The Ancient Whispers Newsletter

Welcome to the Ancient Whispers Newsletter, a multi-cultural newsletter with a little something for everyone of any creed or religion. Here you will find inspiring quotes, irreverent jokes, crafts, and most importantly, historical and/or religious scholarship. Every other Wednesday a new edition should appear on this website with reminder emails sent out the night before to those who have opted to join one of the many forums and mailing lists to which I subscribe. If you wish to share this newsletter with others, please keep it intact with the original authors' names on all the articles. Any articles or sections, to which an author or URL is not affixed, were written by Candace (with the exception of the various jokes found herein).

Questions, comments, and topical requests are encouraged and should be posted to the AskCandace open forum at yahoogroups. I'd like to start a help column for the newsletter, so if you'd like to have your problem featured in a newsletter, let me know when you post.

Mabon/Autumn Equinox Recipes
http://www.fieldsweknow.com/mr.html

Mabon Celebration Teen Recipes
http://www.newmoon.uk.com/bos/93.htm

Red Deer's & Elenya's Recipes for the Eight Sabbats Mabon
http://www.unc.edu/%7Eredde er/recipe/rec_mabon.html

Echoed Voices Mabon Recipes
http://www.echoedvoices.org/ Sep2001/SeptRecipes.html

September acquired its name as the seventh month of the old Roman calendar. Pomona, patroness of fruit and fruit-trees, was tutelary goddess of this month in which autumn begins.

September was Meán Fómhair in Ireland or an t-Sultainn, the fat time. All these names refer to the ripening harvest. The September moon is gealach an abachaidh, moon of ripening. Haligmonath, "holy month," was the month of September among the Anglo-Saxons. The Franks called this month Witumanoth, "wood month," for this when the majority of wood was gathered for the coming cold months. September is Shedding among the Asatru.

The first Full Moon is called the Fruit or Grain Moon, a name it shares with August. It shares the name Harvest Moon with October and Sturgeon Moon with August. It has been called the Singing, Wine Moon, and the Moon When Deer Paw the Earth.

Libra takes over from Virgo around September 23rd. Those born this month have the aster for their birth flower. The stone for Virgo and those born in September is the sapphire. Chrysolite and sardonyx are also listed as stones for those born in Septmeber. Libra’s birthstone is opal or tourmaline, and Libra is also linked to aquamarine, emerald, kunzite, moonstone, opal, peridot, and pink tourmaline. Amazonite, amber, carnelian, chrysocolla, citrine, and sapphire are other stones associated with Virgo

Lunar Holy Days

The Chinese Moon festival, Chung-Ch'iu, falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon of the Chinese lunar calendar.

During Choyo-no-Sekku or the Kiku no Sekku, Chrysanthemum Day, chrysanthemum wine is drunk on the ninth day of the ninth moon to ensure long life.

The Horndance begins at dawn on the first Monday after Wake Sunday (the first Sunday after September 4th).

Mabon

Higan

Eleusinian Mysteries

Karpo, and Carman

Greater Eleusinian Mysteries- Agormos

Mielikki

Atum

Day of Going Forth of Isis

feast of Obatala

Greater Eleusinian Mysteries - Halade Mystai

Durga Puja

amendment denying tax-exempt status to Wiccan groups

Greater Eleusinian Mysteries

Greater Eleusinian Mysteries

Day of Willows

Greater Eleusinian Mysteries - Ton Lampadon Hemera

Confucius

Feast of Brewing.

Greater Eleusinian Mysteries - Iacchos

Osiris went forth to Abydos; Festival of Hapi

Gwynn ap Nudd

Heimdall

Greater Eleusinian Mysteries

Greater Eleusinian Mysteries - Epidaurion Hemera

Meditrinalia

Marion Zimmer Bradley

October was the eighth month of the old Roman calendar and was sacred to the goddess Astraea, daughter of Zeus and Themis.

Deireadh Fóómhair or an Damhair, the stag rut, was the Irish name for this month or Gealach a 'bhruic, moon of the badger. Winterfelleth, "winter is coming," was the Anglo-Saxon name. The Franks called October Windurmanoth, "vintage month." Hunting is the Asatru name.

The first Full Moon is called the Hunter's Moon. This moon is also known as Shedding Moon, Ten Colds Moon, Ancestor Moon or the Moon of the Dead, and the Moon of the Changing Season. It shares the name Blood Moon with July and Harvest Moon with September.

The sun passes from Libra to Scorpio around October 23rd. Marigolds are for October children. Beryl, aquamarine, opal, or tourmaline are best for people born in October, and opal or tourmaline are also the birthstones of Libra, while topaz is the stone for Scorpio. Libra has connections to aquamarine, emerald, kunzite, moonstone, opal, peridot, and pink tourmaline, and other Scorpio stones include albite, aquamarine, emerald, garnet, green tourmaline, malachite, moonstone, obsidian, and ruby.

