Post by heather on Dec 17, 2015 1:19:28 GMT -1
Hello, I’m writing to explain because there seems to be some confusion and I don’t want anyone to feel hurt. I haven’t “blacked out” the group. I was under the assumption I wasn’t ever going to be a member of the group. I have over 50 physical diagnoses and two are fatal and I am waiting to hear if I also have Lupus, also fatal. My main goal each day is to brush and floss. I gave up writing because it hurts so incredibly much. I’m bedridden and often in a fever. I’d never join anything in this state. I’m starting treatments but the doctors are not sure if I can handle them, so my relationship with Arawn/Gwyn ap Nudd is about choosing how I will die. Every autumn due to medical mistakes by doctors I almost die and it’s touch and go for weeks with my mother having to check if I am still breathing because I cannot be in hospitals. So that’s my deal with Gwyn ap Nudd.
Since Lorna is obviously called to be a Priestess of Gwyn ap Nudd I thought she would be the right person with whom to do the devotional shrine I felt He wanted. I didn’t know of Brython. She said she’d check there to see if they could do. I checked with the nondenominational Neopagan Church of Asphodel, as they have over 50 shrines built and also publish many polytheist devotional books by all sorts of pagans. It turns out they created the created the program and are happy to do for free all the computer stuff, including having a separate Brythonic Section. All they need are two or three images, a welcome page about the deity, a longer page explaining more about the deity, any links to devotional writing or art and a page about what offerings and rituals and holy days are associated with the deity. The candle page has three options: praise, gratitude and requests, which is where the offering information is helpful, because the first part where you make your request and the second is what you swear to do. Devotional polytheism is moving in a direction of community service as offerings, so the offerings, rituals, sacred objects and colors, holidays section has a list of actions or organizations along with tradition offerings.
(For the King of Annwn “very deep” or “underworld” I’d include not using crystals or in other ways supporting the mining industry, Peak Oil, underground aquifers, animals who live in burrows or caves, and when we include the psychopomp role green burials, Hospice, cleaning up graveyards, and getting pagan human bones out of University basements (the native Americans have done great work in this area and there are Gaelic reconstructionists who, with the destruction of the Hill of Tara for a motorway, striving to get the pagan dead buried, like how the Christian dead there were reburied by a Catholic Priest in a catholic cemetery), and with his hounds Greyhound rescue, etc. I’m sure you can think of much more.)
I only posted to add more information about the online shrines when Lorna mentioned them to you. I didn’t do the new member introduction because I was called to something for Gwyn ap Nudd about the fatal Wild Hunt. A place where anyone, Wiccan, any of the widely differing Druids, Celtic recons, eclectic Neopagans, etc, could feel safe communing somewhere after being yelled at by their boss or getting good news or having an experience with this deity they wanted to share (it’s anonymous). Reading 300 people’s brief candles is quite moving, a living testimony that we are not alone in our relationships with our Gods. The interactive part reminds me how many others are in a two way relationship with a deity, which isn’t something you can talk about freely in most places, including with many polytheists who don’t believe that the Gods and Goddesses interact like that with humans. Prayer is sane, getting a response is crazy (or a blessing, as spirit workers and mystics counter).
Lee said he couldn’t build it and he only found one that wasn’t a dead end. Some called online candles tacky. Meanwhile Lorna had been mentioning how hard it was getting any Brythonic polytheist movement going. I looked the Brython website for the first time, since I had only posted to help explain the shrines, and saw it wasn’t a place to host it anyway. The last posts were by Lorna in 2014, so the group momentum was gone. The few core members are very busy scholars and poets, judging by the topics in the discussion section. The fact no one showed interest in the shrines was the biggest clue.
I only posted to explain that there are far many shrines than Lee found, why it wasn’t tacky to many people, and comparing what the group calls the online version gathering of bards was to me a literary magazine, to show how differently people see online versions of things, although I wouldn’t say it’s tacky. Also knowing many people who hate public writing, a website of people studying writing would be very intimidating for others. (I asked two people I know who are very uncomfortable with language arts if they would feel safe posting on the Brython website if it had a shrine and both said it was intimidating.)
I have a lot of respect for the scholarly side of polytheism – I spent years constantly reading for Celtic Reconstructionism, which has a very long and hard to find reading list. Aside from one book I read them all. Due to being ink intolerant I had to donate all my books to pagan prison ministries and most of those great books are not e-books. I did the ADF Druidry Dedicant program twice of my own choice because I wanted to see how I saw things a few years later and was a member of the Welsh online group, as that was where my spiritual practice led me. When I finally accepted the fact I am Germanic and Freyja who had been there since I was at least 9 or 10, I resumed the Norse “Lore” studies I started when 12 and then when 17 but because of the idea that Asatru is racist, the strong Irish-American hatred for the English (who funded the IRA?) and the lack of anything Germanic because when Gardner and other in England were creating Wicca, Hitler put all occultists into concentration camps, said very rude things about the heathens and their Gods in the old days and was supported by the Catholic church, I abandoned.
If it wasn’t for the years and years of “religion with homework” (I still buy dissertations to read), I couldn’t have been ready for the next step – devotional polytheism. No longer was much more to learn from books, the deities and ancestors were speaking. I still read when new things come out like the DNA evidence that says there was no Celtic invasion, theories that Celtic language started in Ireland and Britain, that the continental division of Celtoi and Germania is Roman and that the two were more one big culture, the archeological evidence of the Saami people living and interacting with Germanic people all over Scandinavia which validates the UPG of so many that the Norse ways have connection to shamanism in ways that other Indo-European religions don’t, etc. Sinead Davies version of the Mabinogi I bought because it fit so much better as a book to read aloud, as the way the stories were.
So I value scholarly research a lot and am very grateful for those who do it, including members of Brython who are able to go places and actually see if things make sense historically.
