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TWPT: Your
new book is called Celebrating the Seasons of Life:
Samhain to Ostara, let's start with an obvious question
what motivated you to write a book about the seasons
instead of some other topic?
AO: The publisher invited me
to write this book -- these books, really, 'cause there
are two of them; and I was pleased to accept.
TWPT:
Tell me about your approach to the material that
makes it different than some of the other books that
have been published about Wiccan/Pagan celebrations.
AO: Well, of course I like to
think my style is unique ... but apart from that, and
this addresses your next question, too, one difference
is that this set of books takes the old perspective
on the year, dividing it into two halves, Winter and
Summer. Beyond that, rather than focusing exclusively
on old lore or trying to talk about a wide variety of
Pagan celebrations, these focus on modern interpretations
of the Sabbats' significance, and on Anglo-Celtic celebrations.
These are also the first books, as far as I know,
to talk about Druidry and Asatru and their relationship
to Wicca and their perspectives on Wicca's Wheel of
the Year.
TWPT:
This book is different in another way, it only
covers half the year, why did you choose to break the
material up into two books with one published now and
the other one to be published in October of this year?
AO: In "the old days,"
people divided the year in half: Winter began at what
we call Samhain, and Summer began at what we call Beltane.
Marking Spring and Fall is a more recent thing, and
the full eight Sabbats that Wiccans celebrate actually
represent a combination of agricultural and astronomical
calendars. It's important to acknowledge that
our relationship to the seasons continues to develop,
and one way to appreciate that is to respect the ancient
ways; that's what giving each half of the year its own
book helps us to do.
TWPT:
Even though the seasonal calendar of the Wiccan/Pagan
year is cyclical an author still has to give glimpses
of each celebration individually, is it difficult for
you to be able to explain one season/celebration without
including the preceding or the following season as a
reference point?
AO: Our culture has trained us
well to see the seasons and events of our lives as isolated,
so in some ways it's easy to think about each Sabbat
individually, and in some ways, remembering that we
do need to relate each Sabbat to those that precede
and follow it, and to its complement across the Wheel,
is the tricky bit. Writing these books was really
a refreshing experience for me, one that let me re-emphasize
for myself as well as for my readers the cyclical nature
of our calendar, and of our lives. ~Now~ it's
much more difficult for me to explain one Sabbat without
referring to the others, and I consider that a blessing.
TWPT:
Was there a reason for starting with Samhain through
Ostara instead of the other way around?
AO: Samhain is our new year,
so it made sense to us to start there.
TWPT:
What kinds of research go into creating a couple
of books like Celebrating the Seasons of Life?
AO: The research I did falls
into three broad categories.
First, there's what you might call "market research,"
checking to see what other books there are about Wiccan
Sabbats, how they're organized and what approach they
take, what material they include. That kind of
research also involves getting a feel for what people
think of the books already available, what they like
about them, and how they'd like them to be different.
The next kind of research is more or less cultural,
and ranges through Wicca's history and heritage. I
got to review a lot of folk material, and because Wicca
shares a cultural heritage with Asatru and Druidry,
I got to learn more about those two religions. Finally,
I did some broader religious and psychological research,
scholarly material that is relevant to the study of
any religion.
TWPT:
Were these books written with a particular reader
in mind? Advanced, beginner or just an introductory
level study of the seasons.
AO: Because these books take
a slightly different perspective than most books about
Wiccan Sabbats, I think they'll interest a wide range
of readers. They're good for beginners because
they include practical material -- Samhain to Ostara,
for instance, has complete directions for casting and
conducting a Circle, instead of talking about an unreferenced
"usual way." They're good for experienced
Wiccans because they include material and perspectives
that you don't find in other books, so no matter how
much you already know, you'll find something interesting,
to make you think or enhance your practice. And
they're good for people who are just curious because
they put what Wiccans do in context, not only historically
but culturally.
TWPT:
Do you feel that modern Wiccans/Pagans are as
in touch with the cycles of life as they should be?
How could someone use your books to help them reestablish
some connections to the Earth in their lives?
AO: The impression I have is
that a lot of people would like to explore new and additional
ways of being in touch with the cycles of life. Whether
that's because they're looking for more ways to express
the connections they already feel, or because they want
to connect in more meaningful ways than they do, they'll
find some ideas in Celebrating the Seasons. There
are ideas ranging from profound to playful, and all
of them can be adapted to a variety of circumstances,
from urban to wild.
And I hope that my great joy in the relationship
I have to the Earth --as physical planet and as spiritual
entity -- is something that readers can share in these
books, and something that will spark a similar joy in
their hearts and minds.
TWPT:
Do you feel that a person who belongs to a group
or coven has more opportunity to celebrate the seasons
than someone who functions as a solitary and has to
rely on him or herself to be the sole motivator for
observing the seasons?
