When the narrative falls flat.

Chat about pagan and Wiccan holidays.
Post Reply
User avatar
Shireside
Posts: 95
Joined: Tue Jun 06, 2017 1:01 pm
Gender: Male

When the narrative falls flat.

Post by Shireside »

So, another thread about the issue of awkward timing for celebrating seasonal sabbaths in the southern hemisphere got me to thinking about an adjacent matter, and I'm very curious to hear anyone's thoughts on this.

Concerning the sabbaths typically honored by witchy folk and pagans in the northern hemisphere, primarily in Europe, North America, and the Mediterranean, these holy days are tied to the cycle of the observable seasons. The Wheel of the Year as we know it is a modern (most likely Wiccan) creation, but it serves well as a strong narrative for the relationship that humans have had with the land and it's seasonal turning since the dawn of civilization around here, and has this been adopted by many Earth-centered groups/individuals across the board. It makes sense for us living in these regions, and on the spiritual side of things, the narrative seems to add up. Many actually do find spirit work to be more accessible around Samhain in an objective sense, for example.

The cycles on the spiritual level coincide with the cycles on the physical level in any European-derived pagan and craft system I can think of, and it's such a reality here that it becomes easy to form strong beliefs concerning it. In Wicca for example, the narrative is often understood with at least some degree of literal meaning to it. Concerning the God and Goddess, though conceptualized with differences between believers here and there, they are typically felt to be real in a sense, not strictly symbolic, and are felt in the turning off the year. In the summer time, the God is bright and strong. In the dead of winter, the Goddess is at her most formidable as the Crone.

But what about parts of the world that don't really have seasons at all, excluding periods of extended dry or wet, or extensively long nights? I am not Wiccan, and I'm not sure where my beliefs lie concerning large scale deities, but I'm very curious to know how those who DO believe in these forces and their narrative in the seasons view this. Along the equator where it seems to be endless summer, with the rainforests only experiencing a cycle that can be measured by mating patterns of the animal life and inches of rain received, would this be included in the theology/cosmology as areas where the Horned God (or however you identify the sun/acting force) is in a state of perpetual prime? And are the north and south poles, where winter maintains through the year and night dominates much of the year, locations where the Goddess never leaves center stage?

Long post is long.
The map is not the territory, the facet is not the jewel.
User avatar
SpiritTalker
Banned Member
Posts: 6237
Joined: Mon Apr 11, 2016 9:51 am
Gender: Female
Location: Earth temporarily

Re: When the narrative falls flat.

Post by SpiritTalker »

I've never observed all 8 standard dates. Where I am, the first days of Spring have a few feet of snow remaining to shovel. I'd adjusted my poetic narratives by combining stories, at first. Then changed to separate courses for Goddess and God. And then age and arthritis changed my approach again, to just "shut up & listen" :D . I'd wondered, as you have, if Icelanders have 2 seasons, light and dark, and are more like our ice age history.
Post Reply

Return to “Sabbats and Esbats”