A Wiccan Coven based in Flint Michigan
By Administrator
Hey the Ravens have a new website!
Sad to say we had to scrap the old website. It was just not serving our needs. If you are new to our web presence please register, sign up for the mailing list and enjoy. If you are not new to the website please register, sign up for the mailing list (if you are not already on it) and enjoy. We tried our best to keep most of the content we had on our old website, but we had to clear out the forums and the user log. If you were a member of the old site you will still have to re-register in order to use the forums and comment on posts from the blog. There are lots of new features comming soon.
By Administrator
Some of our outer circle have created an interesting podcast that is well worth a listen. Here is the description and link to their site.
They are a panel of 4 Pagans in Mid-Michigan discussing topics dealing with the Wicca and other forms of Paganism and Witchcraf from theirown individual points of view, As well they talk about events that are going on here in Michigan
Episode #4 Features an interview with our very own Wayland Raven!
Link to their home page: http://midmichiganpaganpodcast.podcastpeople.com/
By Administrator
For those who are interested…. This is the text of the ritual the Ravens preformed at the open gathering.
Thank you all for coming out and helping us celebrate today.
Hey its summer! Being asked to prepare the ritual for today gave me some time earlier this week to reflect on what summer is to me. If spring is a time for renewal and new life, then summer; is most certainly a time for those things to flourish and grow. All of nature is about her business making things green and healthy for us to enjoy. The most prominent feature of summer, the thing we all love about the season is the sun.
With its gift of heat and light it is no wonder that the sun has been worshiped as a deity by hundreds cultures with many different myths and just as many different names. It can be argued that the sun was our first deity to be worshiped. Without his emergence in the east every morning we could not survive.
- The Sumerians called him Shamash. Shamash was tortured to bring light to humanity.
- The Egyptians called him Aten during their short lived monotheistic period.
- The Persians called him Mithras. He was worshipped in Mithraea, artificially constructed caves that represented his birth-cave. The ceiling looked like the starry sky and at the sides benches where placed for the ritual meals.
- The Romans called him Sol. and pretty much stole all their imagery and believes from the Greeks.
- The Greeks called him Helios - Each morning at dawn he rises from the ocean in the east and rides in his chariot, pulled by four horses through the sky, to descend at night in the west. He was represented as a youth with a halo, standing in a chariot, occasionally with a billowing robe. In early Christian art, Christ is sometimes represented as Helios, so not only the Roman pagans but the Roman Christians were borrowing from the Greeks. In all fairness they also called him Apollo so maybe they had enough sun gods to spread around.
Those are just the highlights, when I started to research this I found a website with over 100 names on it of sun gods and goddesses.
For thousands of years our ancestors have gathered together on this day. Their purpose was to acknowledge the summer solstice. On this day the sun blesses us with his presence for the longest time of the year. If that isn’t a reason to celebrate I’m not sure what is. We are pagans we celebrate everything.
So let us dance and raise us up some energy. We are going to do a spiral dance to the tune of “You are my sunshine” When singing think about the energy you want to channel and how you will choose to use it. My son asked me to buy some Sunny Delight a little while ago, when I asked him why we needed sunny D he said and I quote “Because it’s made from the power of the sun” How can I deny that, we went to the store and picked some up the next day. It is a season for growth and prosperity, use the power of the sun as your personal tool to guide your own growth and prosperity.
Cricket leads
Spiral Dance
We all sing - You are my sunshine
You are my sunshine
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You’ll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don’t take my sunshine away
By -Governor Jimmy Davis of Louisiana
Bring the circle back to a close.
Now that we are all full of the power of the sun lets talk about another aspect of Litha. Fire, yes fire has been the means of celebrating mid-summer by countless societies. And why not, it has the gift of light and the gift of heat. Kind of like a mini earthbound sun right at our disposal. Usually huge fires are set in honor of this occasion. Today we are going to concentrate on the mini sun idea. We are handing out your own personal mini sun. When you get one I would like you to look at the flame, reflect on the things you would like to flourish. Take the light in your heart and make those things happen. When your done please extinguish your sun (blow it out). You can keep your sun, bury your sun, or add it to the larger fire of the pit.
end announcements - food - donations
Close circle.
