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The blog
Feb 11, 2016 14:54:41 GMT -1
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Post by Lee on Feb 11, 2016 14:54:41 GMT -1
Having had a play with the blog function, i think it might be better to have a separate wordpress blog. It can ben laid out better and can allow for followers, commenting and notification in a way that surpasses the weebly one. It also means it can have a different name oh and as you all use wordpress anyway you are familiar with the posting etc so can be added as authors. So lets get the ball rolling on this
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Post by Heron on Feb 13, 2016 10:58:36 GMT -1
Having had a play with the blog function, i think it might be better to have a separate wordpress blog. It can ben laid out better and can allow for followers, commenting and notification in a way that surpasses the weebly one. It also means it can have a different name oh and as you all use wordpress anyway you are familiar with the posting etc so can be added as authors. So lets get the ball rolling on this Lee, I agree with what you say about the Weebly blogging facility. I tried using it myself on the Rigantona site and it's a bit clunky apart from the fact that there are, as you say, no links to other blogs and so no followers etc. I replaced the Rigantona blog with the Shrine page as no-one had visited it as far as I could see The advantage of the Weebly blog is, I suppose, that there is less pressure to keep it up to date as it is part of a larger site. With Wordpress it will be just the blog so we would have to update it regularly to keep it current. What would we actually blog about, and should we do it on an assigned rota basis of just let anyone put up a post when they want to say something? One thing that occurred to me is to relate it to the seasonal observances on the Dunbrython site, though we might have to review those as well first to see if we still find that they reflect what we do? We could, then, use the blog to involve others in them.
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Post by lorna on Feb 14, 2016 14:09:43 GMT -1
I'd also agree that wordpress is easy and accessible and we can all use it so would be the best blogging facility.
I think we need to be clear before we begin:
*The aim of the blog *Who is going to contribute and whether they send us their posts as a file or can log in *How often we aim to post
I think the existing seasonal observances and any others we want to add would be a good starting point to base other posts around. I suggest we get these sorted on the Dun Brython site even if the definitions are brief for now and put them on a calendar as a starting point first and work from there.
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Post by Lee on Feb 15, 2016 21:34:24 GMT -1
The advantage of the Weebly blog is, I suppose, that there is less pressure to keep it up to date as it is part of a larger site. With Wordpress it will be just the blog so we would have to update it regularly to keep it current. What would we actually blog about, and should we do it on an assigned rota basis of just let anyone put up a post when they want to say something? One thing that occurred to me is to relate it to the seasonal observances on the Dunbrython site, though we might have to review those as well first to see if we still find that they reflect what we do? We could, then, use the blog to involve others in them. The content is down to us really, on one hand it would be the ideal way to add new content to the site; do it as a blogpost and then after a week or two add it to the main site. I have in mind an essay to go on the page for Nodens/Nudd and perhaps a separate essay for on Gwyn the Koryos etc. We can also use it to get devotional work up too. Yes there is less pressure as part of a bigger site, but the advantage i suppose is that as a wordpress site we can promote it too and there will be followers who will get the updates as they happen and hopefully greater interaction and discussion in comments and the like. I do think though that it should be tied closely to the site somehow. I shall have a look at what is possible and see what can be built. Maybe not have a rota as such, perhaps set slots for future publication; 2 a month say, and get people to assign themselves some and then do the work in the intervening time. Something on-line to manage it all (possibly on here)
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Post by lorna on Feb 17, 2016 8:46:47 GMT -1
@ Lee - I think a post a fortnight is doable and agree we need ties to the site. One of the things I think we need for Brython is a logo, then we can put a clickable widget on the blog.
Festivals - I've taken a quick look and they seem to form more a record of what the Brython group did in the past (rather than the present group's celebrations) and there isn't much historical background given for their origins which I think we need to be clear about. Some festivals are missing dates. We don't currently do the triple toast.
So far we've got...
Eponalia (18th Dec)
Winter Solstice (21st - 25th Dec)
Brigantica (31st Jan - 1st Feb)
Beltane / Calan Mai (Passage to Summer / Blossoming Hawthorn ?31st April - 1st May?)
The Summer Solstice (?21st - 25th June?)
Lugus (1st August)
Nos Galan Gaeaf (?31st October?)
