Out by the sands, shore-swept wash, tonight I threw five pebbles one year ago I collected by the shore. I had asked then, what offering would Njord want? What would a coin really mean? It came to me : collect several stones and live with them for a while. Let them become acquainted with my life, absorb a little of its ample flavor, witness my routine and all my struggles, and collect into themselves the lessons and boons of this exchange program. Then they might be returned to their home, the waves, with the profit or interest of what I was able to share, and glowing with that little bit of life force, restore to the waves a new spirit of giving, to keep the gift exchange alive. And in that spirit tonight, I walked to the waves' edge, and hurling my pebbles into the receding wash with great intention, gave to Njord and all the Gods, completing one cycle of countless myriads to come of the great Circle of Gifts. And it felt good and strong, and appropriate on Yule, to give back. What an honor.

13. And when the voice of the Janya ceased, a silence fell that was the first true silence since the beginning of the world, and the last that shall be until it end. 14. And the children of earth watched the sky as the first rays of dawn crept across the heavens. 15. And a cry issued out of the cave, saying: The holy Child is born from the most holy Mother; Light has come forth from Light, Perfection from Perfection. 16. And at once the air was filled with the daughters of heaven, and the sky was ablaze with the radiance of their joy. 17. And they sang aloud to the glory of Dea.

13. And when the voice of the Janya ceased, a silence fell that was the first true silence since the beginning of the world, and the last that shall be until it end. 14. And the children of earth watched the sky as the first rays of dawn crept across the heavens. 15. And a cry issued out of the cave, saying: The holy Child is born from the most holy Mother; Light has come forth from Light, Perfection from Perfection. 16. And at once the air was filled with the daughters of heaven, and the sky was ablaze with the radiance of their joy. 17. And they sang aloud to the glory of Dea.

Good Yule! Good Yule!

Urd, the Well of Wyrd's keeper, dreams, and her dream-weaves web upon the tapestry of life. It makes no sense to logic-eyes of wordlock, but in the end, her benevolence cups and holds events, even nightmares, in a stranger logos, one that makes no sense to bodies locked in time's excruciating struggles, but to soul, to soul, a story lurks and hides, awaiting eyes to see. Urd is a grandmotherly poet dreaming sagas in the dark of Night, her daughter, Odin's sister. The wind blows, be it mild, even in Mimir's realm ; from such breeze the slightest droplets from his well are carried on the wind. Out beyond the meadows in a romp within the wondrous woods, an ancestor of yours in open-mouthed awe may taste that droplet, and the veils pull down, and see the saga in the chaos of your wondering-why of tale. And then if you give pray to depths to reach your roots towards forefathers, that he or she who tasted droplets lending sense to senselessness, revealing saga, may give sense to you of what before seemed merest mayhem, and then you may find some peace. Such peace ancestors sipping honeydew from meadowflowers' cups in philosophic strolls bestow if we will hear. And Wyrd dreams on, in odd, fluent benevolence. Look hard in the face of what hard faces you : Wyrd is winking ; secret blessings hide within the hard. O sleep and find the dream-reasons daily-mind is dull to ; only dreams sometimes restore the threads of frayed and weary wyrd. She sips her cup of tea and winks ; a wink is luck within the hint of time, to souls alive to riddling puns of smiling Urd.

O say that Northern spirit still divine within our Western Walls resides! For there is hope within the embers not yet passed that we may light the hearths again! And that is food for toasts! Let lift the wine, in silver-rimmèd horn, to lips, and spill the words of praise that honor Gods of wizards, One-eyed’s scions sleek and oaken-strong! I hear the baritonéd voices of my forebears chant their galdurs! Raise they rhythms, luck-bestrong, from holy hel’s deep doors of dawn, where they may share, from meadows’ blossoms, all their treasures’ broadest heartsong! Tales spun gossamer by fairy’s flight in flit through skull-song, quill-bedreaming, summon all the buried hopes, and let the soul be sung again by men! This lore is spell, may spellbound be the sons of ash and elm, to feel their roots and raise their branches high to sun’s encrystal-shellèd cobblestones! From heavens high to hel below and all between in middle earth, may what is whole and holy live again, and take rule of this world forevermore!