Winter Saturday and Winter Sunday is a two-day Asatru festival held at the end of the month to commemorate the end of winter.

Fides Pulbica

Greater Eleusinian Mysteries - Plemo Choai

fertility of Min

eight Great Netjers appeared

Cementation and Propitiation Festival

Moroccan New Year.

Dionysus and Medetrina

Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys

Native American Elk Festival.

Ieiunium Cereris

Festival of Hathor

Nubaigai festival

Mania

nine day festival honoring Vishnu, Haribodhini Ekadasi

Mania - Mundus

Bast appears to Ra

Mabon, falls on September 22 when the sun enters the sign of Libra, marking the second harvest of the Celtic Pagan year. It is the end of the grain harvest which begun at Lughnasadh. Because the pagans of antiquity could not determine exact astrological positions, the European peasantry usually began celebrating Mabon on the eve of September 24th. "Michaelmas" on September 25th, is both a feast in honor of the Archangel Michael and the Christianized form of Mabon. It has also been known as the Second Harvest Festival, Feast of Avalon, Cornucopia, Wine Harvest, Harvest Home, Festival of Dionysus, and Alban Elfed. The full moon closest to the Autumn Equinox is called the Harvest Moon, and farmers would harvest their corps by this moonlight as part of the Second Harvest celebration.

Like the modern American holiday of Thanksgiving, at Mabon most of the crops have been reaped and people are ready to celebrate their abundance. Any spells or rituals focusing on balance and harmony are appropriate during this period. Since it is the time of dwindling sunlight, in other words the death of the sun, effort is also made to honor the dead at this time, a practice which culminates with the final harvest Samhain on October 31st. One may not pass a burial site without giving honor to the dead.

Mabon ap Modron, "great son of the great mother,” is a Welsh God of the dying and rising sun, music, love, and fertility. He represents the change of seasons. He is also called the Son of Light, the Young Son, or Divine Youth. The Equinox is the birth of Mabon from his mother Modron, the Guardian of the Outerworld. She is the Healer, the Protector, and the Earth.

According to the Mabinogion, Mabon ap Modron was the best huntsman in the world, but he was stolen from his mother when he was three nights old (or three years). In the story of "Culhwch ac Olwen,” he was imprisoned at Caer Llowy, "City of Light" (thought to be Gloucester). He was needed to capture the boar Twrch Trwyth, who was in fact an evil man become a boar through magic. Yspaddaden Penkawr, father of Olwen, demanded the boar be caught before allowing Culhwch to marry his daughter. Before Mabon could be freed however, the Salmon of Llyn Llyw, the oldest animal in the world, was consulted. (The salmon often represent wisdom in Celtic stories.) Cei and Bedwyr, the prototypes of the later Arthurian Kay and Bedevere, rode the salmon to the prison, and on being set free; Cei carried Mabon on his back to King Arthur's court. From there, they hunted the boar. Mabon took the comb and shears behind its ear, and then drove it off a cliff into the sea around Cornwall.

Activities vary by region and tradition, as well as personal preference. Activities appropriate for this time of the year include wheat weaving such corn dollies or other god and goddess symbols. The corn dolly may be used both as a fertility amulet and as an altar centerpiece. If you follow the Celtic path, dressing a corn stalk in cloths and burning it in celebration of the harvest and upcoming rebirth of the sub god might be more to your liking. You may want to string Indian corn on black thread to make a necklace. Some bake bread in the form of a God-figure or a Sun Wheel. You can try your hand at making a Sun Wheel in this week’s craft.

Wandering through your garden, harvest what is ready to be gathered. Making a pilgrimage through your local woods can give you some beautiful natural additions to your altar as you collect leaves, acorns, berries, and other things symbolic of nature's gifts along your way. If the leaves where you live have begun their autumnal change, you may wish to scatter them around the house as decoration. You can also dip the leaves in paraffin and lay them on wax paper to dry. Once they harden, lightly carve symbols of protection or abundance into them and place them around the house or in large jars.

Seeds and grains may be set out for birds and other animals preparing for hibernation or migration. Small gifts of food and drink would be appropriate for the homeless as well. A feast for friends and family also encourages an aura of abundance and thankfulness. Breads may be baked in the shape of the Sun, combining fruits or vegetables and grains. This incorporates both of the major aspects of this Harvest. To honor the dead, it is traditional to place apples on burial plots as symbolism of rebirth and gratitude, and burying them in your lawn is also a traditional way to feed the ghost that may be traveling at this time. Mabon is also a time to honor your living elders, who have devoted so much time and energy to your growth and development.