However that’s not devotional polytheism. It’s not lesser, but it’s not devotional polytheism. And there isn’t anything on the website about devotional experiences. It’s writers and scholars discussing Brython. Which is a necessary but tiny percentage of Neopagans. The Priest caste has always intimidated the common people and there is an elite power that Priests have in Indo-European culture. As the priests and bards served the Kings from the Warrior caste, there is usually a tension between the ruling elites (Warriors and Priests, priests being the intelligentsia) and those on whom they depend for food. As a sacrifice for the Vanir, the Gods and Goddesses of the land and sea. the common people, the producers, sworn to have nothing to do with the Aesir, the culture Gods and Goddesses of Priests and Warriors and Politicians, I have to be aware of that all the time because I am naturally intelligentsia. I grew up immersed in academia and like everyone on my father’s side aside from my father my IQ is as high as Einstein’s and I have the neurodiversity issues that go with it, although not the autism spectrum stuff the men get n my family. My father’s extreme dyslexia may have hampered him compared to his brothers but he did get his PhD at an Ivy League University in medieval art history and I grew up on so many campuses as he taught or had grants for the summer, I came to realize the Ivy Tower was a scam. I graded students’ papers when I was 10, I heard what professors thought really about their students, I saw the affairs and snobby superiority issues – and dropped out of school at age 15.
The Vanir make me have to stay aware of when things might intimidate those who have different intelligences. I have very low kinetic intelligence and my mother has very high kinetic intelligence. I joke my main skill is taking tests. As a teacher for homeless preschoolers I worked hard to get all intelligences involved with what we studied because as a child I knew it wasn’t fair for me to get straight As without any trying and others to struggle and fail. I knew my best friend whom I never got to see due to the way they separated the class into smarter and less smart groups with the third group of special ed was very smart. It turned out I have cerebral palsy and ADHD, if they had known that then I wonder what they would have done with me?
So from having always been in the intellectual elite, I now have a role from the Vanir to make sure community is inclusive and I know personally that when people are really into something and good at it, like fixing cars, other people can’t join in the community, they have nothing to say, they don’t understand it. Gearhead friends make me feel like an idiot. They don’t mean to. (My Dad was a gearhead. His great grandfather was one of the first employees at Ford, it’s part of the Asperger’s gift I think.) I know how lost in my own little world I can get when excited about music (I was a rock journalist) with other music geeks discussing producers and studios and blah blah. It excludes many people.
Brython looks to a new comer something that. There’s really deep complicated conversations about specific things, and nowhere for a newcomer to learn the basics.
Because I do want Brythonic polytheism to survive I did post some of the obstacles, one being the website. It wasn’t meant to hurt anyone. It came from a spirit of hoping that by understanding some of the barriers Brythonic polytheism faces, Brythonic polytheists who want their religion to spread to others can look at solutions. But I am owned by the Vanir. And I have to focus on my not dying project fulltime.
I am however an ally. Church of Asphodel has a lot of Northern Tradition shrines because people built them. As someone there told me, anyone can get off their ass and send in the materials and have a shrine, but most people complain about how things should be and don’t do anything. All the active church members in that work are disabled and will do the work and as someone in the disabled community, I am always surprised by how little able bodied people do, as they fixate of What They Want and don’t work with What It Is, something being disabled takes away from you. Activists burn out most of all fixating on How It Should Be and not accepting How It Is and THEN taking action. (I did it myself when younger. It’s a good way to kill yourself.) There is a big divide in how the differently abled and chronically ill community thinks and what we value than the temporarily able bodied community who rarely think of how to include us in their rituals, studies and activities.
I don’t see any commitment at Brython to even Brython’s website. To an outsider it looks dead and deserted but it means a lot to Lorna so I care because she’s a good person. If there are people who do want to be actively working to have Brythonic Polytheism something others can join I have given these suggestions to Lorna. Journalism is a lot about public relations. You have the sell the story to the editor and make the readers care. I could write three very different articles about one event and sell them all, because I knew how to write for different demographics.
The key is reaching a much larger audience. The United States, Canada and Australia are nig target audiences for reasons you probably cannot directly understand. We are very rootless people. Families are scattered across thousands of miles. There’s nothing around us about our heritage, especially with a melting pot which you know is you ever melted a lot of crayons at once makes an ugly noncolor. Canada has a mosaic model, with every ethnicity getting to shine as part of the whole. Having lived in both nations, Canada works best as far as racial and ethnic tensions go. In the US people become suspicious of ‘special interest groups’ and yell racism at everyone else in order to make sure no one gets to enjoy their heritage. But there a lot Americans who from England and Anglo-American is not a term anyone says. WASP maybe. Which is so bland you wish you were anything else.
The Irish have been mythical mystical creatures for a while, not sure when that happened since they were hated like most Catholic immigrants were. The Highland Scots became cool do to Braveheart and calendars of men in kilts. For both the evil enemy is the English. The famine which caused so many Irish-Americans to end up Irish-Americans is not forgotten. Lord of the Rings however gave a boost for Anglo-Saxon polytheism. WASPs can have mysticism? Really? Wales of the all the Celtic nations is doing a decent language and culture revival which seems to need no help from anyone, but it’s not polytheist. The only thriving Celtic land is Nova Scotia where the language thrives in remote obscurity, but no one talks about Nova Scotia Reconstructionism, but give it time, LOL! The Thor movies actually are giving a boost to both Thor and Loki devotions! So you’ve got no pop culture to root the idea in the people’s imagination. Biggest obstacle as sad as that sounds.