Excerpt from a recent blog post that may interest our readers, reprinted with permission: We had a little catch-up meeting today so the pettes who missed Cinderella this Rhavedi could see the missed epis. And we saw my favorite scene when the Fairy Godmother transforms from an ordinary(ish) Godmother to the Queen of the Fairies. It reminds me very much of the Magical Girl transformation scenes in Anime that never fail to thrill. I talked to honored Raya about it so fulsomely (the last time I saw it) that she actually preached about transformation scenes at the Service this Rayadi. She explained why it is that we are so thrilled by them and why even an audience that is often bored with any repetition will watch lengthy transformation scenes that may be the identical in every episode, often regarding them as the highlight of the episode. And the reason has to do with Nativity! What really fascinates us is the moment when the ordinary is infused with the Transcendent, when the material is touched by the Spirit whether it be in the individual soul or in the cosmos (for the two are really different levels of the same thing - microcosm and macrocosm). The Divine bolt that enters the world (in the microcosm of the House, through the chimney) lighting and warming the True Heart[h] with spiritual luminance - the only Light there really is. In the Cinderella story, of course, the Fairy God-Mother (in this version) transforms herself and also transforms the exiled soul (Cinderella), and in this lovely scene, she is at first the Spirit in Disguise, even (partly and ambiguously) disclaiming her own power and proclaiming the magical and miraculous to be dekanai (impossible). And the ambiguity here is the fundamental ambiguity of the impossible, paradoxical interaction of Dea with the world. For as the Scriptures say, God the Mother gave birth to a Daughter that was not separate from Her but One with Her, and the Child of Her Light. Dea came to the place where Dea is not. So it is indeed dekanai: impossible. And at the same time, it happens every day, and must happen if the manifest universe is to survive even a moment. That is the highest level of the truth expressed by this pure, traditional "fairy tale" (this particular one is found in just about every culture known). But Truth operates on every level. Cinderella is a story for us, who are exiles. And the scene below is also about the true possibility of miracle and magic in every level of our lives:

Excerpt from a recent blog post that may interest our readers, reprinted with permission: We had a little catch-up meeting today so the pettes who missed Cinderella this Rhavedi could see the missed epis. And we saw my favorite scene when the Fairy Godmother transforms from an ordinary(ish) Godmother to the Queen of the Fairies. It reminds me very much of the Magical Girl transformation scenes in Anime that never fail to thrill. I talked to honored Raya about it so fulsomely (the last time I saw it) that she actually preached about transformation scenes at the Service this Rayadi. She explained why it is that we are so thrilled by them and why even an audience that is often bored with any repetition will watch lengthy transformation scenes that may be the identical in every episode, often regarding them as the highlight of the episode. And the reason has to do with Nativity! What really fascinates us is the moment when the ordinary is infused with the Transcendent, when the material is touched by the Spirit whether it be in the individual soul or in the cosmos (for the two are really different levels of the same thing - microcosm and macrocosm). The Divine bolt that enters the world (in the microcosm of the House, through the chimney) lighting and warming the True Heart[h] with spiritual luminance - the only Light there really is. In the Cinderella story, of course, the Fairy God-Mother (in this version) transforms herself and also transforms the exiled soul (Cinderella), and in this lovely scene, she is at first the Spirit in Disguise, even (partly and ambiguously) disclaiming her own power and proclaiming the magical and miraculous to be dekanai (impossible). And the ambiguity here is the fundamental ambiguity of the impossible, paradoxical interaction of Dea with the world. For as the Scriptures say, God the Mother gave birth to a Daughter that was not separate from Her but One with Her, and the Child of Her Light. Dea came to the place where Dea is not. So it is indeed dekanai: impossible. And at the same time, it happens every day, and must happen if the manifest universe is to survive even a moment. That is the highest level of the truth expressed by this pure, traditional "fairy tale" (this particular one is found in just about every culture known). But Truth operates on every level. Cinderella is a story for us, who are exiles. And the scene below is also about the true possibility of miracle and magic in every level of our lives:

As Nativity draws closer here are two things that may delight you! Hail to the Princess A beautiful Nativity carol The Dream Key A heartwarming feminine seasonal story. May Dea bless you all!