Mabon Associations

Foods: nuts and acorns, corn (grains), cornbread, wheat bread, root crops -Onions, Carrots, Potatoes, etc., beans, squash, dried fruits, grapes, apples and pomegranates, goose, goat or mutton berries, seeds, squash, hops

Element: water

Drinks: wine, beer, ale, cider

Colors: red, maroon, russet, yellow, deep gold, orange, brown, violet, indigo

Animals and other creatures: dogs, wolves, stag, birds of prey (especially blackbird, owl, and eagle), salmon, goat, Gnomes, Sphinx, Minotaur, Cyclops, Andamans and Gulons

Stones: yellow topaz, carnelian, sapphire, yellow agate, lapis lazuli, and amethyst, river or stream stones, stones ruled by the Sun will help bring the Sun's energy to you, clear quartz, amber, peridot, diamond, gold, citrine, cat's-eye, aventurine.

Plants: vines, ivy, gourds, pinecones, acorns, dried leaves, corn, wheat, pomegranate, hazel, hops, cedar, tobacco

Herbs: acorns, almond leaves, dried apple or apple seeds, aster, benzoin, bittersweet, cedar, chamomile, fern, frankincense, hazel, honeysuckle, hops, marigold, milkweed, mistletoe, mums, myrrh, oak leaves, passionflower, pine, rose hips, rosemary, rue, saffron, sage, Solomon’s seal, sunflower, thistles, tobacco, walnut leaves and husks, wheat, yarrow,

Incense: wood aloes, cinnamon, cloves, benzoin, jasmine, frankincense, myrrh, sage, pine, sweetgrass, apple blossom, black pepper, patchouly, oak moss

Gods: Mabon, Sky Father, John Barleycorn, the Wicker-Man, the Corn Man, Thoth (Egyptian), Hermes (Greek), Hotei (Japanese), Thor (Norse), all deities of wine -especially Dionysus and Bacchus, Harvest Deities, and Aging Deities

Godessess: Modron (Welsh), Bona Dea (Roman), Harvest Deities, Persephone, Demeter/Ceres, Morgan (Welsh- Cornish), Snake Woman (Aboriginal), Epona (Celtic-Gaelic), Pomona (Roman), the Muses (Greek), the Mother, and Aging Deities

Other Symbols: burial Cairns, rattles, sun wheels, horn of plenty, wreaths and garlands, autumn flowers, marigolds and red poppies, autumn leaves, acorns and oak sprigs, pine and cypress cones, vine, all harvest symbols and crops, corn and grains, nuts, grapes, apples, gourds, pomegranate

Customs: offerings to land, preparing for cold weather by bringing in harvest, cutting willow wands (Druidic), leaving apples upon burial cairns & graves as a token of honor, walks in forests, gather seed pods & dried plants, fermenting grapes to make wine, picking ripe produce, stalk bundling

Spellworkings of Mabon: Protection, prosperity, security, and self- confidence. Also those of harmony and balance.

Taboos: It was considered unlucky to cut down the very last of the Harvest, and so was also left to stand in the field by some traditions.

Activities of Mabon: Select the best of each vegetable, herb, fruit, nut, and other food you have harvested or purchased and give it back to Mother Earth with prayers of thanksgiving. Hang dried ears of corn around your home in appreciation of the harvest season. Do meditations and chanting as you store away food for the Winter. Do a thanksgiving circle, offering thanks as you face each direction - - for home, finances, and physical health (North); for gifts of knowledge (East); for accomplishments in career and hobbies (South); for relationships (West); and for spiritual insights and messages (Center). Decorate the table with colorful autumn leaves in a basket. Display the fruits of the harvest - corn, gourds, nuts, grapes, apples - preferably in a cornucopia. Or decorate with wildflowers, acorns, nuts, berries, cocoons, anything that represents the harvest to you. Like its sister equinox, halfway across the Wheel of the Year, the Autumn Equinox is a good occasion for a ritual feast. Plan a meal that uses seasonal and symbolic fruits and vegetables. You can serve bread, squash, corn, apples, cider and wine. Make some homemade wine or cordial gather and dry herbs, plants, seeds and seed pods. Make grapevine wreaths using dried bitter-sweet herb for protection. Use ribbons of gold and yellow to bring in the energy of the Sun, and decorate with sprigs of dried yarrow or cinnamon sticks. Make a protection charm of hazelnuts (filberts) strung on red thread. Make a witch's broom. Tie dried corn husks or herbs (broom, cedar, fennel, lavender, peppermint, rosemary) around a strong, relatively straight branch of your choice. Make magic Apple Dolls Gifts of the Harvest can be used to make tools and emblems that will remind us of their bounty all year round. Look for colored leaves. Collect fallen leaves and make a centerpiece or bouquet for your home. Save the leaves to burn in your Yule fire. Visit an apple orchard and, if possible, pick your own apples. Hang apples on a tree near your home. Watch the birds and other small animals who will enjoy your gift. This is also the time for replacing your old broom with a new one. As the broom corn is ripe now, besom making is traditional and magickal this time of year. Begin the festival with a vineyard or orchard harvest. You might check the farm lands in your area to see if there's an orchard or pumpkin patch that allows customers to harvest produce for themselves. Traditionally Sabbat festivals begin at sun set on the eve of the Holiday. You can use the daytime hours of this holiday eve to prepare baskets for harvesting the next day. Baking a pumpkin pie (from scratch if possible) is a wonderful way to bring in the fragrance of the holiday season.