Solutions:
“What the hell is Brython?” “There weren’t Celts in England, they all lived in Wales and Scotland because of the Romans building walls.” “What is the Old North?” “I want to follow my ancestors’ ways. If I’m English doesn’t that mean I’m Anglo-Saxon and have no relations with the Britons?” “What’s Rome got to do with it?” “Wait, some people moved to Brittany?” Very few people outside of England know England’s history. At least very few Americans. Talking down to us is okay. Don’t treat us as stupid, but we are genuinely ignorant and have no idea what you’re saying. Keep it simple. We want to know and are enthusiastic learners. Our educational system is dreadful and being an isolationist nation we only know what relates to us. Our media isn’t international. Assume we know nothing. In fact a FAQ about this stuff would be very helpful way to format it so people can go to their question as many times as needed when reading something else. I’m still not certain what the boundaries of the Old North are.
Other obstacles and Solutions:
“I can’t pronounce or remember or how to spell the names! I sound stupid!” Yes, it’s a big one. I have no skills for language although my uncle speaks 37. It makes me embarrassed all the time with Brythonic discussions. I have known people to shy away from paganism where they language is intimidating. Having an online “this is what this name or place sounds like” section sure does take fear away. People like me can practice. I bookmarked a “common Welsh phrases” pronunciation guide so I didn’t offend Brythonic ancestors by saying Wassail or Hail. You have auditory learners. An MP3 on the website of the key names and places and tribes really would help.
Auditory learners love podcasts. Bards performed their works and the ancient tales. Have downloads of someone reading (slowly and in an accent that doesn’t daunt Americans) an important poem in a way that captivates. Someone can explain what the Triads are. I learn by doing and like most writers by reading. Sometimes writers forget others aren’t big readers. Are there any traditional songs about a pagan practice or the Brythonic heroes? If they are in Welsh or Breton, could the translation of the lyrics be posted? Audacity is free recording software and so easy I figured it out. The humor or pain in stories or poems often is best conveyed when listening, or better yet watching and listening.
Videos of people performing the poetry. Anyone like dressing up in period costumes? Anyone have puppets? Two people want to act of the dialogue part of Olwen’s father and Culhwch with the refrain? Anyone do any form of animation or has pictures to do with different parts of the story they are telling? Again this was the work of the bards. It’s how I blog using a tablet and a free app. The focus is on making it accessible and even entertaining to a wide variety of learners.
Visuals: Maps of Briton with the different changing borders and names of tribes or kingdoms. Visual learners love that. Children’s books with maps in the front? Love them. (100 Acre Woods seemed so much more real.) A friend wrote a song about loving maps. Include Gaul and Armorica since they figure so prominently.
Explain the Celtic Christian Church and when it started.
Help people from going down what one historian has called the worst waste of British historians’ time: King Arthur. Explain that the Grail Mysteries are about Medieval Christian Chivalry and while valid for some people, they have nothing to do with what a 2nd century Brythonic polytheist would understand. I’m not kidding, Arthur gets in the way.
Explain why Arthur does appear in the tales. Explain the propaganda of the writing at the time it was wrote. Explain the French court influence and the popular at the time motifs like the Calamutive Wife with Rhiannon and Branwen or the 6 Allies in The Spoils of Annwn and Culhwch and Olwen.
Explain how we have names and why we think they are Gods and Goddesses. Example: Rhiannon’s name means Great Queen and is close to that of Rigantino (spelled so wrong) of the Brigantes (spelled so wrong) tribe. The Sovereignty Goddesses for Indo-Europeans tend to be mare Goddess who chose the King. Rhiannon means Great Queen, horses feature in her store and she marries two men who could be Kings and rejects her original suitor. (Mannadwn – spelled wrong I am sure – had the right to be King when Bran died but turned it down for reasons unknown.)
Biggest Solution?
Write a book of the deities of Brythonic polytheism and self publish at Lulu for print version and e-book at Amazon for $4. Have what I mentioned above: what we know and what we guess and why we guess it. List where they appear in the Lore for further reading, even if it just their name. Mention any shrines, connections with places like cities or rivers, what tribes or areas honored them, any deities they seem to be “cousins” of like Manannon Mac Lyr and Mannadwyn have a connection to the Manx, etc. Then have a few people’s devotional personal experiences. I can share mine and Rhiannon and rape recovery – as a Sovereignty Goddess who chooses her mate she was very enraged about rape in general and helped me 8 years ago. Readers can see a wide variety of personal relationships, not one person’s - my criticism of Kristof Hughes book is that he decided for the readers what the deities have to teach when that’s his personal experience or option and I feel should have been stated as such so new comers would know Rhiannon isn’t about grief for everyone. Include foods, dates, folk songs, folk practices, symbols (for shrines), etc associated with the deity, along with any modern ceremonies or practices people have been doing that the deity seems to like so people can an idea of how to start honoring the deity. Deities that are not in the writing like Nodens are important and often overlooked!
That honestly is what I think is the most important thing. It is manageable so people don’t get discouraged (groups burn out when a project is too grandiose) and you already have the knowledge and a big group of writers! The e-books are bought eagerly. Or publish it on line like the CR FAQ book now is. (Celtic Reconstructionism). The key to polytheism is the Gods and Goddesses. Start there and it’s the most likely topic to attract people who want to worship the Brythonic deities but don’t know who they are or got confused by the Mabinogi or Merlin being King Arthur’s advisor. Yes, include Merlin and other ancestors of spirit. Pwyll was human and made a lot of mistakes with deities but how be dealt with them teaches us a lot.