As Nativity draws closer here are two things that may delight you! Hail to the Princess A beautiful Nativity carol The Dream Key A heartwarming feminine seasonal story. May Dea bless you all!

This is more of a simple point in an area of interest of mine: the "paranormal". Now, I don't dally in it, myself (thats just dangerous!), but I do watch documentaries and read stories. I have just this minute been watching a documentary I have on a disk, and a very interesting point on demonic infestation came up. It was said that a demon's sole goal is to destroy all [maid]kind. This point was also followed by another: that in a demonic haunting, the diabolical entity begins this task by destroying the family unit, by tearing it apart. In this age of conflict, nothing could be closer to the truth: this is an age where nearly all that is good is twisted and made to appear undesirable, and what is wrong is made to seem desirable. Among those good things is the concept of family and dependence. Family units are encouraged to go their own ways, to separate, to be "independent" of one another. This story of diabolical haunting seems to be a small-scale case of what is happening in the modern world this very day. The forces of darkness are at work, pulling apart the harmonious bonds of love and interdependence in their efforts to destroy maid altogether. Just as in the documentary I watch now, the only way to fight this demonic influence is by reasserting the bond of family and the principle of Love. Unfortunately, most don't understand that message, and the central reason for this is because of the vilification and trivialization of faith. People don't believe in fundamental Good -- nor to they believe in fundamental Evil. Could there be a greater tragedy? Let us pray that someday soon this grave situation is remedied. -- Willow Marina-Marie

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Thank you for this very insightful comment. Indeed it is true that in the current world demonic activity on the "macro" level, affecting the whole society is more significant than such activity on the "micro" level, affecting individuals and families one by one. It is one reason why those of us who resist the demonic pattern of the overall society are often more subject to attacks from the Forces of Darkness. To them we are "escapees" or "pockets of resistance" to their overall domination. But in the end darkness cannot overcome light.

This is more of a simple point in an area of interest of mine: the "paranormal". Now, I don't dally in it, myself (thats just dangerous!), but I do watch documentaries and read stories. I have just this minute been watching a documentary I have on a disk, and a very interesting point on demonic infestation came up. It was said that a demon's sole goal is to destroy all [maid]kind. This point was also followed by another: that in a demonic haunting, the diabolical entity begins this task by destroying the family unit, by tearing it apart. In this age of conflict, nothing could be closer to the truth: this is an age where nearly all that is good is twisted and made to appear undesirable, and what is wrong is made to seem desirable. Among those good things is the concept of family and dependence. Family units are encouraged to go their own ways, to separate, to be "independent" of one another. This story of diabolical haunting seems to be a small-scale case of what is happening in the modern world this very day. The forces of darkness are at work, pulling apart the harmonious bonds of love and interdependence in their efforts to destroy maid altogether. Just as in the documentary I watch now, the only way to fight this demonic influence is by reasserting the bond of family and the principle of Love. Unfortunately, most don't understand that message, and the central reason for this is because of the vilification and trivialization of faith. People don't believe in fundamental Good -- nor to they believe in fundamental Evil. Could there be a greater tragedy? Let us pray that someday soon this grave situation is remedied. -- Willow Marina-Marie

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Thank you for this very insightful comment. Indeed it is true that in the current world demonic activity on the "macro" level, affecting the whole society is more significant than such activity on the "micro" level, affecting individuals and families one by one. It is one reason why those of us who resist the demonic pattern of the overall society are often more subject to attacks from the Forces of Darkness. To them we are "escapees" or "pockets of resistance" to their overall domination. But in the end darkness cannot overcome light.

