We're now in the time that passes for winter in this time of warming climate, so it seems appropriate to focus on what can be experienced huddled indoors. In the wider human situation, there are people who very justifiably believe themselves to be in danger, and in times like those deities that might not be normally prayed to as warriors or protectors start falling into that role.
It's the season of Yuletide once again, a time of darkness and dreary weather, but also a time of partying inside every home. The harvest is gathered in, and the folk are mostly lounging around eating and staying warm and doing indoor tasks until it's time to get ready to head to the fields again. This song is intended to be purely about joy and comfort inside during the harsh weather, and also about welcoming everyone into the hall whether or not they are known friends, because when the weather is dangerous it is important to be a refuge to anybody.
The late fall season is upon us. The last bit of crops have been brought in, I've been busily winterizing my house in preparation for the deep cold of winter, and there is a sense of the world dying as it turns towards darkness. As is typical for modern pagan types, this leads to a focus in this season on our beloved dead and our ancient forebearers. This presents the results of some brief trancework on my part to get to know some of those of the deceased who I did not know in life, and some of their stories and lessons.
Fall equinox is upon us, and this enters my favorite season of the year. It's not too hot, it's not too cold, it's just right for humans to live. And unlike spring, which certainly has its charms, there's food aplenty thanks to bringing in the big crop of the year. Prior to easy long-distance goods transportation allowing people to eat stuff out of season by growing it a continent or two away, now into the winter would be when most people could eat really well and fatten themselves up a bit to make it through the winter.
The rites of Lughnassadh are named, unsurprisingly, after the Irish deity Lugh. Among Lugh's greatest deeds was his role in the overthrow of a tyrannical king named Bres, who had been chosen more for looking the part than being an effective leader. Bres repeatedly insulted the other deities, such as granting the great harper Aengus Og little more than bread and water for performing before him. As the rumbles of discontent grew, the supporters of the previous king, Nuada, gathered and later revolted against the rule of Bres, and Lugh arrived at just the right moment, demonstrating all the skills considered appropriate for an Irishman at the time, and in the ensuing battle flung a sling stone that reversed the evil eye of their most mighty of enemies, Balor, causing Balor to slay his own army rather than that of Nuada. This led to a longstanding theme of Lughnassadh as the celebration of the sometimes necessary work of the warrior in protecting their people from the evils of the world, including those of would-be tyrants. Any relevance of this theme to current events is left as an exercise for the reader.