Haunting, beautiful, uplifting. His art is truly a spiritual experience for those of us in the Occult fields or faiths, and a candid look into our spirituality for those who are not. Take a Tour of this Artist’s fascinating and inspiring works, his professional life through freelance, music and finding his calling with this great article from The Wild Hunt :
Can you hear me?
There isn’t much time now, not these days.
They’re watching. I must be quick.
It’ll never be enough time…
They have me now. Choked. Just tight enough not to run. Just loose enough to breathe. But not true, good, deep breaths. No, not free breaths. Just enough to survive. Because survive is all you can do, here.
And they know…
They know what they are doing. They know what is too valuable to lose, what is too valuable to waste. They can’t take you down completely, because then you’ll be useless. Then you can’t help them. But so long as they leave a little bit of you left alive, they torment you worse, breaking you, because they know – they know you remember. They know you still hope. They know you can still see the other side – and if you see it, you think there’s still a chance.
But there is no chance so long as you’re inside. They’ll never let you be free.
They come now, go – hush!
Don’t let them find you, don’t let them know.
… but I am trying to find my way back.
I found somewhere. A place that was free. That was wondrous. That was peaceful and invigorating. A place where things come alive.
Such a place, it was.
What a place it was.
I am trying to find my way back. The Spirit has been damaged too deep, but you must move on. Must keep going, keep searching. I will find my way back, at the end of the road. I will come back home.
I am tired, and torn. I just need to rest. And then tomorrow I will pick up my shield once more.
Like a drug, keep moving. Like a drug, keep chasing.
Nothing else can compare. Nothing else will do. So sweetly it taints the rest.
I am lost.
But I am trying to find my way back.
-MM-
It is May Day, Bealtaine. Where has the year gone?
I have been too busy to observe, but I have felt more connected than most years.
I have learned how very much I rely on these callings from my bloodline. My history, my faith, and they have given me strength and peace this year. I am happy. I am productive. Goals are in my sight – and it is inspiring and motivating.
Light the Fires in this Season – protect yourselves from the harm that can bombard you daily. Forget the hindrances of the past, and move on, move forward, into your new, bountiful self.
Drink the Dews run over from the Springs, let them wash out your doubt and your weariness. Let them feed your spirit, your mind, and take their renewing vigor and make much of their gift to you in this waning half of the year.
Too Soon Darkness will descend and the Sun will slumber beneath the bough.
Too soon, another year will come to close. Let this Season flourish while the bounty is still ripe and full.
Bless the Blood.
~MM~
When did Witchcraft become a contest? They ask. But inside, my guts churn, and my blood boils, as I read the insulting lines that get pissed off at others unjustly judging poor, victimized Wiccans…the complaints of the “constant belittling” of Wiccans…whilst they so hautily, and casually belittle others.
Others’ complaints of Wicca is apparently horrendous bullying. Even though we are constantly told we are wrong, that our religion doesn’t exist anymore – or even told the horrible inaccurate accusation of saying ours NEVER exsisted? Look at the snide remark of
” (And that’s before pointing out that Traditional Witchcraft is an idea often so nebulous that it’s about as hard as “Wicca” to define, and with just as many varied traditions.)”
OH. Ok. So YOU can pretty much say “traditional” paths are BS, and you’re just “stating facts” – But we call Wicca BS, and we’re belittling you?
Yes, Pot. The Kettle is black. But so the fuck are you.
I am sorry, but when you crawl up on a high horse, hijack other’s religions, boast falsehoods as reality, and then can stomach to produce and market such crap that, for example, bolsters the magical properties of a paperclip and how to force someone to love you (forever) ???
Paperclips and love potions?
This reads like a bad Weasley rip off.
The rest of the world is pissed off, constantly belittle you, because you are constantly making a mockery out of us. You spit in our face, commandeer our faith and rites, only listen half-heartedly to our myths and histories, pick and choose what you want to hear and throw away all the rest, then paste-over the parts you don’t like with someone else’s stolen faiths and do just the same to them all over again.
The entire concept of your faith is scattered, broken, confused and insincere. You don’t know what you want to believe, so you just show it all together and claim it is the “right” way to be, and then market your ransacked religion as *THE* religion of the modern age – when that is just flat out not true.
you are O N E religion. That’s it, one, singular path out of the many thousands of choices. You all are so entitled and proud, and think you are then end all, be all example of what a pagan should be.
No.
I’m not listening. I’m not having it. There are plenty who do not hate you, plenty who even adore you – plenty of people who are on your side and your team. And just like ANYTHING in life, there are also plenty of people who do not like you, plenty of people who hate and despise you, and I tell you what, I bet each and every one of us have our reasons, and how dare you try to tell us we do not have the right to be mad, or angry, or not like you, or disapprove.
