altar - A sacred working space, often a table like piece of furniture, on which to work magic, mystery and/or prayers. A place where all of the realms can come together to meet. Altars are frequently a surface on which shrines and other sacred objects sit.
alting (Old Norse) - An assembly of assemblies
ancestors - This term is not limited to only one’s biological forbearers nor to only human beings. The ancestors are all who once lived in some type of body on the planet Earth, whose work and lives have allowed and/or inspired one to live one’s own life.
aspecting - The direct interaction between a human being and/or a human community with Mystery. Aspecting is based on numerous techniques which allow humans to be physically embodied by the presence of a Mysterious One, Ancestor, and/or Spirit Ally. Aspecting can be seen as having four basic levels: enhancement, inspiration, integration and full trance possession
authentic self - One’s whole being, which is composed of our core values, dreams, desires, skills, talents, creativity, etc. One’s true self; being in touch with what you are called to do in this lifetime and acting from that place. It is important to remember that one’s authentic self is not a static thing. It may begin with birth gifts, but like any other living thing, it is always in constant growth and change based upon personal, societal and cosmic choices. It is also good to remember that for a human authentic self cannot survive, let alone thrive without being in deep relationship with others.
AWLYBAR - Ancestor/s Who Loves You Beyond All Reason
burden-less truth - A truth fearlessly, yet compassionately told as experienced, perceived and/or revealed. To name a burden-less truth implies that information is given in a non judgmental, open hearted and clear headed manner. It also implies that one is fully willing to accept the consequences of stating one’s truth and to listening to the burden-less truths of others. This truth often emerges from the Cold Heart of Compassion.
clan - A group of folks who come together around a common spirituality, heritage, mythology, lifestyle, and/or world view.
co-aspecting - A form of aspecting in which two beings equally make room within themselves in order that they may share each other’s consciousness. For instance between a human and a Mysterious One or between a living human and an ancestor, with neither party losing their own sense of self or of their immediate surroundings.
collaborate - A group working together.
Cold Heart of Compassion - The crystal clear seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, smelling and over all sensing and synthesizing core of our being. It is where all is perceived and understood from a deeply multiversal cosmic understanding of beingness.
compassion - Compassion is an emotion/action. Compassion cannot exist without fully weaving together both the deep feelings of truly experiencing another’s situation and daring to take the physical actions required to improve or celebrate that being’s situation. My practice of Compassion demands that I see, feel, hear, taste, smell what is actually there. It demands that I actively participate in Midgard fully awake, alive and aware. Each act of Compassion brings me into a deeper understanding of myself as a shaper-with (a co-creator) of the whole of the cosmos.
conscious making-with* (co-creation) - A process where two or more people (be they human, ancestors, rivers, mountains, prairie grass, Mysterious Ones, etc.) who are peers, consciously agree on an idea, agree to invest their skills and time to manifest the idea, agree to trust each other’s expectations, judgments, abilities, and contributions and agree to trust in the mystery of creation.
Cultures of Beauty, Balance and Delight - These are the emerging cultures that among other things, are concerned with transforming the relationships between the human made worlds and the natural realms into loving, sustainable, joyful partnerships, that are dedicated to pleasure and beauty, that embrace an ethics of justice and fair play, and that delight in the authentic lives of it’s individuals and communities. The Cultures of Beauty, Balance and Delight are the emerging cultures that, among other things:
focus on transforming the relationships between the human made worlds and the natural realms into loving, sustainable, joyful partnerships,
choose to live life fully awake, aware and co-creatively,
are dedicated to pleasure and beauty,
embrace an ethics of justice and fair play,
delight in the authentic lives of its individuals and communities,
are willing to accept the consequences of their choices, learning from them and moving on,
remember that there is always a choice,
are spinning cosmologies clearly naming love and compassion as foundational underpinnings of the multiverse.
