December 15

Ga'an Mountain Spirit

On Sunday, at the Revels, I thought a great deal about the Perchten. My friend Pat said that they are neither good nor evil—just pure elemental nature spirit and energy. I agree with this assessment. They reminded me, in some ways of the Ga'an—Apache Mountain Spirits. Unfortunately the Ga'an have been mischaracterized as "Devil Dancers"—putting a Roman Catholic spin on something which isn't Roman or Catholic. The Ga'an, or crown dancers, come from a mountainous region, like the perchten. The Percheten are characterized as "Beautiful" and "Ugly". The  "uglies" wear masks and antlers, and are beastlike. The beautifuls wear tall headdresses. These mountain spirits now seem to be characterized as "demons" rather than spirits, and I wonder if they too were mischaracterized over the years.

December 14

In the Revels yesterday a beautiful poem by Rilke was recited in rough translation:

Advent

The wind drives a flock of snowflakes 
through the winter forest like a shepherd. 
And many of the fir trees sense that soon 
they will be humble in holy brightness
Listening, they stretch out their branches 
to the path of whiteness—
fending off the wind and growing towards 
that one night of splendor. 

ADVENT 

Es treibt der Wind im Winterwalde 
Die Flockenherde wie ein Hirt, 
Und manche Tanne ahnt, wie balde 
Sie fromm und lichterheilig wird, 
Und lauscht hinaus. Den weißen Wegen 
Streckt sie die Zweige hin - bereit, 
Und wehrt dem Wind und wächst entgegen 
Der einen Nacht der Herrlichkeit. 

I forgot to mention. At the Revels a kind gentleman with long white hair and scraggly white beard offered me a free ticket in the orchestra. He was short and he wore a red shirt. Only when I was telling the story later—a little man with long white hair and beard gave me a ticket..." and a friend said "sure, a man with long white beard and wearing a red shirt GAVE you a ticket......right...."

December 13

Every year I begin my written journey, thinking nothing new could possibly be learned through the process of "calendaring" the advent season, yet every year I am surprised. This year Santa Lucia joined the merry band of Yuletide presences which travel through the landscape of our imagination from Samhain to Epiphany:


Santa Lucia
rises very early
Like the midsummer sun
on a dark December morn


White is her garment
as a snow fall on the mountains
Her sash of red ribbon
like the first bright ray of dawn


One for each season
She wears a crown of candles
With one at the center
for the winter sun reborn

Perchten (masked figures)

December 12

The Perchten have been telling me that they want IN to our Winter Solstice festivities:

Perchten and Krampusses in many different styles and shapes can be seen throughout the Bavarian and Austrian alpine region during the winter season. They are frightening and not very appealing to the eye.

"Krampus" is the untamed, shaggy spirit that accompanies St. Nicholas. Krampusses usually roam in larger groups. Their traditional costumes and masks are elaborately handcrafted. Krampusses can usually be encountered on and a few days before December 6.

"Perchten" are wild pagan spirits widespread throughout the Austrian and Bavarian region. The appear alone or in groups, especially on three specific winter nights, called the "rough nights," i.e. the night before St. Nicholas (December 6), before the winter solstice (December 22) and before Epiphany (January 6). They carry bells and other loud instruments to dispel the winter.

My shaman friend Patricia explained to me that the mysterious perchten, which did not travel to these American shores with Saint Nicholas, are nature spirits. They are neither good nor bad, like nature itself. The mountain spirits of a land where winter is dark and long and blizzards a frequent occurrence—the perchten are powerful, capable of mischief and destruction but also of great beauty.

It makes sense to me that they did not travel to this country, because they are nature spirits. They belong to a particular place. We are not so familiar with our nature spirits here, because we've never been properly introduced. The Kachinas live in New Mexico. I have been privileged to meet them, but here I do not know the names of the spirits of the land, nor do I know their shrines and holy places.

Wait, that isn't true. Horn Dancers Hill in Tarrywile Park is a holy place and a shrine. The spirit of the deer and of the winter sun dwell there. Bride's bear can be seen there in the shape of a rock and the whisper of the horn dancers still echoes on the hill each year, fresh in the memory of all who saw us there. We were drawn to it and it to us, one day long ago.

Perhaps, in this week of long nights, we should ask, every day to meet the spirits of our land and to be led to the places where people once went to meet them.

I am a follower of Christ and I do believe in Saint Nicholas, but I am also deeply drawn to the spirits of the land. One without the other ring hollow and empty for me. I believe the old earth religions are all beautiful and true. They celebrate the power of the land, and of the heavens and the seasons. But like the perchten, the power of the land is neutral—capable of mischief and beauty. This is the landscape we are born in to in our human bodies. In Old Europe, Saint Nicholas travels with Black Peter—he is the spirit of "something else" which exists beyond the powers of nature, but in our lives on earth these two are intertwined. But in this country he walks alone, and has lost some of his power because he has become detached from the nature spirits. He is a gentle gift bearer, but the mystery is gone—the story we need to hear over and over again each year as we grow, so each time a different layer of meaning is revealed.

My belief as a Celtic Christian—and a Druid—is that Christ was born to carry the message that there is more to our lives than the power of nature. These are magnificent and we should never forget the ancient yearly rites which connect us to the seasons and to the earth, but we needed to know that, unlike nature, which can be unpredictable and unforgiving, there is a presence at the heart of the universe which is deeply forgiving and predictably loving.

This  said, I really like the perchten too! I need  Christ and Saint NIcholas, the kachinas and the perchten, Herne and Saint Francis in my life and in my spirit. They are all a part of me and there is no contradiction.

December 11

When the sun sets
and in the darkness
everything becomes clear....

December 10

My rather large, grown up son left for Portland Oregon today, a move that will separate us by more than three thousand miles. He stayed here for a few days, which renewed our sense of connection and shared origin. Strange to see my expressions on his face and to know that I'm seeing not only my "vernacular" as he calls it, but the body language of ancestors long gone—nameless and faceless except as they live on in us. Half asleep at 4 AM l  listened to my son still packing in the other room. By 10 we were saying tearful farewells. In the hazy period in between I thought about moving in with Joe when I was 20, leaving my family home behind. Looking to my future, which seemed then to stretch endlessly before me, I was heedless of what my mother might be feeling. I believed that I was my own invention.

Now I am the mother waving farewell.

At 4 AM I thought of another kind of ancestry. I thought of ancient practices long forgotten, except in the Yuletide season. Dances with candles, and deerskins. Watching the sun as it moves low on the horizon. This is our heritage. A slender thread woven not of substance but of light which connects us to the distant past. To mother spirits left behind. When we are very young, as I was when I left home, we are heedless. We think we are our own invention. But at Bran's age, we see ourselves in our mothers. We know where we come from and what shaped us.

I see the old religions as grandmother to my own spirituality. WIthout them, the new lacks substance.