Disapprove. That is the perfect word. Disapprove. I disapprove of everything about Wicca – it is not even a matter of disagreements. I disagree with Christianity, but I do not disapprove of it. It is simply not for me. I do not agree with Shamanism. But I do not disapprove of that either, it is beautiful and fitting for many folk – but does not fit me in the slightest bit. But to each their own.
This is different – Wicca has plagued me and mine with misinformation, discrimination, mockery, blasphemy and sacrilege. It has desecrated sacred oaths and practices, it has propagated our faith and our deities to nothing more than carnival tricks and novelty. It has sexualized every inch and cranny of our faith to make us all out to be nothing more than a bunch of horny nymphos using a “fertility goddess” as a shield to act like whores, and somehow be proud of that?
What Wicca does on a daily basis, every hour of every day is hurtful and shameful to those who practice traditional forms of the religions they have taken from.
It hurts.
It hurts.
So yes, I am bitter. Yes, many of us are angry. But we have every single right to be so. It is not a “Cosmic Pissing Contest” it is those that feel wronged and insulted lashing out against the ones who have caused those insults. It may be childish at times, but I have never been a fan of ALWAYS taking the high road, and that is just my own personal opinion. I enjoy flinging shit when the other side is deserving of shit. Spitefulness, bitterness, anger, pain – these are all valid, legitimate human emotions, and I won’t be told I am not entitled to my emotions just because you feel you should be more important than you are.
No. It is not a pissing contest. The fact that you would call it that just proves how completely self centered and detached your community is from ours.
-M
I have just begun a new job, and am still trying to adjust to syncing up all our life schedules into balance as I settle into my position, and our busy busy upcoming season, so bear with me as I get resituated.
For the site, I have drawn up plans to add individual project pages, as well as hosted pages for each category for easier navigation than the archives, but will take a few weeks to properly set, tweak and format for publishing to the site in between new schedules – but once finished, hopefully will be more user use friendly, aesthetically pleasing / better organized, as well as just satisfy my OCD pet peeves so I can happily add more content and not focus on site formatting.
Til then, follow me on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest to see more fun tid-bits in between updates.
M
The sharp air fills my lungs, and my heart jumps to attention. The thrill pumps through my veins, electrifying my skin, the tips of every corner and curve and end of my body tingle in terrified exhilaration.
‘No!’ I scream inside my head because the words won’t leave my tongue – but too late; it’s already done.
I feel my body giving in to them, I cannot stop it, and soon my mind will be swept away as well. The tears come, hot and heavy. They sting my gaping, parched eyes.
The memories stir. The world fades away from my blurred sight and the monsters creep from the shadows. I try to remember what to do, but they swallow me whole. The world is gone. I am gone. There is nothing but the memory, the pain, the fear and torment. I scream, but it does not chase them away. Still, they come.
My body shudders under the strain of their burden. I don’t want to see them anymore, I don’t want to remember. I huddle in the darkness they brew and try to hide, small and insignificant – like nothing they would waste such time with, but still, they come. My sobs come in silent, shallow gulps and the heaves turn and knot my stomach. Already, the bitter sting of bile rises in my throat.
The realization washes over me: There is no running. There is no hiding. And something lulls me in knowing this. A slow calm sets into my bones. This is it. It is over – but I know it will not end unless I turn around.
Weak and shaky, I stand to face them. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. I train my lips into the tight little O, and the breaths come, fast at first. I take in another, fighting off the mucus my tears have churned up in my sinuses, but I manage through the fight. Out again. Oooooo. Slow, steady, long.
I close my eyes, focus on my breathing. In. Steady, hold. Out, easy, free…
My feet shuffle in controlled movements, turning me to face them, one breath at a time. The pain subsides. My skin begins to soothe, muscles relax, and my stomach unties itself. The burning, prickling sensation evaporates.
In.
Steady.
Out.
Calm.
My mind escapes the fog. I start to remember – more than just the monsters. I remember after. I remember now. I am ready.
I open my eyes to face them.
Shadows dance across my bedroom floor. The moon hangs high, and sky is crystal clear. The air is cold and still. A cold sweat hangs dewy over my body. My shirt clings to my skin, the hair matted to the nape of my neck and face. I stare about, confused, but familiar. I unclench from the knotted covers, stretching my hand and wriggling my fingers. I blink away the last hazy images, trying to reorient myself.
It is over.
Relief.
I made it out. I ended it.