Then get the reviews! Not just from small Brythonic friend’s blogs, but the hubs: Whatever Blessed Bee Publishing is doing these days (They published Sage Woman in which I was published, Pangaia, New Witch and Witches and Pagans, but now I hear have a ton of Neopagan writers working for free on a website or maybe a few? (I have a friend or two connected to that); there’s a hub of all religions that many Neopagans of all kinds blog from (a friend is connected with that); Erynn Rowan Laurie is really lovely, she’s an original Celtic Reconstructionist and her book on the ogham is my favorite and she’s all about imbas and being a bard and has a big facebook following and sometimes does work at ADF festivals, she’s very approachable and wonderful to strangers; there’s the devotional polytheism big writers Galina Krasskova and Raven Kaldera whom I know, they may be able to help; Kristof Hughes (Would he write the introduction? Then under authors his name would be second and come up in searches people do for his books and also Amazon would recommend it to people who have bought his books, the only other Brythonic books of which I am aware); Emma Restall Orr, Rev Skip of ADF Druidry, John Michael Greer (his “A World Full of Gods” is an excellent book for the philosophical argument in favor for polytheism which finally puts polytheism into the academic discourse) or others big in the Druid scene who might mention it on their websites?
Write an article about Brythonic polytheism for WitchVox. When I wrote the article on Bioregional Animism as a new tradition for WitchVox, in a week it had 14,000 readers. I was flooded by email about how to do more and took the article done because I was so sick and overwhelmed. Everything I had published there (they choose 3 articles a week I think?) had over 10,000 reads in 1 week and one ended up being discussed in the Neopagan news forum The Wild Hunt and I still find groups discussing it online. You have the power of writing!
It’s not unheard of for self published booklets to become books published by companies if they do well and there’s more information to be added. Self publishing appears to be very easy. If the group was not so focused on writing this may be daunting but as writers Brython could be the perfect group for doing the outreach.
I said I’d help with anything I can.
In closing I didn’t mean to offend anyone and I am sorry if there was the mistaken opinion I was joining Brython. When I saw the shrine wasn’t going to be there, I moved on, as the shrine was my only focus. It never occurred to me that anyone would think I would be continuing. Lee cannot do an interactive shrine. That’s nothing personal against him, there’s just one person I know who can I learned. The very inactive group was on the fence at best. I had no idea anyone would think more about me. It certainly wasn’t my intention to offend anyone. I don’t see any signs of devotional polytheism at Brython so I don’t have any reason to think anyone involved is a devotional polytheist just like I see no signs of anyone being a cosmonaut or dancer.
That’s just an outside observer’s perspective which often people who have been in a small group for a long time don’t see. I thought it was a dead group with the only recent posts being 2014 by Lorna and the encyclopedia being abandoned and so many links going to dead ends. The momentum seems to be Lorna. It’s not a criticism of the members – people move on, have personal issues that take energy, after the initial giddy rush people leave when they see it’s work, a core group forms and has lots of history which forms unspoken hierarchies, rules, groupthink, etc – that’s what every group does. Groups have a life cycle. The Brython group looks dead to a new comer like me. It’s one reason I wouldn’t put a shrine there and it’s another reason why I wouldn’t have be the base for Brythonic polytheism – it looks uninviting because it’s abandoned. People want to join things that offer things, not join things that need things, so they can get their feet wet and be involved a little to see if it’s right for them. If there’s nothing happening they can’t tell if the group is a good match to join.
Considering how sick I am I wouldn’t have put so much thought and energy into ways to help Brythonic polytheism if I didn’t believe in its importance. As vows are sacred in my faith, I wouldn’t offer to be an ally if I didn’t think it was worthy of what little energy and time I have. Lorna really wants Brythonic polytheism to thrive and be centered at Brython. As someone who respects and likes her, this is my contribution to help make that happen. I am not saying do everything. I am saying take down unfinished things until they are finished like the encyclopedia, have someone commit to check the links every 4 months (it’s a bitch but I do it for my medical website because I hate dead links, like Lee mentioned about the online shrines he found), at least clean it up a bit so it looks less abandoned is my first suggestion. And then find some projects people want to do and will commit to doing and maybe make it a devotional offering to the Brythonic Deities so it has to be completed. Start small or people will be discouraged. Just some signs of life at the website before telling anyone about it I think is essential. Keep in mind that you’re seeking worshippers, not writers and scholars necessarily. The more well rounded the group, the less dead ends, the more creative influx.
I wonder if you’re thinking “Who asked you?” Lorna did. How can we get more Americans? How can I get Brythonic polytheism active – but based out of Brython? Part of what my second post was about was answering those questions. But maybe none of you aside from Lorna have those questions. When a group starts doing “yes, but” (I don’t know if you are) the members have already left. Obviously something needs to change for the Brython website to appeal to more people – including the members. If the group isn’t passionate like Lorna is about doing outreach, I suggest you all make that known to each other and in the welcome statement. Change the welcome to reflect what Brython has become, what the few members really do and discuss so you can attract the right people, other scholars and writers. Maybe the definition of the group written in the past doesn’t describe what the members currently are doing or want the group to be, and if “marketed” correctly, you could attract more people for whatever is the group’s real passion and narrow the focus.
All of this is just suggestion based on what I hear Lorna saying she wants Brython to be, so I felt I may as well tell Brython what I honestly think the way I have told her. I support Brythonic polytheism, but I go where the energy is. I hope this is in some way helpful for the group to find a new focus and enthusiasm even if might sting or decide to formally end so Brythonic Polytheism has energy. And I don’t know any of you so of course I don’t have any personal opinions of anyone of you. My opinions are based on the contents of the website only. I’d be shocked if anyone thought there was some sort of bad blood between us, especially a group that says debate twice in its welcome statement. But I know I’m not a member and I don’t have the health to be a member or continue the debate, that’s true. It’s a gift from me but I don’t have any expectations because the group didn’t ask for it. It’s just the only way to clear up my second post which I guess upset people because I didn’t return to the discussion. So there’s no hard feelings, all this was to explain why I said what I said and why I don’t post.
