Hawthorne's Blog (130)

This week, we celebrate Beltane! Beltane occurs on Friday, May 1.  It's a festival of Fertility and Love as we welcome the flowering of Nature's Return. In our mythology Beltane represents the Mating of the Goddess and the God. It's The Original White Wedding!

So, we'll talk in more detail about the meaning and significance of May Day from our earliest history.  Plus we'll talk about the mythologies and customs that are traditionally associated with Beltane.  And, while we're at it;…

Here we are well into the Spring season.  Have you done any Spring Cleaning yet?     It's time we Hop to It!   



The idea of Spring Cleaning actually goes way back, and we'll take a look at why Spring has become the time when we Clean House.  

 

And, while House Cleaning IS TERRIBLY, BORINGLY mundane, it does have magickal implications, and so we'll talk about some ways we can bring our Magick into our chores in some very powerful ways.



While we're clearing out our…

........I'm dedicating this weeks show to one of the Five Cardinal Elements, the Element of Air. It's a good topic for April because, by many traditions, Air is associated with Springtime and Day's Beginning.



Usually associated with Men's Mysteries, Air is most often thought of as on the Mental Plane.



The Romans gave the month of April it's name, which they called, Aprilis. For the Romans, it signifies a time of unfolding leaves and flowers.



So we'll take a look…

...In honor of April Fools Day, our theme this week is: The Trickster and Fool.  We'll take a look at the history of April Fools Day, as well as the Role that the Fool and the Trickster play in Earth-Based religious practices.



Also, a quick look at some of the best known hoaxes in the history of the Western World (well, sort of, anyway)



And we'll hear some foolishness from today's Modern Trickster, Russell Brand.  The English actor and commedian has, in my opinion, grown as…

...This week here on The Spiral Dance, we're Thinking About Deism.  



Deism as an encompassing thought and philosophy had a major influence over those we in American call our Founding Fathers.  Thus the shape of our Constitution is very much a product of Deism.



But what's the connection between Deism and Paganism?  Well, in the Eighteenth Century many Deists spoke of a Creator God, or The God of Nature.  They connected to the Devine through Rational Thought Processes, and by…

This week, we celebrate Beltane! Beltane is a festival of Fertility and Love as we welcome the flowering of Nature's Return. In our mythology Beltane represents the Mating of the Goddess and the God. It's The Original White Wedding!

So, we'll talk in more detail about the meaning and significance of May Day from our earliest history. Plus we'll talk about the mythologies and customs that are traditionally associated with Beltane. And, while we're at it; just what the heck does…

If you're the creative type, you probably spend way too much time beating yourself up about how UNCREATIVE you are. Well on this week's Spiral Dance, your friend Hawthorne is here to help! Many people think they have a clear idea of what it means to be creative, and a whole lot of myths have been built up around that notion. It may be too much to say that Everything You Thought You Knew About Creativity is Wrong, but this week we'll bust some creativity myths that,…

This week, it's Kids' stuff here on The spiral Dance. Our theme is The Inner Child.

What does the Inner Child mean to you? Do you feel trustful toward your Inner Child?

These are the sorts of questions we'll be examining in the first part of the show. And pretty soon we'll listen to a recorded guided meditation from Alan Cohen for connecting with your Inner Child. This is from his album, "Journey to the Center of the Heart", and the meditation is called "Beloved…

This week on The Spiral Dance, our Theme is February, Fire and Ice.

February is the second month of the Gregorian calendar, and the year's shortest month. It's named for the FEBRUA, a Roman purification festival. And so we'll talk a bit about the Roman God, Februus later in the show.

The astrological sign of Aquarius, January 20 - February 18th is associated with February. Aquarius, the Water-Bearer, is a fixed Air sign ruled by the planet Uranus.