Little Victories, Dr. Meade would say. And I smile, little and weak. But better than yesterday.
Recently, I was involved in a discussion in a pagan group about the ambiguous nature of how modern pagans identify themselves, and their, seemingly, complete disinterest in their historic roots or traditions. Specifically, modern “Druids” and those who claim Celtic Paganism, but practice a naturalistic or animistic path and make no mind or matter of the Celtic Pantheon. And though, unfortunately, the person who started this discussion, that brewed into an all out protest, turned out to be entirely misguided, arrogant and disrespectful, I couldn’t help but identify with the sentiments of his original posting.
It is no secret that I often feel alienated from the greater pagan community. Just today I read a poll about online pagan connections vs. real life interactions, and it is a sad realization that I have neither of these. I communicate plenty, but no more than an exchange of a certain topic, and then we both (or however many are involved) move on with our lives. I don’t actually have any Pagan friends or associates.
Too many times, I do not fit inside the neat little package of whatever is expected, and so I smile, and move on leaving those connections undone, and it is, for the most part, because of the Modern Pagan ideology. It can be seen all over the online pagan community, from places like The Wild Hunt, Witches & Pagans, and even sadly the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids – druidry, in its essence, has been boiled down to nothing more than a nature based spiritualism, and speaks nothing of the true nature of the practice.
Druidry, itself, began as an Irish practice, the word Druid itself derivative from the irish word druí. The art and practice of the druid, of course, spread and could be found all over the celtic worlds – but where are these roots in the modern practice? There is no mention, whatsoever, of its Irish heritage, or any celtic influence whatsoever. They completely ignore the religious side of the practice, removing celtic spirituality, and relate it to nothing more than arts, creativity and a oneness with nature. All of which are well and good in their own rites, but where are the deities? Where is the pantheon? Where is the Leabhar Gabhala, the Mabinogi?
Even if one does not associate themselves as a Druid specifically, the same notion can be seen all over modern “celtic” paganism – which has become practically indiscriminate from Wicca. I see so many practicing “Celts” name praise to a Roman or even Hindu Goddess, raise up Egyptian iconology, invoke the strength of Viking, Shamanistic or even Native American spirits and deities, and yet keep a strangely absent figure of the pinnacle deities of the Tuatha De Danann – or even Danu herself, and the convenient lack of ANY God or male figure whatsoever, save in a few remarks in a highly sexualized consort, making any figure out to be a supplicant and lesser to the Goddess figure, not the equal that balanced the coupling that was so important – not only in a matter of divinity, but as an entire concept – to the celts as a cultural whole.
More than once I have come across those who do not know the tales of the Tuatha de Danann, let alone know the significance they hold to the nature of magic and spiritualism, as well as the arts and sciences in the mythos and canon. Too often I have come across those who have never read the Mabinogion, do not know the difference between Irish or Welsh. Where is the education? Where is the pride in your culture? Where is the faith? How can you call yourself a Celt, but know nothing of their culture and abandon their practices?
Have we reached a turning page in Neo-Paganism where we simply reinvent and redefine instead of making the effort to connect, and learn from our ancestors and our past? Do we really take such freedoms for granted, and take such free-reign liberties and entitlements with our faith that we feel we can just make up whatever we want?
It is a sad, and hurtful thought for someone like me who lives and breathes her Irish blood. Who is so closely connected to those deities of the past, and whose culture defines and shapes her everyday life. Where are we to fall, in this new-wave paganism? Where we do not fit in the past era of reconstructionism, but do neither do we frolic freely with culture appropriations of new-age spirituality. And what future do our ancestral roots hope to gain when they are so easily abandoned and ignored?
Being raised on fairy tales and fables, once I was olde enough to start exploring more tales and digging deeper into the past, there was always something that felt so familiar in those ancient mythologies. Story lines and ideas seemed to mirror some of my favorite childhood tales – or vice versa, should we say?
Turns out there may be a legitimate reason for those sentiments!
Check out the article from Electric Literature, which states how the fairy tales we’re all so familiar with could have been told for thousands of years before Hans Christian Andersen and the like.
Fairy Tales Might Be Thousands of Years Older Than You Think
Some of my interests tickle your fancy?
Don’t forget I’m on Pinterest as well – I’ve got plenty of Pins to share and enjoy, and I’m a bit of a board-hogger as well: I love watching and following others’ collections, so come join me for the fun – browse all my boards, and show me some neat new things you might’ve found.
I have some of my favorite go-to info graphics for quick, easy writing tips on my Writing Board
You can also take a peek into my writing world and inspirations on my Book Notes Board and the Darker Side of Research Board (warning: Graphic content)