Accompanied by the wild calls of hunting horns, the Wild Hunt and its leader haunted the skies throughout northern Europe with a pack of coal-black hounds. Also known as the Wild huntsman, the god Odin was imagined to pass through the sky with his group of hunters and hounds. His ride was considered a forecast of misfortune, pestilence, or war, and he was seen most often in autumn and winter, especially between Christmas and the Twelfth night. It was once customary to leave the last sheaf of grain out in the fields to feed his horses.

Odin's band of hunters were called many things. Some of the most popular names were the Wild Hunt, Woden's Hunt, Asgardreia, and Joen's (Odin's) hunt or Jolereinn. Other names include the Raging Host, Gandried, Cain's Hunt, or Gangford. It was also known as the Furious Horde, the Devil's Hunt, Watischend Heer, Chasse Artu, Wilde Jagd, the days of Jupiter, and the Mesnie Sauvage. The Wild Hunt of Germanic folklore was known by many names, Wutan's or Wuet's Army in the southern parts of Germany. It was the Oskorei in Norway and Odensjakt in Denmark and Sweden. The oskorei was also called julereien or juleskreien for the season of Yule, and the Norwegian oskorei was said to stop either at places where someone has been or shall be murdered.

In northern England, the Hunt was known as the Gabriel Hounds, in Devon the Yeth (Heath) or Wisht Hounds, in Wales the Cwm Annwn, the Hounds of the underworld. In Cornwall, Dando and his Dogs or the Devil's Dandy Dogs haunted the skies.

According to legend, Dando was a corrupt priest near the village of St. Germans. He cared for nothing but sensual pleasures and hunting. Dando would hunt on any day including Sunday. One Sunday, after a particularly prosperous hunt with many kills, Dando and his entourage paused on their horses.

Finding that no wine was left in the flasks of any of his attendants, he declared in a rage, 'If none can be found on Earth, go to Hell for it!' A stranger who had joined the hunt unnoticed, offered him a drink from his wine flask, announcing it was the select brew of the place he had just mentioned. Drinking eagerly, and emptying the entire flask, Dando swore, 'If they have drink like this in Hell, I will willingly spend Eternity there.' The stranger, while Dando had been marveling over the drink, had quietly collected all the game. When Dando demanded it back again with furious curses, the stranger said, 'What I have, I hold.' Leaping from his horse, Dando rushed the stranger who casually lifted him by the scruff of the neck. Dando cried out, 'I'll follow you to Hell for it!' to which the stranger replied, 'You shall go with me.' With that, he spurred his horse with a great leap into the middle of the stream, and a burst of flame came up from the water. The stranger, the horse, and Dando disappeared, but not forever. Since that day, Dando and his hounds have returned from time to time to chase over the countryside.

The name Gabriel Hounds or Gabble Ratchets (dogs) had nothing to do with the Angel Gabriel. It was a reference to an old word for 'corpse'. Sometimes they were described as great black hounds with fiery eyes as big as saucers. The 'Gabriel Hounds' in Lancashire were described as monstrous dogs with human heads who traveled high up in the air, sometimes hovering over a house to foretell death or misfortune to the inhabitants. Generally, they were only heard passing overhead on cloudy or stormy nights. In this form they were quite similar to the mysterious Seven Whistlers. Only six of the seven whistlers was ever heard at a time, and the old country folk said that should all seven ever whistle together the world would be at an end."

Sometimes it was the Devil who led the hunt, pursuing lost souls. While in Devon, the hounds were themselves thought to be the souls of unbaptized children. In the area of Leeds, the Gabble Ratchets were also thought to be the souls of infants who had died before baptism, doomed forever to flit round their parents' homes. In Germany too, the souls of unbaptized babies in the train of 'Frau Bertha' sometimes accompanied the Wild Huntsman.

Also known as The Host and the Unseelie Court in Scotland, the Sluagh were the Host of the Unforgiven Dead and the most formidable and unforgiving of the Highland faerie people. They traveled over inhabited places around midnight. In other accounts, the Sluagh were fallen angels rather than the dead. They could be heard and seen on crisp, clear nights, fighting each other. After a battle, the 'fuil nan slugagh,' the blood of the hosts, might be seen staining rocks and stones. They were also known to slaughter cats, dogs, sheep, and cattle with their poisoned darts.

As the old name was corrupted and its meaning lost, leadership of the Hunt fell to real or imaginary leaders of the past. In the Franche Comte, the Hunt was called Herod's Hunt; its leader, King Herod, pursuing the Holy Innocents. Other famous leaders of the Hunt include Charlemagne, Frederick the Great, The Devil, Sir Francis Drake, and Father Christmas. King Arthur was another leader of the Hunt as was Arawn the Welsh god of the dead and Gwyn ap Nudd, the lord of Annwfn and Glastonbury Tor who hunted with white, red-eared hounds.

