The Pagan Origins of Birthday Celebrations!

Here are a few excerpts from an interesting looking book on the Pagan origins of birthday celebrations, called The Lore of Birthdays by Ralph Linton.

Originally the idea was rooted in magic. The working of spells for good and evil is the chief usage of witchcraft. One is especially susceptible to such spells on his birthday, as one's personal spirits are about at that time. Dreams dreamed on the birthday eve should be remembered, for they are predictions of the future brought by the guardian spirits which hover over one's bed on the birthday eve.

The traditional birthday cake and candles also have their origin in ancient Pagan idol worship. The ancients believed that the fire of candles had magical properties. They offered prayers and made wishes to be carried to the gods on the flames of the candles. Thus we still have the widely practiced birthday custom of making a wish, then blowing out the candles.

The Greeks celebrated the birthday of their moon Goddess, Artemis, with cakes adorned with lighted candles.

Since it was believed that the positions of the stars at the time of birth influenced a child's future, astrological horoscopes came into being, purporting to foretell the future, based on the time of birth. 'Birthdays are intimately linked with the stars, since without the calendar, no one could tell when to celebrate his birthday. They are also indebted to the stars in another way, for in early days the chief importance of birthday records was to enable the astrologers to chart horoscopes.

The Greeks believed that everyone had a protective spirit or daemon who attended his birth and watched over him in life. This spirit had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born. The Romans also subscribed to this idea.

This notion was carried down in human belief and is reflected in the guardian angel, the fairy godmother and the patron saint.

I've also seen mention made of gifts for the birthday celebrant likened to sacrifices and offerings given to deities.



I suppose, instead of christians asking if it's appropriate to celebrate a birthday in a Pagan way, Pagans should be asking: Should we celebrate a personal birthday in the same way we celebrate our Gods? Are we engaging in hubris and elevating ourselves to the status of deity? Are we celebrating the divine spark within and therefore it is justified?


I'm obviously cool with celebrating a personal birthday, so I pick the later ;)

A Devotional Spell

Dusio and I have once again been conspiring. He's trying to inspire me to post more "low" magic. The blog takes me where it takes me. Tonight tho, I'm starting to get into that groove. So thanks, Dusio. This dovetails nicely with his latest post on devotion and why, I think, I was moved to post it.

While I am not at liberty to post the entire ritual here, I have been given the go ahead to post this part of it; a devotional prayer, invoking Diana as Queen of Witches. It can be used as a novena, it can be used to invoke Her presence and aid in spellwork, to bring Her power in the heavens down into the materials, and to carry the intention of the materials into all realms where they can take effect. You can use this for most work, including healing, revealing, and appealing.*

If it fits your fancy, you can change the first line to Ave Madonna (My Lady). It's important to keep the rhyme, otherwise I'd say use whichever title or name you're most comfortable with. I've posted it in Italian because that's how it was given. If you want a pronunciation guide I suggest translate.google.com. You'll be able to click an icon and have a listen.

Ave Diana!
Angeli si corona.
I tuoi figli ti adoro.
Dammi quello che chiedo.
(your request goes here)
Ti offro fiori,
rose e gigli,
Sotto la luna
le stelle ei pianeti.
Con la mia volontà e il tuo
Questo sarà il mio!


Hail Diana!
Angels crown you,
Your children adore you.
Give me what I ask.
(insert request here)
I offer you flowers,
roses and lilies,
Under the moon,
the stars and the planets.
By my will and thine
This will be mine!


*(revealing = divination, appealing = love or glamor)

Holding Back

I find that when something is important, be it a spell, a ritual, an initiation, reading a certain book which you know will change your perspective, so many things seem to get in the way. I was carpooling with a cohort to her dedication ritual. She was late to my house because she fell on the ice getting to her car.

Another anecdote involves a train running late, a cat who hairballed on a robe, mundane life getting in the way where work piles up and new projects get dropped on desks out of the blue. Sometimes it's just a feeling of lethargy that can overtake you. You get too lazy to do The Work, or it starts to feel overwhelming. The later is what happens to me: I rebel against my to-do list when I'm feeling overwhelmed.

So what to do? I think this is where the importance of community comes in, why so many Strega will commune with the wiccans when it's just not their flavor. Humans are social creatures (tho my husband might object to that statement lol Hi sweetie, love you, no this isn't a test to see if you read my blog). I spoke to a friend about this feeling and she helped me to kick my own ass and get over it. I wasn't running to put on a robe, but as soon as I felt well today, I got that proverbial tap on the shoulder, that whisper in my ear. I knew what I needed to do, how I needed to do it, and that I had to do it that very minute. Happily, I was available and got right to business. I feel so much better having gotten past that hurdle. All of which brings me to the question:

Are these obstacles self-imposed? Are they manifestations of what we project? Do we not want that initiation, that knowledge, that rite? Are they imposed by those who wish to foil our work? Negative energies or entities? Are the obstacles sent by those who would test us to make sure this is what we really want?