Thank you for your excellent explication of the concept of Anima Mundi. The threefold constitution of the cosmos and of the jiva as microcosm is of course a central teaching of the perennial philosophy. Sri Lalita Herself is named Tripura Sundari, the "beauty of the three cities (worlds or selves)".

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Dear loving friends,I wanted to comment on your great website.I myself am Jewish and I am a great believer in the Divine feminine alongside the God of Fathers and Mothers.I am not Filiyanic but I love the great wealth of Goddess knowledge you afford to all women of all faiths. I am also a straight woman as well with a lesbian daughter and granddaughter.I like the comment of the YouTube about the beliefs coming out of the 60's with neo-paganism.I am learning about the Mother in my own life and faith-The Shekinah-Shabbat-Sofia.I do however believe in both Genders for God as Father and Mother God both equal.The Goddess is becoming more a part of my life and I am really learning a lot on your site. Can you explain to me what Filiyanic means compared to the other terms you relate to in other faiths? In my language and faith Abba and Ima bless you and your wonderful site. Malka Miller. Thank you for your kind appreciation. The term Fliyanic, or Filianic refers to those devotees of Our Mother God who adhere to the Mythos of God the Daughter. The exact beliefs of the Filyani, or Filianists are outlined in the Filianic Creed.

Thank you for your excellent explication of the concept of Anima Mundi. The threefold constitution of the cosmos and of the jiva as microcosm is of course a central teaching of the perennial philosophy. Sri Lalita Herself is named Tripura Sundari, the "beauty of the three cities (worlds or selves)".

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Dear loving friends,I wanted to comment on your great website.I myself am Jewish and I am a great believer in the Divine feminine alongside the God of Fathers and Mothers.I am not Filiyanic but I love the great wealth of Goddess knowledge you afford to all women of all faiths. I am also a straight woman as well with a lesbian daughter and granddaughter.I like the comment of the YouTube about the beliefs coming out of the 60's with neo-paganism.I am learning about the Mother in my own life and faith-The Shekinah-Shabbat-Sofia.I do however believe in both Genders for God as Father and Mother God both equal.The Goddess is becoming more a part of my life and I am really learning a lot on your site. Can you explain to me what Filiyanic means compared to the other terms you relate to in other faiths? In my language and faith Abba and Ima bless you and your wonderful site. Malka Miller. Thank you for your kind appreciation. The term Fliyanic, or Filianic refers to those devotees of Our Mother God who adhere to the Mythos of God the Daughter. The exact beliefs of the Filyani, or Filianists are outlined in the Filianic Creed.

What do we mean by the Anima Mundi and what relation does it bear to the human psyche?

What do we mean by the Anima Mundi and what relation does it bear to the human psyche?

From a recent blog post: We had a lovely Eve of Advent Service on Rayadi, and Honored Raya in her sermon explained something I have never understood. Why does Advent come so suddenly? Because it does, doesn’t it? Every year, even though some shops have had Nativity displays since the Feast of the Dead, we suddenly think “Golly-gosh-oh-greenies, is it Advent already? Well there really is a spiritual reason for that. I don’t know if I can explain it as well as Honored Raya, but essentially it is because Nativity, the Winter Solstice, really is the Northern Gate of the Year, where Heaven enters the realm of earth – and the birth of God the Daughter really is a Mystery and an apparent paradox (Dea coming where Dea is not). So the Coming of the Daughter really is a “surprise” in the deepest spiritual sense, and, as superficial things metaphysically reflect deep things, the Advent always tends to take us by surprise.