The mythical King Herla was depicted as one leader of the Hunt. It was called the Herlathing or Herla's Rade for him. The Hunt in the early 1900s was described as a silent troop of the dead, endlessly wandering and seemingly alive though its members, when seen, were often known to be dead.

The creation of this King Herla may have been the result of a misunderstanding. The name 'Herle' can be traced back to Herian, a name of Woden/Odin as lord of the honored warriors of Valhalla (Old Norse herjar). This is one of several similar names for the leader of the Hunt. Later in some parts of France, it was called la Mesnie Herlequin eventually giving birth to the Harlequin clown. A similar name, Mesnee Hellequin, was attributed to Hel, the Norse goddess of death.

Gervase of Tilbury, writing in the early thirteenth century, called the Hunt 'familia Arturi', the household of Arthur. In France, it was later known as 'la Chasse Artus' or 'Arthur's hunt. In Denmark, its leader was purported to be King Waldemar, hero of many tales, or else King Christian II. In 19th century England, the Huntsman could have been any one of a number of local heroes or villains, usually of the landowning class.

In Clun Forest, seeing Edric the Wild and the Hunt was a precursor to war. Edric the Wild was said to appear only when England was threatened with invasion, leading the Hunt towards England's foes. Everywhere the hounds were considered portents of death and disaster. A late traveler, hearing them, would fling himself face downward on the ground to avoid seeing them. This was also a precaution taken with Will-o-the-Wisp.

Various deities and entities contended for leadership of The Hunt : Abonde, Gulfor, Harlequin, Herne the Hunter, Odin, Satan, Woden. Cernunnos, the horned Lord of Animals, lives on in place names beginning with Cerne such as Cerne Abbas in Dorset (the home of the Chalk Giant). He is also still celebrated in the Abbotts Bromley Horn Dance. His name may have become Herne, one of the Huntsmen for whom the Hunt is named in southeastern of Europe.

Variant forms of the legend gave the Hunt a female leader, Perchte, Holda, or Holle in Germany and Frien, Freki, Frik, or Freya in Sweden and Northern Germany. On the Elbe, Fru Wode or Fru Gode, or in Mecklenburg, a Frau Gauden led the Hunt. Lilith, Diana and Fraw Selga were some other female hunters. Like many masculine figures, Perchte or Holda supervised a train of souls. Unlike male leaders, her followers were sometimes young children (Orla-gau). She was also accused of stealing children and acted as an enforcer of female social norms, punishing women who had not finished their spinning by the appointed night or who spun on the wrong day. She often gave presents to children, as her masculine counterparts for the most part did not.

The Perchtenlauf was once a masked procession. The masked ones were called Perchten, divided into beautiful and ugly. The beautiful Perchten would distribute gifts. Sometimes the "wild Perchte" would mix in with the procession, making it more dangerous. The Perchten would rage wildly, springing all about. Then the Perchten would scatter in fear, trying to reach the nearest house. As they were under a roof, the Wild One could not reach them. Anyone she could not possess, she would tear apart.

The name of Herne dates to the reign of King Richard II (1377-1399). The story is given that on the King's estate of Windsor Forest, a skilled young keeper by the name of Herne was employed. The other keepers resented him for his ability until one day he saved the King, nearly losing his own life in the process.

King Richard was thrown from his horse. About to be gored by a stag, Herne stepped in and stabbed the creature in the throat. Unfortunately he was fatally wounded himself by the stag's horns. A mysterious stranger arrived calling himself Philip Urswick and offered to cure him. The king agreed, but Philip had also secretly arranged with Herne's peers that their rival would lose all of his skill if the king did so. Cutting the antlers from the stag's skull, he tied them to the dying man's head, dictating plenty of rest. The king rewarded him with silver and gold before the mysterious Philip returned home to Bagshot Heath.

Herne did indeed recover his health, though the antlers became permanently affixed to his head, but as the stranger and the other keepers had arranged, he also lost all of his marvelous skill. Typical of royalty, the king gave him the boot. Demented, Herne rode off into Home park. Last to see him was a peddler who came upon his body later that same day, hanging from an oak tree. By the time he returned with the other keepers however, the body had vanished. That night Herne's Oak was struck by lightning.

A curse fell upon the other keepers, causing them to become even more incompetent than before. Consulting with Urswick, they were instructed to go to Herne's Oak at midnight. There, Herne's antlered ghost appeared to them, ordering them to return the next night with horses and hounds ready for the hunt. Returning as ordered, Herne reappeared only to ride off through the forest, forcing the keepers to follow in pursuit. After a wild ride, Urswick was suddenly before them, and they owed him a favor. He commanded the keepers to ride with Herne forever, creating the Wild Hunt.

Every night at Herne's Oak they would meet before riding forth to kill deer, vandalize the park benches, and generally cause trouble. Finally the king confronted Herne's shade to put an end to their mischief. When challenged Herne claimed to ride for vengeance and promised to haunt no more during the king's reign on condition that the treacherous keepers be hanged from the very oak where he had died. This was done the following day.