Winter Nights (marking passage to winter - first frosts)
Are we happy with these? A question that occurs to me is- are Brigantica and Lugus historically attested festivals or festivals Brython has made up? If the latter, it's not problematic so long as we're clear about this.
A question about Lugus - did he have a festival or is this based on the Irish festival of Lughnasadh? My understanding of this is that it was dedicated by Lugh to his mother Tailtiu after her death and the games were more based on Lugh. Are we talking about something similar or entirely different? I'd be interested to hear about whether folk think Lugus, Lugh, Lleu are 'the same' as I haven't had any interactions with any of them, although I've got a sense of Lugh and Lleu through their stories.
I notice Calan Mai is coupled with the Irish festival of Beltane. Beltane's kind of complicated as I think it was celebrated in Brythonic speaking places as well as Goidelic.
Do we want to stick to Brythonic names for festivals or couple them with Irish ones - we can't deny there is crossover, but at the same time this is a Brythonic site.
Other wonderings - should we add the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes?
What about Mothers' Night? Although most people consider it to be Germanic I think Celtic evidence for the Mothers and the links between Modraniht and Modron are undeniable and this is a time it's important for me to connect with the Mother Goddesses and my maternal ancestors.
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Post by lorna on Feb 17, 2016 17:07:51 GMT -1
I've got an IDEA for how we might approach this. Under Brython Festivals we could have a very basic calendar outlining the festivals, where they stand on the wheel of the year and the deities we honour at them - then for each festival could have a separate page we could fill with whatever bears fruit on the blog - ie. historical research, rituals, prayers, poems, stories. ~ So the calendar may look something this (just an eg. we can discuss the associations, this is more for layout) - Eponalia (18th December)
Festival honouring the Mare Goddess Epona
Mothers' Night (24th December)
A night for honouring the Mother Goddesses and maternal ancestors
Winter Solstice (21st - 25th Dec)
The longest night and rebirth of the sun.
Gwyn ap Nudd is honoured as Winter's King.
Mabon is honoured as the divine youth and newborn son / sun
Brigantica (31st Jan - 1st Feb)
Snowdrops and lambing.
Brigantia is honoured as a goddess of life returning to the land, protector of livestock and the fire of the hearth, forge and inspiration.
Spring Equinox (March 21st)
Equal days and nights heading toward summer. Spring flowering
Blodeuwedd is honoured as a goddess of flowers
Calan Mai (1st May)
Hawthorn blossoms. Celebrations of fertility and the arrival of summer. Cattle return to the fields.
Rhiannon returns from Annwn.
Gwythyr defeats Gwyn in ritual battle and Creiddylad enters a sacred marriage with Gwythyr.
Belinus is honoured of a god of Bel fires and the purification of cattle with Belisama
The Summer Solstice (21st - 25th June)
The longest day.
Belisama is honoured as a goddess of high summer.
Lugus (1st August)
First harvest and first fruits.
Honouring of Lugus (by games?)
Autumn Equinox
Equal days and nights heading toward winter. Final harvest, picking of final fruits, scything of meadows.
The spirits of the meadows are thanked and honoured.
Nos Galan Gaeaf (31st October)
Leaves fall, summer ends, and we enter the dead season. Cattle are brought in from the the fields and animals who won't make it through winter are slaughtered.
Rhiannon returns to Annwn.
Gwyn ap Nudd rides out with his hunt.
On Calan Mai Creiddylad returns with Gwyn to Annwn to enter their sacred marriage becoming Annwn's Queen.
Winter Nights
Marking of first frosts
~ Then a page for, say, Spring Equinox could include something like - Spring Equinox ritual Article exploring spring goddesses such as Blodeuwedd, Creiddylad, Flora Story retelling the creation of Blodeuwedd Ode to Spring Devotions to Blodeuwedd
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Post by Heron on Feb 17, 2016 20:52:54 GMT -1
That’s a pretty impressive list Lorna. The sequence from Eponalia to include Mothers Night certainly fits in with practice we’ve already developed for this time of year. We’ve already included one Heathen festival in Winters Nights (under the influence of Jez as I recall, a heathen who joined us for a while). I think recognising that heritage for us as modern Brythons is fine if it fits in with our sensibilities. There would need to be some discussion about the content of some of the festivals as you say. I’ve never had much of a feeling for the equinoxes apart from seeing them as pivotal points in the year, but even there intellectually rather than emotionally. Thinking of the Autumnal Equinox as Harvest makes sense. But Lughnasadh has always been a bit of a mystery to me and Lugh is not a deity I’ve got to know. We did have an extended debate some time back about the date of Beltane/Calan Mai and the flowering of hawthorn which usually happens later in May but might be getting earlier as seasons shift. Then some of us felt that it should be later.