AO: Oh, I wouldn't say that the
smell of jasmine or citrus blossoms in the spring, or
the shapes we can see in clouds, or the refreshment
of a rainstorm, or the warmth of a fire, motivates covens
more than it does solitaries. I think we all observe
the seasons in our own ways, consciously or subconsciously.
I do think it's best to be conscious of what we
hold holy, and of the ways we acknowledge what's sacred
in our lives. I think a solitary has just as many
opportunities to celebrate the seasons as a covener
does; it's just that they're different opportunities.
Unless s/he has a tape recorder, for instance,
a solitary can't turn a chant into a round. On
the other hand, coveners don't have the same freedom
to depart from the planned ritual if the spirit moves
them. In the two volumes of Celebrating, I've
not only created rituals for covens and for solitaries,
but I've talked a little about the ways that rituals
can be modified for the number of people who're doing
them -- because the essence of worship and celebration
is the same for all of us.
TWPT:
Your book takes a look at the history and original
customs of all of the seasons you cover in your
books, why is it important that we know about where
these celebrations come from and how they used to observe
them?
AO: In contrast to religions
based on revelation, Wicca's a religion of experience.
History ~is~ experience, experience that we can
share in many ways. When we can become aware of
the way our predecessors understood what they did, we
can expand our own understanding of what we're doing.
When we know -- and whether we know historically
or romantically -- what a Sabbat celebration used to
mean, its modern meaning has more depth, more richness,
and we have more ways of feeling connected to our past
and our present. If we know the old stories, we
can turn them into new stories, stories about us that
are still about our ancestors. In turn -- and
that's what these books are about, the turning of the
Wheel in the sacred spiral dance -- all of that creates
more ways for us to connect with the future.
TWPT:
How do you go about integrating something from
the past in a meaningful way with the practices of the
present?
AO: I try to understand the ...
practical symolism, if you will, of older rituals, and
see what current symbols correspond. Now that
most of us have central heating, we don't need a real
fire to stay warm through the Winter any more, and few
of us need it to keep the predators away. But
even if keeping people warm and safe were the most important
things a fire did for our ancestors, they're not the
only thing fire did for them, and it can do some of
the same other things for us, too. We still like
the way a fire looks and sounds, and you can still see
well enough by a fire or glowing embers not to trip
over the cat.
Many of us still like the way heat from flames feels
better than we like the way hot air from a vent feels.
You can't roast weenies or marshmallows over a
heat vent, either, and telling stories around a heat
vent isn't very cozy.
Life may have changed a lot since the old days --
and things are changing so fast now, the old days don't
even have to be that long ago --but people haven't changed
all that much. We still need food and shelter
and companionship and we still need to know that we
belong, that we're loved, and that our love matters
to other people. We still want to know why we're
here and what happens when we die. What we eat
and where we live and our answers to those questions
will differ according to our faith and culture, but
we still depend on heat and light and rain and the ground
being solid under our feet, on night and day and the
turning of the Wheel, on the cycle of birth and growth
and death and rebirth.
Staying aware of that is how we link the past to
the present, and how the future will meaningfully integrate
our time and ways. I think that's what celebrating
the seasons is all about.
TWPT:
One of your more recent books was called Raising
Witches and was about teaching the Wiccan faith to children,
in regards to Celebrating the Seasons of Life how is
it that you include your children in the seasonal celebrations
in a meaningful way?
AO: Appendix B in both books
is about what children are ready to learn about each
Sabbat. These appendices are based on the same
five st/ages of growth that were featured in Raising
Witches. We start with infancy and go through
early childhood, later childhood, adolescence, and young
adulthood. The suggestions offered are based on
what I've learned over the years, and through research,
about child development. Parents will know which
of the ideas will work for their kids, where they live,
and need to keep in mind that each age group covers
several years; ideas you can use with a five year old
need modification for the two-year-old who's in that
same "early childhood" age group. In
both books, though, I do stress that it's important
to find your own way of involving your children in your
religion. I understand that some families need
to be cautious of their families' and community's responses
to Paganism, but I think it's unconscionable to exlcude
our children from our celebrations of what we hold sacred.
TWPT:
As a way of summing up Celebrating the Seasons
of Life what is it that you would like the reader to
take away with them after they have finished your book?
Any other thoughts about this book and the upcoming
companion volume that you would like to share with our readers?
AO: Inspiring everything I write
is the absolute certainty that we are all belovéd of
the God/dess, that it takes all of us to turn the Wheel.
It's not that the Earth wouldn't revolve around
the Sun, not that Spring wouldn't follow Winter, if
we don't get off our couches and out of our excuses
and celebrate the seasons of life. It's just that
--we do believe in reincarnation, but we never come
back as someone we've already been --we are all the
only one of us there'll ever be. We all
belong here, dancing the spiral dance around the Wheel
-- and there's nobody who can't find some way to celebrate
the seasons of life.
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