After the King's abdication in 1399 however, Herne and his Wild Hunt rode forth once again, collecting the souls of the dead. Though Herne's Oak was chopped down due to an administrative error in 1796, Herne continued to haunt the park. Sometimes on a dark and stormy night, the ghost of the tree itself could be seen.

Considered second only to Odin, Uller, another leader of the hunt, was said to take possession of Midgard (Earth) and Asgard (Aesir home) for the nine winter months of the extreme north, but not being particularly charitable, everyone would always welcome Odin back in the spring. Uller or Oller, son of Sif and stepson of Thor, was possibly the son of a frost giant.

Uller himself was said to love the cold and enjoy swiftly traveling over the countryside in broad bone snowshoes or ice skates as well as hunting in his thick furs. God of winter, hunting, and archery, he was represented with a quiver full of arrows and a huge yew bow. Yews were his favored trees, and he was said to live in Ydalir, the vale of yews which was always damp. Because snowshoes were shaped like shields, he was called the shield-god and invoked by those in battle. He was also considered a god of death and a special friend to Balder, the dead god of light, who was sometimes thought to ride with the Wild Hunt, sometimes leading it.

As with every other country of the world, the people of Scandinavia were no strangers to demons. Hunger demons could sometimes be coerced into devouring a neighbor's livestock, and Hiisi, a wind demon, was a creature of disease and death. Like Odin and Uller, he might ride his horse through the sky with his cats, dogs, and monsters following closely.

An exceedingly consistent image exists of the Wild Huntsman no matter the name of the entity. Announced by the baying of his hounds and the blast of a hunting horn above the cacophony of a gale, a wild rider on a black, white, or gray horse would storm through the air with his hounds, followed by a host of strange spirits. Sometimes the rider was headless. In Upper Germany, it was common for the spirits to show signs of battle. Sparks flew from the hooves and eyes of the beasts in the procession. The horses and hounds sometimes had only two or three legs. The newly dead were often recognized in the train.

Sometimes the Hunt was thought to stalk a boar; at other times, a wild horse, and every seven years they would hunt diminutive wood nymphs called Moss Maidens who symbolized the autumn leaves torn from the trees and blown away by the storm. A variant of the Wild Hunt in which the hunter chased after a supernatural female was known from Sweden to the Tyrolean Alps. She was variously identified as a wood-wife (Germany or Switzerland), a mermaid (western Jutland), one of the "hulder-folk" (Sweden), or an elf (Denmark). They would also appear at the site of a murder to take away the dead and occasionally the murderer as well.

Anyone with the audacity to mock the hunt with a wild shout might immediately be snatched away. A miller's boy who cried out to the Hunt as it past, "Take me with!" was gifted with a human leg as the Hunt returned. The leader cried "If you wanted to hunt, you can also eat." Though the boy attempted to get rid of the leg in every possible way, nothing worked.

Shouting in reverence, might win a horse's haunch. Carefully kept until the following day, it would turn into a lump of gold. Anyone seeing the Wild Hunt could request a sprig of parsley from its leader which would protect them from the insanity or death caused by meeting the Hunt in the first place.

Those who helped the Hunter or members of his train might be rewarded with gifts. In the Strassburger, those who were asked to hold the hounds of the Danish Wolmar were given presents which, though they seemed worthless, would later turn into gold. In north German stories, foam wiped from the Hunter's horse turned into gold pieces, and a man of Boeck who fixed Frau Gauden's carriage wheels was given the dung of her hounds which later became gold.

Sometimes a small black dog was left behind in the storm. It was warily cared for during the following year unless it could be frightened away or exorcized. To get rid of it (or any type of changeling), it was suggested that one brew beer in eggshells. This was such an unusual occurrence, it would frighten the little dog into running away with its tail between its legs, declaring it had never seen such a sight.

Appearing at different times of the year, frequently in spring and fall, the most common and consistent period for the Hunt's arrival was the Yule season. This fit in neatly with the Germanic tradition as a whole. Yule, ruled by Uller Norse god of death who loaned his name to the season, was the time during which hauntings and supernatural visitation of all sort were common. Scandinavian trolls and elves also made themselves known most at Yule, especially in Iceland.

There is no doubt that with the coming of Christianity, much information was lost or corrupted. Though the legend of the Hunt dates from approximately the time during which Christianity was making its biggest impact on pagan Europe, its pagan elements are clear. While the Hunt has acquired a Christian flavor over the centuries as its leadership has been taken up by various Christian heroes or villains, its original master, Odin, is still evident in the legends. Whether the Hunt was begun by the Christians to vilify the Gods or by the pagans to terrify the Christians is irrelevant. It has taken on a life of its own.

Baduh is a Semitic spirit who ensures the transmission of messages. He is invoked by the writing of the numbers 8, 6, 4, 2, representing the letters in Arabic forming his name. This practice was still in use in Egypt as of 1945.

