Newsletter September 2022
The Spanish Stonehenge and More
Mabon Greetings
This is the holiday of the autumnal equinox, Harvest Home, Mabon, the Feast of the Ingathering, Meán Fómhair, An Clabhsúr, or Alban Elfed (in Neo-Druid Traditions)
This festival is now named after the God of Welsh mythology, Mabon. He is the Child of Light and the son of the Earth Mother Goddess, Modron.
There is little evidence that Mabon was celebrated in Celtic countries, and the term Mabon was applied as recently as the 1970s by Aidan Kelly. All part of our reconstructed Paganism.
Mabon is the Second Harvest of the year, the first being Lammas and the third Samhain.
Mabon is a celebration and also a time of rest after the labour of harvest. In terms of life path, it is the moment of reaping what you have sown, time to look at the hopes and aspirations of Imbolc and Ostara and reflect on how they have manifested.
It is time to complete projects, to clear out and let go of that which is no longer wanted or needed as we prepare for descent so that the winter can offer a time for reflection and peace. And it is time to plant seeds of new ideas and hopes which will lie dormant but nourished in the dark until the return of Spring.
By the way, the moving of our internet home that we have spoken about earlier was timed to be completed by this time. And we are looking forward to the new projects and plans for the post-Yule season.
It’s been an interesting few months on the weather front in the UK, hasn’t it?
High temperatures causing wildfires, and drought warnings and, on the South Coast, sewage systems are overwhelmed by flooding causing raw sewage to be discharged into the sea.
That's just the UK.
Worldwide we see more intense examples of the same.
Mother Nature may be angry but is doing her thing. We, Homo sapiens, are looking on. Some with perplexed expressions, others nod knowingly and talk about the human acceleration of Global Warming.
In many respects, we are reaping not only the harvest we sowed this season but the harvests of countless seasons of human arrogance.
it’s Karma in Action, folks.
One of the side effects of the dry weather has been that low water levels have exposed some interesting archaeology. (He says, looking for a positive spin).
The Neolithic monument, often called the Spanish Stonehenge, has been uncovered again.
The monument was discovered in 1926 during a research and excavation campaign led by the German archaeologist Hugo Obermaier.
In 1963, the construction of the Valdecañas reservoir inundated the monument, and thus, it is only visible when water levels are low.
Drought conditions in the last decade have exposed the monument for several summers.
The monument consists of 150 granite stones placed in a vertical arrangement to form an ovoid chamber 5 metres (16 ft) in diameter.
They are preceded by an access corridor about 21 metres (69Â ft) long and 1.4 metres (4.6Â ft) wide.
At the end of the corridor, at the entrance of the chamber, there is a menhir about two metres high that has a snake carved and several cups. These figures may have served as protection for the site.Â
(photo NASA)
TST - The Satanic Temple
Some of you will have attended or seen our Moot entitled "What's wrong with Satanism Anyway?"
The Moot was presented to help quash some of the biased and stereotypical attitudes to Modern Satanism. No doubt a few reading this may find some deep-seated prejudicial alarm bells ringing.
That's Ok, it's a result of our largely Judaeo-Christian upbringing.
For those who didn't see that Moot, let me restate the Seven Tenets of TST.
I One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.
II The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
III One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
IV The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo one's own.
V Beliefs should conform to one's best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one's beliefs.
VI People are fallible. If one makes a mistake, one should do one's best to rectify it and resolve any harm that might have been caused.
VII Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word.
Many of you reading this would find common ground and a sense of accord with some of these.
The reason I am mentioning TST here is that I think their activism in the USA needs to be applauded.
They have brought the religious freedom debate centre stage by forcing State legislators to look at the embedded bias and assumptions about America's stance on being a "God Fearing Country" and the human liberties they are trampling over.
I don't intend to go mull over their activism here; if you're interested, you can look them up. However, I mention them because I often question how the Pagan Magical Movement in Europe expresses its stance on similar issues.
The right to choose what we believe and how we express that belief is a political act.
As I look back at some of the revered revivalists of Paganism and Wicca, their activism was clear, there was an agenda for change in the push for acceptance.
The TST and actions are so clearly in accord with their Fundamental Tenets are refreshing and challenging. Perhaps the Pagan Movement could learn something from them.
Check out :
September and October Moot
Because of this thing called "having a holiday," we're changing the dates of the Moots in September and October.
September's Moot will be on Friday 16th, and October's Moot on Friday 21st.
September 16th Moot 7.30pm
Ogham, The Celtic "Runes"
October 21st Moot 7.30pm
Samhain Customs and Traditions
As normal Zoom, links and invites will be sent to Newsletter subscribers on the Friday morning of the Moot,
Last Bit
When you read this, the old website and links to the previous Membership site will no longer work.
As many of you know, we've been moving internet homes. It's not been a seamless process, but we're there.
schoolofmysteryandmagick.com is now part of one site Elyn Bres (which is Cornish for Clear Mind).
The attempt to bring everything under one roof has been made on practical and economic grounds.
The membership site is now up and running.
If you have not yet cancelled your old subscription, please do so as soon as possible.
If you want to resubscribe, please do so via the Community section of the Elyn Bres site.
There's a video on www.elynbres.com outlining the key features of the new site.
If you have already subscribed to the Elyn Bres Community (FREE) and you want to subscribe to the TSMM Section with access to the Moot Recordings and other free stuff, you'll need to change your membership level.
Here's how to do it.
Thanks for reading
Alan & Sue /|\