From a recent blog post: We had a lovely Eve of Advent Service on Rayadi, and Honored Raya in her sermon explained something I have never understood. Why does Advent come so suddenly? Because it does, doesn’t it? Every year, even though some shops have had Nativity displays since the Feast of the Dead, we suddenly think “Golly-gosh-oh-greenies, is it Advent already? Well there really is a spiritual reason for that. I don’t know if I can explain it as well as Honored Raya, but essentially it is because Nativity, the Winter Solstice, really is the Northern Gate of the Year, where Heaven enters the realm of earth – and the birth of God the Daughter really is a Mystery and an apparent paradox (Dea coming where Dea is not). So the Coming of the Daughter really is a “surprise” in the deepest spiritual sense, and, as superficial things metaphysically reflect deep things, the Advent always tends to take us by surprise.

In the Filianic Calendar, Astraea 1st (Nov. 28) is the first day of the one-month Advent period leading up to the Nativity of God the Daughter on the last day of the month. We decorate the house in anticipation of the coming of the Divine Light in the darkest part of the year. There is no historical reason whatever for placing the birth of Jesus at the Winter solstice. So what is the truth behind "Christmas"? It is this.

In the Filianic Calendar, Astraea 1st (Nov. 28) is the first day of the one-month Advent period leading up to the Nativity of God the Daughter on the last day of the month. We decorate the house in anticipation of the coming of the Divine Light in the darkest part of the year. There is no historical reason whatever for placing the birth of Jesus at the Winter solstice. So what is the truth behind "Christmas"? It is this.

Aristasia has long attracted rather strange rumors and been associated with "discipline" in many minds - what is the real truth about the Feminine Empire today?

Aristasia has long attracted rather strange rumors and been associated with "discipline" in many minds - what is the real truth about the Feminine Empire today?

Aristasia has long attracted rather strange rumors and been associated with "discipline" in many minds - what is the real truth about the Feminine Empire today?

The chain is broken, the tie to the deep past lost. Heathenism is a path for which we strive, yet I, like so many of you, am a detribalized descendant of tribesmen thrown flotsam into the Roman world. It is those moments I seek, epiphanies where one can feel coherence pulling together a dissipated world into a sense of meaning that is present, that is now, that is ever and has been. Is that what a sym-bol once was, not a mere glyph, not just a sign, but a vision that threw together and glued in a knot of coherence what so much conspired to keep separated and fragmented?

Look at us, surrounded by fossils, bits of lore, the crushed glass and stone of temples. And how we cling to these pieces, hoping to sing the spirit out of the stone. But it takes a tribe to sing the spirit from the stones and make it live in flesh, on earth.

Drowning in a sea of atheism, apathy, anomie, looked upon as quaint, strangely attached to old fairy tales, as perhaps missing a bolt or two, and gorgeous upwellings of drum-beating vision are given blank stares, and fade in the wilting eyes of willfully misunderstanding strangers, strangers who call themselves my friends, call themselves my family.

When a genuine moment was found in old days, how it echoed, how it trilled and choired and swirled about the tribe. How it hummed in days to come beneath the surface. How it was recognized and seen and heads nodded in worth.

Not annihilating eyes, that look on and turn to dust, and scatter dust to wind. Not dessicating eyes, that dry and shrivel, and turn away from ancient beauty.

We are thirsty sojourners with pierced water-skins. Nothing holds. The hands lift water, and the toes are wet ; the hands hold nothing.

I am a creature running on automatic. It takes faith to live amongst the apathy and keep one's troth. Lost in the banality, one often feels nothing, cannot smell the ancestral scents, cannot feel the presence of the holy Gods. One posits. One lives as if in suspense, in the hopes of, in the projection beyond nothing, in the absurd stance of reaching towards what all deny. And sometimes one feels nothing, yet one hopes to feel.

I am sent out into a strange world. I know it well, but it has not lost its strangeness. Estranged. Not a tribe in sight to hold things together. The freeways rip my local soul away and toss it to the smoggy winds. I struggle to find a word that will hold. That word is weighed on the moneychangers' scales, who shake their heads and shrug. A word is air. Cheap, smoggy air. Yet a word was once wyrd ...