By Evermore Raven
This is a beautiful and powerful devotion/charm that was sent to me by a dear friend. You can use it as a devotion in front of an Altar or where you feel most comfortable.
Relax into Alpha, tighten and relax the muscles. Take several deep cleansing breaths. Send roots into the Earth and draw energy up through the Chakras. Recite the charm, letting it build into energy as you do. Send out the energy. Then take your circle down.
The Armouring by Liafal (Druidic Version)
I gird myself with the Two Powers,
The Deeps of the World’s Chaos,
The Height of the World’s Order,
And I between them,
Like the World Tree.
I gird myself with the power of the
Magic Cauldron,
With the inspiration of the
Fire of Magic,
With Love to draw all good to me and mine.
I gird myself with the Power of the Spirits -
The might of the Shinning Ones,
The wisdom of the Ancestors,
The joy of the Elder Tribes,
All meet in my soul.
Today I gird myself
With the Elements of the World.
The stars behind my eyes,
My thoughts the clouds,
The Sun my face,
Cool Moonlight my mind,
My breath the wind,
The sea my blood,
My hair the green bounty,
My flesh the warm soil,
Eternal stone my bones,
All the world is in me,
And I am in the world
I gird myself with with my Goddesses’s power to direct me,
With my God’s wisdom to bear me up,
Their eyes to watch over me,
Their ears to hear me,
Their voices to speak to me.
Their hands to open my ways,
Their shield to ward me and those I love
From the snares of spirits,
From peril by land,
From peril by sea,
from peril by sky,
From all who wish me ill,
Far or near
Let theses powers be upon me and in me,
Upon my Tribe and in my Tribe
To make us equal to any challenge,
To come between us and all that threatens
Our bodies or our spirits,
That we may have the wisdom of the Wise,
The love of the Loving,
The power of the Powerful,
That we may be known, and with honor,
In the inner realms.
Know me, O Mighty, Noble, and Shinning Ones;
For my name is………
Power above me,
Power below me,
Power on my right hand,
Power behind me,
Power on my left hand,
Power before me.
In every eye, in every ear,
In every mouth, in every heart,
My magic is established.
I gird myself and my Tribe with ninefold magic;
The Fire, the Well, the Tree, the Land, the Sky, the Sea,
the Gods, the Dead, the Sidhe (”shee”)
Dwell with me and in me
With my Tribe and in my Tribe
Forever
So be it !
By Evermore Raven
I saw this some time ago and it was titled “A Message From The Goddess”
It originated from the oratory of Epictetus a Roman born Greek Slave and Stoic. 55ad - 135 ad
I SHALL NOT CARRY YOU NOR HINDER YOU, NOR KEEP YOU FROM HAVING THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES AS MY OTHER CHILDREN. YOU ARE FREE AND SHALL NOT BE CODDLED LIKE BABES IN A STORM. IF YOU HAVE TRUE DEVOTION AND DESIRE THEN ANY OBSTACLE SHALL BE OVERCOME.
By Evermore Raven
The writer’s craft is not my forte, so if over the years I do happen to bring you to tears by slaying the English language, I will apologize well ahead of time. What I do hope to bring is some small bit of enjoyment and share some of what I discover with you.
To start; a brief explanation of the name might shed a little light on what roads we might venture upon. Evermore is what I heard when, years ago I listened to a recording of Poe’s “Raven” I was certain that the line was “Quoth the raven evermore” some time later I saw a printed version and was so certain that what I had heard originally was correct, that I looked for another copy so I could point out the obvious printing error. Obviously I was wrong, still I thought that Evermore sounded quite correct, and would have written to Poe suggesting the change. Poe though had apparently left this world content with what he had written.
“and my soul from out that shadow that
lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted-Nevermore.”