Dances of Death, Life and Rebirth - a set of dances danced usually in conjunction with Halloween, Samhain and other such holidays, that renew the balance between death, life and rebirth. These are also the dances that weave the very fabric of the multiverse.
descendants - Those yet to be born and/or newborns and babes in the womb whose spirit has recently chosen to emerge into this world in a physical body. The descendant’s paths on Earth; their destiny, their call, move along the paths we are now creating. The descendants may be new souls to Earth or they may be ancestors who have chosen to return. The descendant’s work is thoroughly intertwined with that of the living and of the ancestors.
divination - Most simply, communication with the divine and/or mystery. Divination is often associated with a variety of tools; runes, bones, cards, stones, etc., but a seeker needs nothing more but than an open curious heart, spirit and mind.
family - A group of folks who consciously recognize each other as kindred spirits.
farthing* - A quarter of a circle, for instance, the eastern farthing of a ritual circle or sacred landscape.
fere (fir)- Folks who join in mutual support, devotion and delight as they travel the roads of life and mystery together. Those who remember while walking together, that it is the journey, not the destination that is of primary importance. Fere implies a type of relationship that is more than a marriage, hand-fasting or friendship. My feres need not necessarily be my spouses, but I damn well hope that my spouse is one of my feres. The word has the meanings of companion, devotee, fellow disciple, partner, spouse, adventurer, friend, comrade and beloved all woven together within it.
gidden* - goddess: if the Old English term for divine female had survived, it would today be something very close to the word gidden.
green bloods - All who are a part of the botanical realms.
hearth - The center of a families life. In postmodern times, a Pagan’s hearth is most often their kitchen.
Heathenism - A way of life deeply informed by the cultures; practices, arts, magics, spiritualities and worldviews, of the ancient Germanic Peoples.
hedge rider (hedge witch) - a witch who lives on the boarder between the wild and the domestic.
The Honey Library - a branch of the Multiversal Libraries where information is stored in vials of honey and the librarians are all bees.
joyful obligations - the community and or private tasks, jobs, projects, pledges, path. etc. that a person or group takes on joyfully and willingly in order to fulfill a particular outcome, goal, project, etc. Examples range from preparing delicious meals for those we love(our household and/or clan holds) thus blessing each that taste each dish we prepare, to doing whatever one can to nurture the emerging Cultures of Beauty, Balance and Delight.
lineage - This is a descriptor for the group of folks that we commonly call the ancestors and the descendent. It is all of the folks that have lead to a person, people or group and all of the folks who will follow.
mother-mind - Creating, building and sustaining, human interaction, relationships and culture grounded in the life-cycle of lust, mating, conception, gestation, birthing, nurturing, parenting, and death.
MOWLYBAR - Mysterious One/s Who Loves You Beyond All Reason
The Multiversal Libraries (also called the Akashic Records) - The Multiversal Libraries hold all knowledge and information in the cosmos.
multiverse - Imagine that the cosmos is composed of multiple realities with a multitude of expressions of beingness. Our universe is just one of the possibilities/realities within the multiverse. Imagine that there are more universes in our cosmos than we can count and that one is being born and dies every instant.
multiversal world view - All things in the cosmos are in ever growing and transforming relationships with each other. There is no one ultimate reality. The only constant in a multiversal world view is change.
Mysterious Ones - This is a term designed to broaden the scope of what is seen as divine. This term includes all Gods and Goddesses, all of the Spirit Powers including the plant, animal, river, mountain, prairie, etc., spirit allies. But, this term is not limited to individuated personalities. It also includes that shiver that runs down the back in the midst of numinous events and also that sudden joy that wells up through a person as one smells a summer garden under a full moon. Nor is it limited by gender. Nor is it trapped in an anthropomorphic image. The term ‘Mysterious Ones’ opens up opportunities of an expanded experience and imagining of Mystery.
Mystery - That which is understood in ways not of one’s usual perceptions; the realms of the multiverse that are not readily sensed by normal senses; that which can only be directly experienced by the individual, not specifically taught by one person to another. Some things are not knowable and remain a mystery, at least during this lifetime and perhaps longer.
Nyd-fire (need-fire) - In ancient times when troubles beset the land, and the community seemed to be in peril, the folk turned to a practice known as the need-fire. One story is that the fire represented the spirit of the land, which gave life and purpose to everything in the culture as a whole. Therefore when troubles arose within the community, it was a sign that the fire had been contaminated and the spirit of the land had grown ill and required renewed vitality. The custom of lighting a need-fire called for specific types of sacred wood to be used to feed the fire: birch, elm, hazel, holly, oak, pine, rowan, willow and yew. Each of these sacred woods served to pass desired qualities and blessings into the need-fire. Through this practice the people were able to refocus their spiritual values, generating a new vitality with which to enliven the spirit of the land. The ancient need-fire was kindled by friction and then fed with the logs of the sacred wood. Torches were then lit from the bonfire and carried to each home to relight the hearth fire. In this way the renewed spirit of the land passed into each home within the community.