Description: The cinquefoil is a low perennial of the rose family found in Europe and America from Nova Scotia to Ontario and south to Virginia. The root sends out a procumbent stem up to five feet long. It is a slender runner, rooting at the nodes with a rosette of basal, pinnate leaves. The rosette consists of thirteen to twenty-one oblong, serrate leaflets, dark green on top and silvery beneath. The leaves along the stem are alternate and compound with long stalks. They are palmately divided into five to seven pinnate, or three-lobed, sharp-toothed, obovate to oblanceolate leaflets. The veins are hairy. The flowers are bright yellow, sometimes white. Appearing from April to August, they are found singly or in branched clusters on long peduncle from the leaf axils. Five petals alternate with the sepals, and the fruits form in clusters on the sepals.

P anserina can be found in damp soil and along streams. It is a Eurasian plant, but is also found from Nova Scotia to Alaska and south to New York, Iowa, New Mexico, and California. Like P canadensis, the stem is prostrate and the plant reproduce via its rooting runners which can extend from three to six feet. The leaves pinnate, with seven to twenty-five toothed leaflets, increasing in size to the tip. From June to August, each plant produces a solitary five-petaled bright yellow flower on a two to twelve inch leafless stalk. Flowers close at night and on cloudy days. They secrete a “honey” on a ring-like ridge surrounding the base of the stamen. Though plants may cross pollinate through insect visitors, they are also self-pollinating.

Effects: strong
Planet: Mercury, Jupiter Zodiac: Virgo
Element: fire
Associated Deities:

Traditions:
The word Potentilla comes from Latin for “powerful.” It refers to the belief in plant’s ability to cure various illnesses.

Only medieval knights who had achieved self-mastery were permitted to use the five-leaf emblem of the Cinquefoil on their shield as symbol of the five senses.

Bacon said that frogs were attracted to this herb.

Magic:
Gather a perfect five-fingered leaf during the waxing of the moon at midnight on a Wednesday night and press it in a book. It will provide protection for any traveler. Hang at the door or on the bed for protection. It will also provide restful sleep. Make hole in an egg and drain. Fill with it cinquefoil and it tape shut. Keep this charm somewhere on your property for protection.

While it was said to be used in hexes, cinquefoil was also thought that witches feared this herb. To curse enemy, make a male or female wax doll. Burn cinquefoil to ashes and mix it with a handful of soot, your enemy’s hair and nail clippings and wine. Baste the doll and each time you baste, say:

I burn thee as I curse thee,
I curse thee as I burn thee.

An infusion from the leaves may be used to bathe the forehead and hands nine times to wash away hexes and curses. Use as a purification bath sachet and add to bath as least once over seven days to wash away hexes and curses.

The five points represent love, money, health/luck, power, and wisdom and can be used for any of these purposes. Cinquefoil is added to love potions and used in divination spells. Found with seven leaflets, it may be placed under the pillow to dream of your future love or mate. Cinquefoil may also be made into an incense to dream of one’s future mate.

Carry for eloquence when asking for favors from officials. It is also a useful charm in court. Carry in a red flannel bag to control anyone.

Mix the root with water used to quench iron. This is useful to staunch wounds.

Known Combinations:
Fishermen added a bait consisting of cinquefoil to their nets to bring in heavier catches. The bait included corn boiled with thyme and marjoram water mixed with nettles, cinquefoil, and the juice of the house leek.

Cinquefoil is one of the herbs supposedly used in the Medieval flying ointment. Other ingredients in addition to the cinquefoil included smallage and wolfsbane mixed with the fat of exhumed children and wheat flour.

Medical Indications: Parts Used: herb, leaves; Gather the tops in June, the roots in April.
Cinquefoil is an antispasmodic, astringent (due to its high tannin content), and a disinfectant. A tea is made from leaves for fevers. It may also be used as a gargle mixed with honey for inflammation of the mouth and gums and sore throat. It is also an analgesic.

Cinquefoil has long be thought to have healing properties. It may be used as a poultice for wounds. A tea with water and milk treats diarrhea, dysentery, and menstrual cramping. The dried tops are also infused for difficult menstruation and diarrhea.The root bark is used on nosebleeds and other internal bleeding.

The tea may be used externally for skin problems, and a strong distillation soothes sunburn or freckles.

Nutrition:
Native Americans, Eskimos, and some people of northern Europe roasted the roots. The root was also added to soups and stews. Boiled for twenty minutes, it has been compared in taste to turnips, parsnips, sweet potatoes, or chestnuts.

Mercantile Uses:
Cinquefoil is suitable in livestock feed. The only animals which refuse it are sheep.

Calomel, meaning “beautiful black,” is a mild chloride of mercury. When it forms mineral coatings and tabular or pyramidal crystals in nature, it is usually referred to as Horned Quicksilver. It ranges in color from white and yellow to brown. Calomel exerts stabilizing influences when you are experiencing significant changes. It can also be used as a catalyst to initiate beneficial changes in one’s life. Vitality, emotional maturity, and intellect are stimulated by this stone.