February's full moon is…

Our Theme is The Northern Quarter, and it's Associations: The Winter; Night; Element of Earth; Silence; Regeneration

And in this context, we'll talk about Intuition and Dreams. Intuition and dreams play such an important role in becomming spiritually awakened. And so I want to bring you a traditional story of awakened shamanism - it's called "To the Cauldron Born"

I hope you enjoy this week's show!

Some of the music you'll hear on this week's show include;

Amber:…

Blessed Yule to one and all! This week we celebrate the Winter Solstice, which occurs on Saturday, the 22nd this year. We'll call back to God of the Sun, Light and Hope and prepare ourselves for the coming New Year.

I have a Yule Poem, to put you in the mood. Also, we'll talk about the Original Snow Queen, Mother Holle, and Holda. Also, Yule Trees, Pomegranites, Santa as the Holly King and Haunted Christmas Toys!

Then, the Spiral Dance Spell of the Week toward the end of the…

This week, as we welcome December under a Dark Moon, we dance with The Dark Spirits of December! December's Full Moon is called The Cold Moon, and for good reason. We wait in Darkness as we await the return of the Sun at Yule.

I'm going to read for you an abridged version of Inana's descent to the Under World. And from way up north, we'll talk about Louhi, the Fierce Finnish Goddess of the Arctic.

Then, finally - this time of Dark and…

This week, we talk about Aliens - Extraterestials.

I want to say at the start that I really don't believe in aliens. At least, I'm a doubter - a strong doubter.

Here's what I believe:

I have no doubt that in this vast universe there must be other Intelligent life forms. And, just because we, at our current stage of developement, can't reach them, doesn't mean that they can't reach us - by whatever means they may have.

But the evidence of alien contact is, to me,…

Home and Hearth will be our theme this week. The days are getting ever shorter; the average daytime temperatures are getting ever lower. So, as we move ever deeper into the Season of Cold and Dark, we take the opportunity to look even more Inward.

This is the time of year that calls us back home. We're going to take a look at what The Home has meant to humans down the ages, and how people in different cultures have related to that ever so important part of the home - The…

This week on The Spiral Dance we listen for the words of the Oracle. Alot of things are CALLED oracles; such as tarot or other methods of divination. But the ancient Greeks meant something very specific when they used the word, Oracle. For the Greeks an "oracle" was a human - usually a priestess - through whom a diety, such as Apollo, answered specific questions that have been put forth. Also, the Oracle was the sacred place where this would happen.

So we'll talk in more detail about…

"We are the birds of fire,

We fly over the sky

...

We make a road for the spirit to pass over"

Those are words from our opening music from Dead Can Dance; the song, "Song of the Stars"

And, what is this road? Traditionally, there are many answers, but two of the most popular are Bridges and Rainbows. Both wonderful and perilous, bridges and rainbows bind two areas, while at the same time seperating the traveler apart from…

Oh, come on! You do it! You daydream. And so what if you do? Does that mean that you're lazy, or that you're out of touch? Maybe it does. Or maybe it means that you're more in touch thanks to your daydreams. There's all different ways to look at daydreaming, and that's what we're going to talk about this week.

First off, we'll talk about just what do we mean by "Daydreaming" - just what is Daydreaming and why do we do it?

But as you know, there are alot of things that we're…

Do you know somebody who is? Ya know, June continues to be the most popular month for getting married. So, my theme is The June Bride.

I have some interesting facts about the History of Marriage in Western Culture. And in conjunction, I want to talk about Handfasting - what do we mean by this, and where in our culture does it come from?

Then, we'll have some fun with Symbolism found in Weddings, then some good luck and bad luck associated with getting married.

And…

Humans have a deep emotional and psychic connection to color. It's ingrained in our psyche. Color has been used to heal our bodies as well as our minds, but it's usage has slipped in and out of favor over the centuries.

So, this week we gaze into the color spectrum. We'll take a look at the long history that color has played in the healing arts from Ancient Egypt right up to today. And we'll also look at some of the suprising ways that we're just now learning about, regarding how…