In solidarity with you as polytheists even though I have a different opinion about the website than maybe you do, such a small detail in who we are as PEOPLE and would never color my judgements of anyone involved, I wish you all, each person, the very best and hope Lee gets help! Being the only editor must be very hard, even if it were a fulltime paid position. If there’s anything I can do to help in the future Lorna knows how to reach me. Otherwise I have to focus on this blood transfusion idea, that my doctor was 6 months late in sending in my files so I may have lost all my disability income (all my income), try three new medications and wait for the results of my Lupus test while serving Freyja and my husband Simbi. That’s why I am not in online social networking – everything is so life and death here, I don’t have to time to put into anything that isn’t very important. That’s a huge compliment to you.
Since Lorna is obviously called to be a Priestess of Gwyn ap Nudd I thought she would be the right person with whom to do the devotional shrine I felt He wanted. I didn’t know of Brython. She said she’d check there to see if they could do. I checked with the nondenominational Neopagan Church of Asphodel, as they have over 50 shrines built and also publish many polytheist devotional books by all sorts of pagans. It turns out they created the created the program and are happy to do for free all the computer stuff, including having a separate Brythonic Section. All they need are two or three images, a welcome page about the deity, a longer page explaining more about the deity, any links to devotional writing or art and a page about what offerings and rituals and holy days are associated with the deity. The candle page has three options: praise, gratitude and requests, which is where the offering information is helpful, because the first part where you make your request and the second is what you swear to do. Devotional polytheism is moving in a direction of community service as offerings, so the offerings, rituals, sacred objects and colors, holidays section has a list of actions or organizations along with tradition offerings.
(For the King of Annwn “very deep” or “underworld” I’d include not using crystals or in other ways supporting the mining industry, Peak Oil, underground aquifers, animals who live in burrows or caves, and when we include the psychopomp role green burials, Hospice, cleaning up graveyards, and getting pagan human bones out of University basements (the native Americans have done great work in this area and there are Gaelic reconstructionists who, with the destruction of the Hill of Tara for a motorway, striving to get the pagan dead buried, like how the Christian dead there were reburied by a Catholic Priest in a catholic cemetery), and with his hounds Greyhound rescue, etc. I’m sure you can think of much more.)
I only posted to add more information about the online shrines when Lorna mentioned them to you. I didn’t do the new member introduction because I was called to something for Gwyn ap Nudd about the fatal Wild Hunt. A place where anyone, Wiccan, any of the widely differing Druids, Celtic recons, eclectic Neopagans, etc, could feel safe communing somewhere after being yelled at by their boss or getting good news or having an experience with this deity they wanted to share (it’s anonymous). Reading 300 people’s brief candles is quite moving, a living testimony that we are not alone in our relationships with our Gods. The interactive part reminds me how many others are in a two way relationship with a deity, which isn’t something you can talk about freely in most places, including with many polytheists who don’t believe that the Gods and Goddesses interact like that with humans. Prayer is sane, getting a response is crazy (or a blessing, as spirit workers and mystics counter).
Lee said he couldn’t build it and he only found one that wasn’t a dead end. Some called online candles tacky. Meanwhile Lorna had been mentioning how hard it was getting any Brythonic polytheist movement going. I looked the Brython website for the first time, since I had only posted to help explain the shrines, and saw it wasn’t a place to host it anyway. The last posts were by Lorna in 2014, so the group momentum was gone. The few core members are very busy scholars and poets, judging by the topics in the discussion section. The fact no one showed interest in the shrines was the biggest clue.
I only posted to explain that there are far many shrines than Lee found, why it wasn’t tacky to many people, and comparing what the group calls the online version gathering of bards was to me a literary magazine, to show how differently people see online versions of things, although I wouldn’t say it’s tacky. Also knowing many people who hate public writing, a website of people studying writing would be very intimidating for others. (I asked two people I know who are very uncomfortable with language arts if they would feel safe posting on the Brython website if it had a shrine and both said it was intimidating.)
I have a lot of respect for the scholarly side of polytheism – I spent years constantly reading for Celtic Reconstructionism, which has a very long and hard to find reading list. Aside from one book I read them all. Due to being ink intolerant I had to donate all my books to pagan prison ministries and most of those great books are not e-books. I did the ADF Druidry Dedicant program twice of my own choice because I wanted to see how I saw things a few years later and was a member of the Welsh online group, as that was where my spiritual practice led me. When I finally accepted the fact I am Germanic and Freyja who had been there since I was at least 9 or 10, I resumed the Norse “Lore” studies I started when 12 and then when 17 but because of the idea that Asatru is racist, the strong Irish-American hatred for the English (who funded the IRA?) and the lack of anything Germanic because when Gardner and other in England were creating Wicca, Hitler put all occultists into concentration camps, said very rude things about the heathens and their Gods in the old days and was supported by the Catholic church, I abandoned.
If it wasn’t for the years and years of “religion with homework” (I still buy dissertations to read), I couldn’t have been ready for the next step – devotional polytheism. No longer was much more to learn from books, the deities and ancestors were speaking. I still read when new things come out like the DNA evidence that says there was no Celtic invasion, theories that Celtic language started in Ireland and Britain, that the continental division of Celtoi and Germania is Roman and that the two were more one big culture, the archeological evidence of the Saami people living and interacting with Germanic people all over Scandinavia which validates the UPG of so many that the Norse ways have connection to shamanism in ways that other Indo-European religions don’t, etc. Sinead Davies version of the Mabinogi I bought because it fit so much better as a book to read aloud, as the way the stories were.
So I value scholarly research a lot and am very grateful for those who do it, including members of Brython who are able to go places and actually see if things make sense historically.