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Humor : Smoke Alarm

At her father's wake, a woman told her priest that ever since she was a child, she and her dad had discussed life after death. They had agreed that whomever went first would contact the other. A few days after his death the smoke alarm in her garage went off. She had lived there 28 years, and it had never gone off before. She couldn't turn it off so had to call the security company that installed it. The next morning it went off again and she figured it out. "Ok dad, I missed your signal yesterday, but I get it now!" she said, "Thanks for letting me know that you are safe on the other side. Now turn the thing off so I don't have to call the security company again." The alarm immediately stopped, and she called the priest to tell him of the good news. He replied, "Dear lady, if every time your father sends you a message, it sets off the smoke alarm, just where do you think he's calling from?"

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A Dreamer's Guide : Piles to Pinking Shears

For past articles and the bibliography, please go to the
Dreamer's Guide Archive.

Putting things in Piles or observing piles of things is a warning not to neglect or forget a promise, as it might come back to embarrass you later.

Welcome anyone who comes to your door if you dreamt of a Pilgrim. Things will change for the better if the pilgrim was a woman, and if you accompanied a female pilgrim, you will be happy. You are too independent if you thought you were a pilgrim in your dream. Your desires will be satisfied if you saw a gathering of pilgrims, though if they were traveling together to new places, it predicts poverty. Giving money to pilgrims augurs the attainment of your fondest wish.

Pills are a sign of travel. You will be given important new responsibilities if you took any pills, but giving pills to others means you will be severely criticized. Your family will be happy if you gave pills to children, and satisfaction will be yours if you gave pills to relatives. Use caution in business if you bought pills.

A Pillow predicts a life of ease and plenty, but many pillows are a presage of hard work. You will have a good marriage if you had your head on many pillows. If you were surrounded by pillows on all sides, you may be acting too feminine. Expect trouble of your own making if you saw dirty or rumpled pillows, though clean pillows foretells the attainment of your goals. Children lying on pillows predicts an increase in your family.

You are a master of love if you were a Pilot in your dream. A pilot guiding a ship predicts business success. The pilot of an aircraft means you will accomplish your desires. If you saw a pilot damage a ship, there is joy ahead of you, but if the pilot crashed a ship, your rivals may defeat you. If everyone was killed in the crash, trouble will come from far away.

Riches are foretold by Pimples. You will have good earnings if there were pimples on your body, a squeezing pimples means you will have a large amount of silver.

Pins represent a small contradiction, but many indicate serious trouble with a friend. You will have good earnings if you bought pins, and good health if you used any in sewing. You will have a disagreement with your love if you pricked yourself with a pin. Throwing pins away predicts a long life. Others using pins suggests that you will be contradicted. Pinning up a piece of clothing is a forecast of some social embarrassment. Swallowing a pin means careless planning will lead you into an unpleasant situation. Finding a pin is a sign of good luck. A bent or rusty pin means you will lose the esteem of those your respect through carelessness.

Happiness is foretold by a Pinafore. If you wore one, be circumspect in your actions. Your benefits will be small if you tore an apron. Tying one means you will receive big honors. A lost pinafore means a lost sweetheart. If you saw a blue apron, women are gossiping.

If you felt Pincers on your skin, you will be exasperated by your cares.

A Pincushion presages that all your plans will come to fruition. A cushion without pins predicts a life of ease. Many pins in a pincushion suggest dissatisfaction. Be on guard with your friends if you dreamed of one given as a gift.

You income is in danger if you saw anything made of Pine wood. Using the wood for anything augurs happiness, as does buying any furniture made of the wood. You will be devoted to your work if you worked with pine wood.

Pineapples mean you will be fortunate in all things. Good news is on its way if you saw a pineapple tree. You will have a good relationship with your neighbors if you removed the skin of a pineapple, though slicing the fruit is a warning to be cautious in relationships. Eating pineapple foretells a short love affair, but cooking with it means your love will last forever. You will learn of new schemes if you gave it to children to eat. Your surroundings will be comfortable if you received a pineapple as a gift, and giving pineapple is a good sign for your social life.

Pine Cones predict unexpected news, possibly of a birth.

A Pine Tree foretells tremendous happiness, and many trees predicts a family reunion. You will have a good life if you cut a branch from a tree, and cutting down a tree foretells congenial work and good news. A dead pine is an omen of sorrow.

A rather evenly matched game of Ping-pong suggests the easy attainment of your goals, but a one-side game means you will have a rival to contend with before you achieve your aims.

Pink is a sign of great success. Any kind of pink material means you will have a happy family life. You will recover lost money if you saw pink clothes.

Pinks foretell happy times with good companions.

Using Pinking Shears means you will discover a rewarding and interesting talent.

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Quote : Sir Winston Churchill
Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.

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