More questions than answers. Let's thank the high dose of vitamin c for tonight's ramblings. I'm off to read more about Archangels and angels in general and their presence in Babylon and hope to hear other thoughts on the matter.

Archangels

My dream last night involved 3 of the usual 4 Archangels. Actually, all 4 were involved. It was an intense dream and I'm not really ready to put it out there yet. However, thanks to the awesomeness of the intertubes, I ran into a virtual friend who I'm sure will one day be a terraspace friend. He and I had a very interesting discussion and he recommended a whole load of books and authors for me to read. I'm going to post it here in case anyone is interested in the topic:

The Angelic Magical system of Madeline Montalbahn (I can hear the Gardenerians groaning now)
"Sacred Magic of the Angels" by David Goddard
"Book of Fallen Angels" Michael Howard
The Book of Enoch
The Chaldean Oracles

Funny, it feels like I'm avoiding sleep tonight. It was a great dream, really detailed and involved and informative and I don't know. Not sure I could do two intense dreams in a row. I'm gonna quit being a baby about it now and go to bed lol

Book Lust!!! Oh, and Angels too.

Yesterday I mentioned on Facebook that it was Gabrielmas. I couldn't expand on it because of my injured finger. So let's talk a bit about Gabriel today and Angels in general. Gabriel is a winged messenger. He is a psychopomp. His chaplet color is blue, as in the throat chakra. Maybe that's why I like him so much; He shares the description with Mercury.

As I like to point out at every turn, there is nothing original in Christianity. This also includes the concept of Angels. The idea of winged human-like beings who are go-betweens for humanity and deity, goes back many thousands of years before the current era. There are statues, reliefs and carvings from ancient Sumeria depicting said winged beings. Here is a link to The Legends of the Garden of Eden and The Angels Alfred Hamori

Those of Royal Blood, the Anunnaki, are Sumeriean deities who seem to fit the category as well. The wiki entry I linked is paltry, but it's fine for a quick overview and has links to the Sumerian creaton story, Enuma Elish.

There is no quality work of the Annunaki on the internet, or at least I haven't found it yet. Honestly, much of what I've found is in the vein of "ancient aliens?" and "illuminati/zionist" stuff. Argh. Anyone have something not related to conspiracy theories? Some liken them to the Grigori, the Watchers or Guardians. I have seen them called the Serpent Race.

What is accessible is the Book of Enoch, a Jewish text which is at least a few hundred years older than the current era, placed somewhere are 300 BCE as is the Book of Giants found as part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. To summarize: There are heavenly beings, they teach all manner of magic and craft to humans, mate with the women and defile animals and generally piss of the creator who smotes em good with the now famous flood. I don't want to get into a whole big thing about Enochian Magic and John Dee, so I'll leave you to that and google if that's where your interest are. (Any OTO folks out there wish to comment on Crowley's use and propogation of this system?)

So why the fuck do some Pagans, when casting a circle, call watchTOWERS. That's like me yelling at the lighthouse when I need to sail my ship. Seriously, why aren't you calling the WATCHER? I'd call the person manning the lighthouse, not the building itself. Pardon, Pagan Pet Peeve there.

In some magical systems, archangels are invoked at the quarters. Gabriel is invoked in the West. Fitting for a psychopomp messenger, I think.

Then there's the bedtime and wake up Prayer, the Kriat Shma: To my right Michael and to my left Gabriel, in front of me Uriel and behind me Raphael, and over my head God's Shekhinah ["the presence of God"]." I find it funny that it's used in the lesser banishing ritual of the pentagram. It just tickles me that way. I've always heard that recited like a nursery rhyme, so to have it be a big ritual strikes me as odd. Anyway.

The book lust... There's a book which just came out called Ancient Angels: Conceptualizing Angeloi in the Roman Empire. WANT!!!!!!! The tiny description: "This text brings together the evidence for popular beliefs about angels in Roman religion, demonstrating the widespread nature of speculation about, and veneration of, angels in the Roman Empire. " Hubby works at a university which has a big library and an ancient studies school. I get to read some kick ass books that would otherwise cost a ton to buy. But this one isn't available yet. Ah well. It's not like I don't have 10 other books on my reading list and 3 I'm currently into.

That's it for tonight. Please feel free to share your Angel stories and theories, but please, no fluffy bunny chatter on my blog. I'm trying to keep it clean. Fluffy bunnies lead to dust bunnies! lol