However that’s not devotional polytheism. It’s not lesser, but it’s not devotional polytheism. And there isn’t anything on the website about devotional experiences. It’s writers and scholars discussing Brython. Which is a necessary but tiny percentage of Neopagans. The Priest caste has always intimidated the common people and there is an elite power that Priests have in Indo-European culture. As the priests and bards served the Kings from the Warrior caste, there is usually a tension between the ruling elites (Warriors and Priests, priests being the intelligentsia) and those on whom they depend for food. As a sacrifice for the Vanir, the Gods and Goddesses of the land and sea. the common people, the producers, sworn to have nothing to do with the Aesir, the culture Gods and Goddesses of Priests and Warriors and Politicians, I have to be aware of that all the time because I am naturally intelligentsia. I grew up immersed in academia and like everyone on my father’s side aside from my father my IQ is as high as Einstein’s and I have the neurodiversity issues that go with it, although not the autism spectrum stuff the men get n my family. My father’s extreme dyslexia may have hampered him compared to his brothers but he did get his PhD at an Ivy League University in medieval art history and I grew up on so many campuses as he taught or had grants for the summer, I came to realize the Ivy Tower was a scam. I graded students’ papers when I was 10, I heard what professors thought really about their students, I saw the affairs and snobby superiority issues – and dropped out of school at age 15.
The Vanir make me have to stay aware of when things might intimidate those who have different intelligences. I have very low kinetic intelligence and my mother has very high kinetic intelligence. I joke my main skill is taking tests. As a teacher for homeless preschoolers I worked hard to get all intelligences involved with what we studied because as a child I knew it wasn’t fair for me to get straight As without any trying and others to struggle and fail. I knew my best friend whom I never got to see due to the way they separated the class into smarter and less smart groups with the third group of special ed was very smart. It turned out I have cerebral palsy and ADHD, if they had known that then I wonder what they would have done with me?
So from having always been in the intellectual elite, I now have a role from the Vanir to make sure community is inclusive and I know personally that when people are really into something and good at it, like fixing cars, other people can’t join in the community, they have nothing to say, they don’t understand it. Gearhead friends make me feel like an idiot. They don’t mean to. (My Dad was a gearhead. His great grandfather was one of the first employees at Ford, it’s part of the Asperger’s gift I think.) I know how lost in my own little world I can get when excited about music (I was a rock journalist) with other music geeks discussing producers and studios and blah blah. It excludes many people.
Brython looks to a new comer something that. There’s really deep complicated conversations about specific things, and nowhere for a newcomer to learn the basics.
Because I do want Brythonic polytheism to survive I did post some of the obstacles, one being the website. It wasn’t meant to hurt anyone. It came from a spirit of hoping that by understanding some of the barriers Brythonic polytheism faces, Brythonic polytheists who want their religion to spread to others can look at solutions. But I am owned by the Vanir. And I have to focus on my not dying project fulltime.
I am however an ally. Church of Asphodel has a lot of Northern Tradition shrines because people built them. As someone there told me, anyone can get off their ass and send in the materials and have a shrine, but most people complain about how things should be and don’t do anything. All the active church members in that work are disabled and will do the work and as someone in the disabled community, I am always surprised by how little able bodied people do, as they fixate of What They Want and don’t work with What It Is, something being disabled takes away from you. Activists burn out most of all fixating on How It Should Be and not accepting How It Is and THEN taking action. (I did it myself when younger. It’s a good way to kill yourself.) There is a big divide in how the differently abled and chronically ill community thinks and what we value than the temporarily able bodied community who rarely think of how to include us in their rituals, studies and activities.
I don’t see any commitment at Brython to even Brython’s website. To an outsider it looks dead and deserted but it means a lot to Lorna so I care because she’s a good person. If there are people who do want to be actively working to have Brythonic Polytheism something others can join I have given these suggestions to Lorna. Journalism is a lot about public relations. You have the sell the story to the editor and make the readers care. I could write three very different articles about one event and sell them all, because I knew how to write for different demographics.
The key is reaching a much larger audience. The United States, Canada and Australia are nig target audiences for reasons you probably cannot directly understand. We are very rootless people. Families are scattered across thousands of miles. There’s nothing around us about our heritage, especially with a melting pot which you know is you ever melted a lot of crayons at once makes an ugly noncolor. Canada has a mosaic model, with every ethnicity getting to shine as part of the whole. Having lived in both nations, Canada works best as far as racial and ethnic tensions go. In the US people become suspicious of ‘special interest groups’ and yell racism at everyone else in order to make sure no one gets to enjoy their heritage. But there a lot Americans who from England and Anglo-American is not a term anyone says. WASP maybe. Which is so bland you wish you were anything else.
The Irish have been mythical mystical creatures for a while, not sure when that happened since they were hated like most Catholic immigrants were. The Highland Scots became cool do to Braveheart and calendars of men in kilts. For both the evil enemy is the English. The famine which caused so many Irish-Americans to end up Irish-Americans is not forgotten. Lord of the Rings however gave a boost for Anglo-Saxon polytheism. WASPs can have mysticism? Really? Wales of the all the Celtic nations is doing a decent language and culture revival which seems to need no help from anyone, but it’s not polytheist. The only thriving Celtic land is Nova Scotia where the language thrives in remote obscurity, but no one talks about Nova Scotia Reconstructionism, but give it time, LOL! The Thor movies actually are giving a boost to both Thor and Loki devotions! So you’ve got no pop culture to root the idea in the people’s imagination. Biggest obstacle as sad as that sounds.
Solutions:
“What the hell is Brython?” “There weren’t Celts in England, they all lived in Wales and Scotland because of the Romans building walls.” “What is the Old North?” “I want to follow my ancestors’ ways. If I’m English doesn’t that mean I’m Anglo-Saxon and have no relations with the Britons?” “What’s Rome got to do with it?” “Wait, some people moved to Brittany?” Very few people outside of England know England’s history. At least very few Americans. Talking down to us is okay. Don’t treat us as stupid, but we are genuinely ignorant and have no idea what you’re saying. Keep it simple. We want to know and are enthusiastic learners. Our educational system is dreadful and being an isolationist nation we only know what relates to us. Our media isn’t international. Assume we know nothing. In fact a FAQ about this stuff would be very helpful way to format it so people can go to their question as many times as needed when reading something else. I’m still not certain what the boundaries of the Old North are.