Shall be lifted-Evermore…(I still kinda like that)
I shall use Evermore to distinguish this Raven from Poe’s Raven. This Raven is in the process of re-reading works that I first visited long ago. I am finding that there is much that I had not gleaned from the works of Gerald Gardner, Doreen Valiente, Janet and Stuart Farrar, and others. The first surprise that I have had is that the Rituals that are presented in the older style of English, now seem more vibrant and powerful. They flow smoothly and hold more meaning for me than they did years ago. Back then I was not completely comfortable using ‘thee’ and ‘shalt’ and other wordings, now I feel the connection that forms when words, incantations, and forms have been used millions of times. There seems to be an energy created and we can tap into that specific pattern when we do use those rites. I do look forward to doing so. The ‘old words’ are also beginning to become clearer and easier for me to speak. I will present the oldest and this that follows is from Doreen Valiente’s book “Witchcraft For Tomorrow” page 163
A note Upon the Words of Power
ABRAHADABRA is the true version of the ancient Word of Power, of which the popular ‘abracadabra’ as used by conjurers is just a faint and far-off echo. It is a word of eleven letters, five vowel-sounds and six consonants, signifying the Great Work, the union of the Microcosm (five, the pentagram), with the Macrocosm (six, the hexagram). Its Cabbalistic numeration is 418, and much more elucidation of it will be found in the Qabalah of Aleister Crowley. It is the numerical equivalent of ATh IAO ‘the essence of IAO’ and also its digits added together, 4+1+8, add to 13, the Witches’ number, the Cabbalistic equivalents of which are Achad, ‘Unity’ and Ahbah, ‘Love’.
It also contains the meanings of ‘the voice of the Chief Seer’ and ‘Speak the Blessing’.
IAO is the ancient magical name of the Supreme God, containing both the masculine and feminine elements within Itself.
Namaste, Evermore
By Wayland Raven
Mid-Summer already? Time is racing by as usual. We are all so busy in our lives that it is a wonder that we can stop and slow down to get centered again. I know I have that problem.
Along with the wedding that I performed, the open gathering and being Captain of a paddle wheeler Sunday night, the Viet Nam Memorial Wall was in Genesee County and I had to be there as often as I could be. One of my best friends is on that Wall and each time it has come to Michigan I print off his photo and put it by panel 41 so that people see a face to put with the name Rodney Roat. After I left the open gathering I stopped by the Wall again, this time wearing my red shirt with the pentacle and the words “Tried By Fire, 21st Century Witchcraft.” There are veterans from a number of wars who help support the project and nobody even blinked at my shirt. I wore it in honor of Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart, 113th Aviation, D company, Mustangs, of the Nevada National Guard, who gave his life for his country. He was killed in action in Operation Enduring Freedom when the helicopter he was in was shot down in Afghanistan by Al Quada terrorists. It was Sgt. Stewart who was used by Circle Sanctuary to obtain the right of Wiccans and Pagans to have the pentacle placed on military headstones.
To me our Coven of the Raven open gatherings are a focus for community in Southeast lower Michigan. I am always amazed at the good people who join us and enjoy the openness of our fire. While we should all have pride in our covens and traditions it is clear to me that we must always be mindful of how these organization should lift us, not separate us. Over the years we have made steadfast friends with people who are not affiliated with the Ravens and we are better for it.
I try to get around to everyone at the gatherings, new friends and old. I am not always successful, but sometimes it actually works. I was so glad to visit with our new friends from Saginaw. I am pleased when the word gets around and people make their way to those beautiful woods to share our ritual, food and friendship. That is the way it should always be.
Between gatherings I hope everyone will join us on our forums, blogs and chat rooms. There are also many links to other people and organizations and if you would like your organization placed there, just send a message to our Webmaster. If you know of events or issues of importance to the greater Pagan community, please let us know.
If you want to contact any of our members, you can send them a message on the site. They will be happy to hear from you. I can be reached on the site or at WaylandRaven@GMail.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Enjoy your summer and we hope to see you at Samhain.
Wayland Raven
By Wayland Raven
Through some very hard work and creativity, members of our Coven of the Raven family have established this new website to help be a link to our outer circle people who have joined us for our Open Gatherings or who know us through some of our coven work. You will find information here about those gatherings and other events we may learn about.
You will find that even though you are not members of the coven there are areas you can participate in, read and view. We welcome you and hope you check back often. I am hoping that there will be blogs from our members, many of them very insightful people.