So we would need to review this before we started using it as a vehicle for blogging. How many of us, by the way, still include the triple toast in anything we do? It’s still a part of at least some of my observances since it was written in to my notes for seasonal observances. But I’m not sure to what extent this is still shared among us.
Content apart, the list does provide a framework. There are eleven festivals listed. Do we need one more to make a round twelve? We thought before that we needed something a bit later for the start of Winter than the traditional date for Samhain (apart from the confusion with Halloween) and Winters Nights filled that space. What about also distinguishing between Calan Mai and Beltane in the same way, or is it best not to confuse traditionally dated festivals in this way? When should we start blogging? I’m not sure what I would have to contribute for the Spring Equinox (though I’m sure I could think of something) but maybe it’s better to plan ahead for a beginning in the lead-in to Calan Mai. What worries me a bit, though, is that there are not enough of us doing it to be able to cover the range as specified in Lorna’s list in a way that expresses the personal significance of the deities/festivals for those of us writing about them. It needs to be meaningful rather than just a piece of writing to meet a deadline.
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Post by Lee on Feb 18, 2016 22:00:55 GMT -1
You know, I am completely up for the idea of revamping and re-examining our ritual year. A lot was loosely structured around the traditional wheel of the year; in that at least half if it marks important times (spring, beginning of summer and harvest) and these at least have some degree of historical basis. Brigantica and Lugus were kinda made up by us as names; to get away from the Irish names as much as anything. The equinoxes do little or nothing for me, we mark them within the coven but outside of the Wiccan context and in a Brython one - they leave me cold, and increasingly midsummer too. I simply struggle to find any connection to that. I would be all for a Mother's night around midwinter - it would tie in really nicely with the season of festivity and ritual from Eponalia right through to new year. I would also like to explore the idea of a Lupercalia like ritual/festival around the middle to end of January leading into Brigantica/Imbolc. This does mean that the Brython festival year is heavily weighted to winter (the ideal time to celebrate I guess). We could build up through a year of blogging and site updates; leave things as they are for now, add a blogpost in the run up to the festival and then afterwards add it as a page, rinse and repeat until over the course of 12 months that whole section is updated. it also gives us at least 8 blog posts of content to be going with, writing them could be a joint effort. Starting with Calan Mai is a good one, it gives us time to prepare and do some planning. um...let me think, what else is there; * I still use the triple toast I think it was the one thing we all did back in the day, regardless of personal practice and i do still like the idea. * Spring Eq is out for me, and I cant say Blodeuwedd as goddess of flowers does much for me. I am not entirely sure where she fits into everything - either as a goddess, a spirit, a literary invention and even so, I think the flowers thing is mostly incidental and not her central character. anyway, we can keep discussion on her for another time. ***** Something to be going on with....a 'logo'; how about the six spoked wheel we use to use? If we go with a wordpress blog, and we do give it a different name than simply The Brython Blog, any thoughts on what to call it? We could really let fly on this one, give it a unique look and feel but still tie it close to the Brython site.
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Post by redraven on Feb 19, 2016 10:11:16 GMT -1
I thought the six spoke wheel was the Brython logo? I see no reason to change it as such as it fitted well IMO (Didn't we agree that six festivals, rather than eight, was preferable as it also gave some flexibility? For example, whereas most on here don't connect with the equinoxes, I do because, as much as anything else, both my parents were born on both the equinoxes so it has resonated with me more than most).