Other obstacles and Solutions:
“I can’t pronounce or remember or how to spell the names! I sound stupid!” Yes, it’s a big one. I have no skills for language although my uncle speaks 37. It makes me embarrassed all the time with Brythonic discussions. I have known people to shy away from paganism where they language is intimidating. Having an online “this is what this name or place sounds like” section sure does take fear away. People like me can practice. I bookmarked a “common Welsh phrases” pronunciation guide so I didn’t offend Brythonic ancestors by saying Wassail or Hail. You have auditory learners. An MP3 on the website of the key names and places and tribes really would help.
Auditory learners love podcasts. Bards performed their works and the ancient tales. Have downloads of someone reading (slowly and in an accent that doesn’t daunt Americans) an important poem in a way that captivates. Someone can explain what the Triads are. I learn by doing and like most writers by reading. Sometimes writers forget others aren’t big readers. Are there any traditional songs about a pagan practice or the Brythonic heroes? If they are in Welsh or Breton, could the translation of the lyrics be posted? Audacity is free recording software and so easy I figured it out. The humor or pain in stories or poems often is best conveyed when listening, or better yet watching and listening.
Videos of people performing the poetry. Anyone like dressing up in period costumes? Anyone have puppets? Two people want to act of the dialogue part of Olwen’s father and Culhwch with the refrain? Anyone do any form of animation or has pictures to do with different parts of the story they are telling? Again this was the work of the bards. It’s how I blog using a tablet and a free app. The focus is on making it accessible and even entertaining to a wide variety of learners.
Visuals: Maps of Briton with the different changing borders and names of tribes or kingdoms. Visual learners love that. Children’s books with maps in the front? Love them. (100 Acre Woods seemed so much more real.) A friend wrote a song about loving maps. Include Gaul and Armorica since they figure so prominently.
Explain the Celtic Christian Church and when it started.
Help people from going down what one historian has called the worst waste of British historians’ time: King Arthur. Explain that the Grail Mysteries are about Medieval Christian Chivalry and while valid for some people, they have nothing to do with what a 2nd century Brythonic polytheist would understand. I’m not kidding, Arthur gets in the way.
Explain why Arthur does appear in the tales. Explain the propaganda of the writing at the time it was wrote. Explain the French court influence and the popular at the time motifs like the Calamutive Wife with Rhiannon and Branwen or the 6 Allies in The Spoils of Annwn and Culhwch and Olwen.
Explain how we have names and why we think they are Gods and Goddesses. Example: Rhiannon’s name means Great Queen and is close to that of Rigantino (spelled so wrong) of the Brigantes (spelled so wrong) tribe. The Sovereignty Goddesses for Indo-Europeans tend to be mare Goddess who chose the King. Rhiannon means Great Queen, horses feature in her store and she marries two men who could be Kings and rejects her original suitor. (Mannadwn – spelled wrong I am sure – had the right to be King when Bran died but turned it down for reasons unknown.)
Biggest Solution?
Write a book of the deities of Brythonic polytheism and self publish at Lulu for print version and e-book at Amazon for $4. Have what I mentioned above: what we know and what we guess and why we guess it. List where they appear in the Lore for further reading, even if it just their name. Mention any shrines, connections with places like cities or rivers, what tribes or areas honored them, any deities they seem to be “cousins” of like Manannon Mac Lyr and Mannadwyn have a connection to the Manx, etc. Then have a few people’s devotional personal experiences. I can share mine and Rhiannon and rape recovery – as a Sovereignty Goddess who chooses her mate she was very enraged about rape in general and helped me 8 years ago. Readers can see a wide variety of personal relationships, not one person’s - my criticism of Kristof Hughes book is that he decided for the readers what the deities have to teach when that’s his personal experience or option and I feel should have been stated as such so new comers would know Rhiannon isn’t about grief for everyone. Include foods, dates, folk songs, folk practices, symbols (for shrines), etc associated with the deity, along with any modern ceremonies or practices people have been doing that the deity seems to like so people can an idea of how to start honoring the deity. Deities that are not in the writing like Nodens are important and often overlooked!
That honestly is what I think is the most important thing. It is manageable so people don’t get discouraged (groups burn out when a project is too grandiose) and you already have the knowledge and a big group of writers! The e-books are bought eagerly. Or publish it on line like the CR FAQ book now is. (Celtic Reconstructionism). The key to polytheism is the Gods and Goddesses. Start there and it’s the most likely topic to attract people who want to worship the Brythonic deities but don’t know who they are or got confused by the Mabinogi or Merlin being King Arthur’s advisor. Yes, include Merlin and other ancestors of spirit. Pwyll was human and made a lot of mistakes with deities but how be dealt with them teaches us a lot.
Then get the reviews! Not just from small Brythonic friend’s blogs, but the hubs: Whatever Blessed Bee Publishing is doing these days (They published Sage Woman in which I was published, Pangaia, New Witch and Witches and Pagans, but now I hear have a ton of Neopagan writers working for free on a website or maybe a few? (I have a friend or two connected to that); there’s a hub of all religions that many Neopagans of all kinds blog from (a friend is connected with that); Erynn Rowan Laurie is really lovely, she’s an original Celtic Reconstructionist and her book on the ogham is my favorite and she’s all about imbas and being a bard and has a big facebook following and sometimes does work at ADF festivals, she’s very approachable and wonderful to strangers; there’s the devotional polytheism big writers Galina Krasskova and Raven Kaldera whom I know, they may be able to help; Kristof Hughes (Would he write the introduction? Then under authors his name would be second and come up in searches people do for his books and also Amazon would recommend it to people who have bought his books, the only other Brythonic books of which I am aware); Emma Restall Orr, Rev Skip of ADF Druidry, John Michael Greer (his “A World Full of Gods” is an excellent book for the philosophical argument in favor for polytheism which finally puts polytheism into the academic discourse) or others big in the Druid scene who might mention it on their websites?