We want the greater pagan community to become connected and have a sense of unity no matter what our various Trads or covens are. This new site will give you a window into our Raven Craft family.
Again, welcome and please feel that you are part of our extended family.
Wayland Raven - High Priest
Coven of the Raven
RavenMyst Tradition
By Wayland Raven
Hello friends of Coven of the Raven,
My dear friend Diane Lonsway has harassed me for the last several years to go to the Florida Pagan Gathering with her. This year she cut to the chase, bought my plane ticket, made arrangements for me to stay in her room, even bought all of my meals. There was no way I could refuse. I moaned and groaned about traveling, being away from my business, all of my usual fretting. She frankly didn’t care. I was going, bitching or not. I am glad that I did.
This year FPG had a true gathering of Elders. Not only was my pal Edain McCoy there, who I surprised because she didn’t know I was coming, they also featured Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone, Gavin and Yvonne Frost, Selena Fox and Issac Bonewitz among others. Diane and I discussed the possibility of doing a video interview of Janet Farrar while she was here from Ireland. From that first discussion it evolved that we would try to interview all of the various Elders and we ended up getting most of them. What an honor to sit down on camera with the giants of our faith. Diane is putting the video together and we are hoping that she will be able to offer some of the videos through her www.paganvideos.com If you have any questions about the videos or want to thank her for taking poor, pitiful, bitching, moaning Wayland Raven to Florida for one of the most remarkable times of his life, you can email her at ddolph1n@yahoo.com
During the course of my interviews there was one common theme that kept coming from these Elders. When I asked Gavin Frost how the Craft today compares with the early days of neo-paganism he said, “It is disastrous.” He sited witch wars, polarization between traditions and covens, arguments within the pagan community and some of the hateful feelings that have been created simply because of spiritual differences. “We never had any of that before.” At one of our meals Gavin got up and impromptu addressed the crowd. “You have seen all of the various elders who are together at this gathering. We have had many differences over the years. Have you seen how happy we are to be together. How we treat each other? Do you goddamned get it???” He then sat down and for a few moments it was silent and then there was applause. It is a good lesson for all of us who have covens, traditions, are solitary or have anything that might in one way or another separate us. Our Craft family, our pagan friends… we all have more in common together than the differences. We need to keep our eye on the love between us.
There are many photographs at www.flapagan.org under New Photos.
Wayland Raven
By Wayland Raven
It seems that lately I have fielded conversation about death and distance. Death, physical death of people we have loved. Distance, of those who were part of our life, part of our breath and then gone to another place. Each is a mystery. The physical death is the most difficult to deal with, although distancing is something tenuous and not so definite.
For those of you who have lost friends and family, especially at this time of the year when the earth becomes fertile again, I send my blessings. I wish I had the magic words that would make things better, but I don’t. I just listen, ponder, love and take your sorrow into my heart.
Life is a circle, small circles, large circles, and each one coming back in one way or the other. We cannot control these things anymore than we can wade into a river and stops its course. We can only hope that the current ultimately takes us somewhere peaceful, where memory is our friend and hope is our companion.
Wayland Raven
O I can see the faces there - many ages, many colors-
as they gaze far away into the evening.
There are friends that I know and so many, many others,
and they’re eager for the journey to begin.
Some have come there with their loves, some have come alone;
they all embrace in the light and in the shadow.
And we say our farewells, with our arms around each other,
and you tell me I will see you again.
And you tell me I WILL see you again.
Well, I am happy for you then,
on your journey toward a new home,
but, when I wake, all that I know
is: you are gone.
And I can dream you in that place -
laughing, smiling, healthy, and strong,
but when I wake, all that I know
is: you are gone.
Some days, tears are all I have,
some days, anger and despair,
and sometimes, dreams are all I have
since you are gone.
You are gone.
So fly away, my love, on that violet ship of beauty,
fly away thought the night to the morning,
fly away, my love, on the silken, purple sails,
fly away through the darkness to the dawn.
Fly away into the night,
fly away into the stars,
fly away into the dawn,
to lovers’ arms.
