blue
Scavengers picking through the ashes
Children of the mills
Children of the junkyards
Sleepy, illiterate, fuzzy little rats
Haunted, paint-sniffing
Stoned out of their shaved heads
Forgotten, foraging
Mystical children
Foul-mouthed
Glassy-eyed
Hallucinating

A Breath

Juniper — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:50:40 +0000

It rattles through the trees
And whispers with silver and platinum leaves
It turns them scarlet, copper, bronze
Against a backdrop of blue and golden light
The wind, the wind
The air I breathe
I dance with it
The autumn breeze

No related posts.

Requested RePost: How to Not Fit In

Juniper — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 18:10:28 +0000

Wear socks that don’t match

Especially on Tuesday and Friday

And always with shorts

Wear a wrinkled pink blouse

With a bright red skirt

Red and pink are in the same family

Aren’t they?

Don’t get subtle hints

Be confused by mixed messages

And laugh at inappropriate jokes

Always say what you mean

And mean what you say

Because no one else does it that way

Take everyone at face value

Be open and honest

In everything you do

Having no hidden meaning behind your words

No hidden agenda behind your actions

Is sure to frighten and confuse

Be loud and boisterous in public

Quiet and reserved at home

Have moods that are affected by the weather

Remember to be daring and bold

Always act as if you’ll never grow old

Wave with both hands

Bounce into rooms

Offer everyone a hug

And feel bad when they refuse

Dance when you are happy

And wilt when you are sad

When there is a job to do

Be the first to volunteer

Once people start to gossip

That you’re trying to take charge

Don’t volunteer the next time

And they will complain about that too

Be friendly to everyone

Regardless of this or that

Refuse to take sides in disputes

At least, most of the time

See both sides of a debate

Try to get other people to do that too

It helps if you’re cute

Be more comfortable around pets than kids

Wear pyjamas all day

Don’t go to bed until 2

Read lots of books

Watch too much Star Trek

Be sure to listen to Punk Rock too

Walk widdershins in a Wiccan Circle

Forget which way is East

Write whole Invocations

And don’t remember a word of them

When asked to bring a broom

Show up with a robotic vacuum

Speak your mind all the time

And as for peer pressure

Never give in

No matter they may say

Or how they treat you

Always love yourself first

And promise you’ll never change you!

Let Go and Slip Away

Juniper — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:51:48 +0000

I let my mind wander

I allow it to drift

I don’t understand why people expect it to be rigid

Focused, perfect, single minded

Why do they seek trance in text book rigidity?

It’s not about staying in the box

I let my mind go out of bounds

Beyond the boundaries of what is allowed

In the daytime in the sunshine in the work-a-day world

We have to be so polite

So nice and sweet

Structured and organized

I am not disciplined as I sit before Them

Chatting and rambling on about nothing

They listen indulgently

Like grandparents letting a small child prattle on

I let my mind wander

Out of bounds

Beyond reason

What focus?

There is no focus

I drift on a sea of thoughts

Unbidden and unfettered

Thoughts come and go as they please

I drift here and there

I open up

I become expansive

Too big to fill my little shell

I slip and slide away and down

Out of bounds

Beyond the boundary

I slide away from the body sitting before the altar

And we go wandering in a twisted landscape

Some might fear if they realised this is what is to be found

But really it’s just another place

So long as you can find your way there and back again