Write an article about Brythonic polytheism for WitchVox. When I wrote the article on Bioregional Animism as a new tradition for WitchVox, in a week it had 14,000 readers. I was flooded by email about how to do more and took the article done because I was so sick and overwhelmed. Everything I had published there (they choose 3 articles a week I think?) had over 10,000 reads in 1 week and one ended up being discussed in the Neopagan news forum The Wild Hunt and I still find groups discussing it online. You have the power of writing!
It’s not unheard of for self published booklets to become books published by companies if they do well and there’s more information to be added. Self publishing appears to be very easy. If the group was not so focused on writing this may be daunting but as writers Brython could be the perfect group for doing the outreach.
I said I’d help with anything I can.
In closing I didn’t mean to offend anyone and I am sorry if there was the mistaken opinion I was joining Brython. When I saw the shrine wasn’t going to be there, I moved on, as the shrine was my only focus. It never occurred to me that anyone would think I would be continuing. Lee cannot do an interactive shrine. That’s nothing personal against him, there’s just one person I know who can I learned. The very inactive group was on the fence at best. I had no idea anyone would think more about me. It certainly wasn’t my intention to offend anyone. I don’t see any signs of devotional polytheism at Brython so I don’t have any reason to think anyone involved is a devotional polytheist just like I see no signs of anyone being a cosmonaut or dancer.
That’s just an outside observer’s perspective which often people who have been in a small group for a long time don’t see. I thought it was a dead group with the only recent posts being 2014 by Lorna and the encyclopedia being abandoned and so many links going to dead ends. The momentum seems to be Lorna. It’s not a criticism of the members – people move on, have personal issues that take energy, after the initial giddy rush people leave when they see it’s work, a core group forms and has lots of history which forms unspoken hierarchies, rules, groupthink, etc – that’s what every group does. Groups have a life cycle. The Brython group looks dead to a new comer like me. It’s one reason I wouldn’t put a shrine there and it’s another reason why I wouldn’t have be the base for Brythonic polytheism – it looks uninviting because it’s abandoned. People want to join things that offer things, not join things that need things, so they can get their feet wet and be involved a little to see if it’s right for them. If there’s nothing happening they can’t tell if the group is a good match to join.
Considering how sick I am I wouldn’t have put so much thought and energy into ways to help Brythonic polytheism if I didn’t believe in its importance. As vows are sacred in my faith, I wouldn’t offer to be an ally if I didn’t think it was worthy of what little energy and time I have. Lorna really wants Brythonic polytheism to thrive and be centered at Brython. As someone who respects and likes her, this is my contribution to help make that happen. I am not saying do everything. I am saying take down unfinished things until they are finished like the encyclopedia, have someone commit to check the links every 4 months (it’s a bitch but I do it for my medical website because I hate dead links, like Lee mentioned about the online shrines he found), at least clean it up a bit so it looks less abandoned is my first suggestion. And then find some projects people want to do and will commit to doing and maybe make it a devotional offering to the Brythonic Deities so it has to be completed. Start small or people will be discouraged. Just some signs of life at the website before telling anyone about it I think is essential. Keep in mind that you’re seeking worshippers, not writers and scholars necessarily. The more well rounded the group, the less dead ends, the more creative influx.
I wonder if you’re thinking “Who asked you?” Lorna did. How can we get more Americans? How can I get Brythonic polytheism active – but based out of Brython? Part of what my second post was about was answering those questions. But maybe none of you aside from Lorna have those questions. When a group starts doing “yes, but” (I don’t know if you are) the members have already left. Obviously something needs to change for the Brython website to appeal to more people – including the members. If the group isn’t passionate like Lorna is about doing outreach, I suggest you all make that known to each other and in the welcome statement. Change the welcome to reflect what Brython has become, what the few members really do and discuss so you can attract the right people, other scholars and writers. Maybe the definition of the group written in the past doesn’t describe what the members currently are doing or want the group to be, and if “marketed” correctly, you could attract more people for whatever is the group’s real passion and narrow the focus.
All of this is just suggestion based on what I hear Lorna saying she wants Brython to be, so I felt I may as well tell Brython what I honestly think the way I have told her. I support Brythonic polytheism, but I go where the energy is. I hope this is in some way helpful for the group to find a new focus and enthusiasm even if might sting or decide to formally end so Brythonic Polytheism has energy. And I don’t know any of you so of course I don’t have any personal opinions of anyone of you. My opinions are based on the contents of the website only. I’d be shocked if anyone thought there was some sort of bad blood between us, especially a group that says debate twice in its welcome statement. But I know I’m not a member and I don’t have the health to be a member or continue the debate, that’s true. It’s a gift from me but I don’t have any expectations because the group didn’t ask for it. It’s just the only way to clear up my second post which I guess upset people because I didn’t return to the discussion. So there’s no hard feelings, all this was to explain why I said what I said and why I don’t post.
In solidarity with you as polytheists even though I have a different opinion about the website than maybe you do, such a small detail in who we are as PEOPLE and would never color my judgements of anyone involved, I wish you all, each person, the very best and hope Lee gets help! Being the only editor must be very hard, even if it were a fulltime paid position. If there’s anything I can do to help in the future Lorna knows how to reach me. Otherwise I have to focus on this blood transfusion idea, that my doctor was 6 months late in sending in my files so I may have lost all my disability income (all my income), try three new medications and wait for the results of my Lupus test while serving Freyja and my husband Simbi. That’s why I am not in online social networking – everything is so life and death here, I don’t have to time to put into anything that isn’t very important. That’s a huge compliment to you.