oracle - 1. A person whom Mystery; ancestors, Mysterious Ones and other spirit allies, speak through in response to an individual querist or group of seekers. Such communication is usually quite enigmatic, obscure and/or allegorical, more likely to be poetry, song, spirit mapping, dance, and other none vocal communication. The information given is rarely a clear statement. A lecture is almost a sure sign that the oracle’s connection to mystery is tentative. 2. The information coming through an oracular worker. 3. A site; river, mountain, forest, temple, etc., that is associated with oracular work.
paradox - The mystery of holding apparent opposite truths or multiple truths at the same time as equally true. For instance, in romantic relationships, the urge to merge, build a home together and yet remain a unique individual. In politics, it is to oppose a war but yet support the soldiers. In Pagan life an example may be, the sun is a huge burn ball of gas and also a living breathing Mysterious One whom some call Sol.
prophet - 1. A person who speaks on behalf of a Mysterious One or group of Mysterious Ones. 2. A person who recognizes the probable results of the choices made by individuals and/or communities.
prayer - A sacred dialogue between two of more beings.
Queer Spirit - Queer Spirit embraces the knowledge and power of queerness, taking those mysteries through the personal realms into the understandings of thriving queer communities, families, hearth-clans, and so on. Queer Spirit embraces authentic sexuality as a sacred expression of beingness and wonder. A few of the traditional roles of devotees of Queer Spirit are: go-betweens, bridge builders, peace makers, healers, teachers, sexual explorers, artists, poets, dancers, priestesses, etc.
queerness - Queerness is not merely about whom one has sex with or desire
for. Rather, it is daring to truly live oneʼs authentic life, daring to be oneʼs own authority,
while yet remaining fully engaged in community. Therefore, a queer is simply someone
who chooses to embrace and openly celebrate their own life, willing to accept the
consequences there of.
red bloods - All who are a part of the zoological realms.
The Roadhouse of the Dead - A gathering site, somewhere between all realms and worlds, where the Ancestors of the Good Green Earth and the Mysterious Ones connected to Midgard come together every Samhain/Halloween/Day of the Dead to dance the Dances of Renewal, which include among others, The Dance That Renews the Balance Between Death, Life and Rebirth, The Dance of the Many Petaled Irish Rose, The Dance That Weaves the Fabric of the Multiverse and other Dances of Mystery.
seer - 1. A person who sees into the future, the past, the invisible and other realms, reporting back on what they have experienced to their client, clan, community, etc. 2. A person who recognizes the probable results of the choices made by individuals and/or communities.
shaping-with* (co-creation, making-with) - All beings of all kinds; rocks, rivers, plants, animals, planets, stars, Mysterious Ones, ancestors, etc., eternally shaping the Multiverse together every instant of every second. The substance of the multiverse eternally changes form and substance, but it does not create something out of nothing. One of the Great Works is all beings of the cosmos together forming/growing the stuff of the multiverse. That Great Work can be called, shaping-with.
shapers-with* (co-creators, makers-with) - All beings. We are all shapers-with if we are conscious of it or not.
shrine - An object which is designed to be the dwelling place of an ancestor, Mysterious One or other spirit person. A container which holds sacred relics. The grave site or tomb of a venerated person.
spell - A spiritual/magical working with a specific intent.
The Terrible Powers of the Widow - These powers are often associated with the widow’s refusal to be confused, comforted, charmed and/or hexed by societal norms and/or other polite niceties. These powers also often include a sense of having nothing left to loose, which then empowers the widow to step consciously and courageously into any situation, naming out-loud what her widow eyes and ears, his widow senses are telling her and thus, demanding justice and fair play for all. These powers may also include a new understanding of the intrinsic beauty and wonder of life, death and rebirth.
time - It is part elemental, part Mysterious One and yet essentially it’s own unique entity. Clocks are human made constructs of connivance for organizing and scheduling time. Time is the seasons, the ages, the eons; the rising and setting sun, moon, and stars; the ebb and flow of lifetimes, of beings throughout eternity. Time is mutable, cardinal, and fixed, all at the same time. Choice is the core ingredient in creating a delightful working relationship with time.
ting (Old Norse) - an assembly
universal world view - All things are one. All Goddesses are one Goddess. The ultimate reality is unity.
viriditas - The sacred greening forces of Life, which long to spread throughout the Multiverse.
witch - a practitioner of witchcraft
witchcraft - A set of tools, practices, techniques, etc. used to engage with the energies, powers and magics of the multiverse.
* from The Paganistan New Saxon Word-hoard, created by Valire’brand and Steven Posch: http://www.stevenposch.com/