I have seen the numb eyes. Numb, electrocuted eyes. Eyes that can no longer believe. Eyes that are weary, heads that sadly shake no at any talk of magic, ears that are deaf to poetry. Ringed by people for whom soul is a word, worthless air itself, and no treasure. Language that wells from Anglish tribesmyn but it cannot bridge the gap at all. I speak words but no one understands.

Is it genocide to have flattened masses of the same bloodline bleached of their common root? Or to sing of ancestors who are always gone, because culturally, their descendants have disappeared? If their descendants were swallowed by the Roman wolf, and became bleached, stripped soldiers, do they have descendants at all? Or what does it mean to have a heritage that is all nostalgia, with few hands to carry it forward?

I walk into a hall, but the hall is empty. No cheers to greet me, no fires burn in braziers, no feast in hall. What is a vision quest when you return with a vision and everyone yawns and simply talks about the ballgame?

Broken chains.

In this traditional tale, a maid looking for answers to the mysteries of life encounters Queen Werde. This story is followed by a commentary.

The Feast of the Dead is one of the Great Festivals in the Calendar of Our Mother God. A feast of fear and separation? Or of love and return?

The Feast of the Dead is one of the Great Festivals in the Calendar of Our Mother God. A feast of fear and separation? Or of love and return?

Annalinde Matichei's new book Goldenhead has launched. This follows her widely acclaimed book The Flight of the Silver Vixen. Goldenhead, while not a religious book, is set in an all-feminine reality with priestesses who serve Our Mother God and are revered by all. It is a story of the conflict between Good and Evil in a fundamentally Deanic context. It is also a much more "fantastical" book than Silver Vixen (which was mostly "science fiction" albeit with a feminine twist). It considers such subjects as the limits of imagination, the reality of "imaginary" friends and worlds, and is very much a book for those who do not feel at home in the modern patriarchal world and believe they truly belong somewhere else. A profoundly imaginative book (as is fitting for this Year of Sai Candre), expect to encounter some unexpected and challenging ideas - such as whether the anime style actually represents a mode of reality - as well as encounters with tree-spirits, the sorcerous power of music, and battles with demons who are the very incarnation of darkness. The Flight of the Silver Vixen was hailed by one critic as "this rare and exhilarating book". Goldenhead pursues themes even rarer in a manner even more exhilarating. Goldenhead is currently available only as a virtual book on the Amazon Kindle (paperback to follow), but readers are reminded that a free Kindle reader is available for Windows and Macintosh computers, as well as most mobile devices, and that digital realease allows the book to be sold for only 2.99.

Annalinde Matichei's new book Goldenhead has launched. This follows her widely acclaimed book The Flight of the Silver Vixen. Goldenhead, while not a religious book, is set in an all-feminine reality with priestesses who serve Our Mother God and are revered by all. It is a story of the conflict between Good and Evil in a fundamentally Deanic context. It is also a much more "fantastical" book than Silver Vixen (which was mostly "science fiction" albeit with a feminine twist). It considers such subjects as the limits of imagination, the reality of "imaginary" friends and worlds, and is very much a book for those who do not feel at home in the modern patriarchal world and believe they truly belong somewhere else. A profoundly imaginative book (as is fitting for this Year of Sai Candre), expect to encounter some unexpected and challenging ideas - such as whether the anime style actually represents a mode of reality - as well as encounters with tree-spirits, the sorcerous power of music, and battles with demons who are the very incarnation of darkness. The Flight of the Silver Vixen was hailed by one critic as "this rare and exhilarating book". Goldenhead pursues themes even rarer in a manner even more exhilarating. Goldenhead is currently available only as a virtual book on the Amazon Kindle (paperback to follow), but readers are reminded that a free Kindle reader is available for Windows and Macintosh computers, as well as most mobile devices, and that digital realease allows the book to be sold for only 2.99.

Magic and Religion: What does the Faith of Our Mother God say about magic?