My open blog for people who want to read my books,articles, and any other things that I might produce, keep track of storytelling engagements, listen to my less demented rantings, and generally play nice (or naughty, I'm easy... as is widely known).
Vakhraca
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One of the few benefits of social media (there are plenty enough disadvantages to it) is that you get to talk to people you'd never otherwise meet. Recently I have been chatting to a pagan man from Georgia - the country adjacent to Turkey and Armenia, not the state in America - about various aspects of religion, mythology etc. Knowing nothing whatsoever about Georgia, I decided to learn a little more about its ancient religions and traditions. I came across this story, about a boy apprenticed to Vakhraca. Not at all sure if I have pronounced the name correctly, but Vakhraca is referred to as the devil in one account. Given that he emerges from a stream, I did wonder if he might once have been the spirit of the water course.
Whatever the figure in the story was originally, the tale of shapeshifting is reminiscent of other form-changing battles between an older wizard or witch and their young apprentice. These stories crop up a lot and may well suggest some kind of initiatory process by which the novice proves their worth to the master. The chasing birds and the chicken scoffing grain directly echo the Welsh myth of Taliesin and Ceridwen.
The Ipswich Pagan Council is hosting an afternoon seminar/discussion to introduce interested newcomers to the different varieties of paganism that can be found in Suffolk. This will take place on Saturday 4th December, 12.30pm at the EEFA Centre on St Helen's Street, Ipswich. It is free to attend, refreshments will be provided (if you want to bring some lunch with you, feel free). We will look at the different traditions, theology, festivals, and moral codes found within various types of paganism. For further details see Facebook Event for Intro to Paganism
The meaning of life is a topic that has taxed the greatest (and the least able) minds since the dawn of human existence. It was brought to mind again recently in a discussion with a friend who suggested that having a meaning to one’s life was vital to good mental health. Numerous psychologists, philosophers and scholars agree both a sense of purpose, and the degree of spiritual reflection that precedes finding a purpose, are highly beneficial. It is better to have a sense of why you are here than to merely trudge from day to day in a largely pointless routine. In fact, many have argued that just having a purpose in itself is actually far more important than the exact nature of the purpose. One of the key questions in the matter of meaning is the source of that meaning and what is actually more than a linguistic nicety ~ do we discover the meaning of our lives, or create it? That is to say, is the meaning already determined (whether by a god, Wyrd, karma or anything else) and ...
The video is a reflection on the story of Demeter and her daughter Kore (later Persephone) from a Jungian point of view. This is primarily as a basis for discussion in the Suffolk Jungian Circle at the end of the month but, as ever, it might be of some interest to others as well. I have included reflections on how the myth can be understood and applied in psychological contexts from the viewpoints of Kore, her mother Demeter, and her eventual husband Hades.
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