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Post by lorna on Feb 19, 2016 11:51:04 GMT -1
@ Lee - I recall the wheel - where did it go? I'm happy with Brython as the name of the blog unless anyone is struck by the Awen! @ RR - Which six festivals did the original logo represent? I count eight on the existing Brython calendar. @ Heron - If we added one more to make 12, then the wheel of six would kind of make sense, but then what if we want to add more, say if we get new members and they want to add festivals for their deities? It's my feeling we need to get the festivals sorted first and maybe aim for a launch of Calan Mai. This will also mean we can chat about the blog at the meet-up. Regarding Spring Equinox and Autumn Equinox, although there's not too much written about them in Brythonic tradition, they feel like important points of balance in the year for me although they've never been too deity orientated. On a Spring Equinox a couple of years back I ran a Bardic workshop based on Blodeuwedd's story and it was very fruitful: one of the participants, a Priestess of Minerva, made a song up on the spot! It would seem counter intuitive to celebrate the solstices and leave out the equinoxes. I celebrate the eight Druid festivals with my grove and would probably only mark the equinoxes and summer solstice in small ways alone. The festivals of greatest personal importance to me are Gwyl Ffraid, Calan Mai, Nos Galan Gaeaf, Winter Solstice and Gwyn's Feast (which I celebrate on Sept 29th based on the fact this is Michaelmas day and possibly the day Collen supposedly banished him from Glastonbury Tor - I asked Gwyn if I could have a feast for him on that day and he agreed. This also seems to be the time his host start coming together and his presence begins to be felt in the land). Other important points in my personal ritual year are planting in the wildflower meadow and scything in September. The one I connect with least is Lughnasadh as I have no personal interactions with Lugh, although I kind of get Lammas as first harvest. @ Lee - Interesting you bring up Lupercalia and Imbolc. I assume you've read this? www.patheos.com/blogs/pantheon/2011/02/the-hidden-imbolc/?repeat=w3tc PSVL suggests Brigid plays a role in bringing the roving Fian back into civilised society at Imbolc and connects it with Lupercalia which I guess fits with your Koryos research? I came across this whilst researching links between Brigid the Cowless and the Fian and was wondering if parallels might be found with Brigantia and Gwyn's war band(s). I personally find it meaningful that Victory (who Brigantia was equated with) is depicted on the cenotaph in Preston showing links with soldiers and the war dead. Both Brigantia and Gwyn felt like very strong presences when I read poetry at Preston's cenotaph and helped light candles for the soldiers for the commemoration of the beginning of the First World War a couple of years ago.
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Post by redraven on Feb 19, 2016 14:10:24 GMT -1
@ Lorna, it was up to the individual as to what six festivals they chose to mark so not everyone chose to mark all the same ones. This flexibility was there so as to make the festivals more personalised as opposed to the usual eight fold wheel. And, IIRC, everyone preferred that flexibility and felt six festivals worked better for the groups membership at that time.
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Post by Heron on Feb 20, 2016 13:10:06 GMT -1
I think we're agreed that we should discuss the Ritual Year. So as I've got a few things specifically to say about that, I'll start a separate thread.
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Post by potia on Feb 20, 2016 18:14:06 GMT -1
I wouldn't like to see the major festivals as originally agreed changed. Other minor or local ones were always planned to be added in. And yes for me the symbol is the six spoked wheel which can have layers of meaning.
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Post by Lee on Feb 23, 2016 23:39:22 GMT -1
Bugger...hadnt replied to this!
I saw that article a few weeks ago and had it bookmarked to go back to - it is incredibly interesting, tantalising and works well for a number of reasons to have Brigantia is the one bringing them back in (it could or would work for any of the sovereignty goddesses really)
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Post by Lee on Mar 14, 2016 19:40:43 GMT -1
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Post by redraven on Mar 15, 2016 7:44:46 GMT -1
I don't know if that photo is a stock photo or one that you have taken, but if you want something else, feel free to look on my photo page on facebook Awen Photos and if there is anything there you would like to use, give me a poke.
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The blog
Mar 15, 2016 13:27:56 GMT -1
via mobile
Post by Lee on Mar 15, 2016 13:27:56 GMT -1
Hiya RR,
Thats one of yours from the fairy pools, wordpress cropped it a bit. I adore your photos of that place.
I will also add an attribution bit and link in the 'about' area when i do some more to the site.
Lee
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Post by redraven on Mar 15, 2016 14:07:39 GMT -1
Is it? Bugger, I'm getting old, didn't recognise it. Glad it suits OK.
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Post by Heron on Mar 15, 2016 20:17:24 GMT -1
Looks good, and the info on the 'About' page is useful and concise. Presumably we can discuss scheduling contributions when we meet.
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