No discussion of May Day or Beltaine would be complete without mentioning one of the iconic symbols of the day – the maypole. There is no solid information to tell us exactly where or when the maypole originated. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes, who lived in the 1600’s, suggested that it dated back to the [...]
Archive for the ‘Art & Literature’ Category
Dancing the Maypole – A History of Beltane/May Day, part three
Posted in Archives #5 Fire Walk With Me, Art & Literature, Herbs, Irish/Celtic, Magick, Music, Nature, Paganism, Poetry/Prose, Ritual, Sabbats, Spirituality, Uncategorized, witchcraft on Tuesday May 1 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Gather Your Blossoms – A History of Beltaine/May Day, part two
Posted in Archives #4 Pagan Thoughts and Writings, Art & Literature, Herbs, Irish/Celtic, Music, Nature, Paganism, Poetry/Prose, Ritual, Sabbats, Spirituality, witchcraft on Monday April 30 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Our discussion of Beltaine and May Day festivities up to this point have focused on the supernatural danger of the day and the need for fire rituals to ward it off. Let us now focus on the more celebratory rituals that ushered in the Summer season. Around the year 1240 a bishop in England complained [...]
Leaping Over the Bonfire – A History of Beltaine/May Day, part one
Posted in Archives #4 Pagan Thoughts and Writings, Art & Literature, Beasts and Animals, Irish/Celtic, Nature, Paganism, Ritual, Sabbats, witchcraft on Sunday April 29 2012 | 2 Comments »
In order for us to fully understand and appreciate the celebrations of May Day, it becomes necessary to travel to different countries and observe both the old customs of ancient civilizations, and the modern-day reinterpretations of such customs by the various groups of today. To better grasp the overall concept of May Day; its importance [...]
A Deaf Artist Paints the Mother Earth
Posted in Archives #2 On Being Deaf and Pagan, Archives #3 A Deaf Pagan Shares, Art & Literature, Creating Accessibility, Deaf/Hearing Relations, Deaf/Pagan Relations, Deafness, Earth Day, Eco-Psychology, Equal Communication Access, Nature, Paganism, Sign Language, Spirituality on Wednesday February 15 2012 | 4 Comments »
The Deaf Community lost a very special friend recently with the death of Chuck Baird. Chuck showing some of that warm humor for which he was known Chuck was a brilliant Deaf artist especially known for his skill in incorporating aspects of Deaf Culture (particularly sign language) into his artwork. One of Chuck’s paintings, showing [...]
A Deaf Imbolc Ritual
Posted in Archives #2 On Being Deaf and Pagan, Archives #3 A Deaf Pagan Shares, Archives #4 Pagan Thoughts and Writings, Art & Literature, Creating Accessibility, Deaf/Hearing Relations, Deaf/Pagan Relations, Deafness, Equal Communication Access, Irish/Celtic, Magick, Paganism, Poetry/Prose, Ritual, Sabbats, Sign Language, Spirituality, witchcraft, Women's Spirituality on Thursday February 2 2012 | 5 Comments »
Recently I have begun corresponding with a Deaf family who has been studying about Paganism and undertaking their own spiritual journey down the Pagan Path. Both the wife and husband are Deaf, and they have three Deaf children.Together, the family has been begun celebrating the Wheel of the Year and eight Sabbats. I recently shared [...]
Finding Your Own Year Card…and What It Means (read this first!)
Posted in Archives #4 Pagan Thoughts and Writings, Art & Literature, Divination, Empowerment, Magick, Paganism, Spirituality, witchcraft, Women's Spirituality, tagged divination, major arcana, tarot on Friday January 13 2012 | 4 Comments »
Another blast from the past – now that we have started a new year, it’s time to find our year cards for 2012. What’s yours??? With this post, Ocean explains more about how to find your own Year Card. At the end of the post are links to additional posts that will explain the interpretations [...]
On the Eleventh Day of Dining…
Posted in Archives #3 A Deaf Pagan Shares, Art & Literature, Food, Music, Photography, The Yule Series on Thursday January 5 2012 | 1 Comment »
“On the Eleventh Day of Christmas my true love gave to me eleven pipers piping…” I love pasta…all kinds of pasta. So when I tried to think of what I could fix for the eleventh day, my mine went to cannelloni – which if you use a little imagination, does look a bit like the [...]
On the Seventh Day of Dining…
Posted in Archives #3 A Deaf Pagan Shares, Art & Literature, Beasts and Animals, Food, Irish/Celtic, Nature, The Yule Series on Sunday January 1 2012 | Leave a Comment »
“On the Seventh Day of Christmas my true love gave to me seven swans swimming…” Since this is a feasting song, in general all the birds mentioned in the verses have ended up being courses for the meal – although I did not necessarily take that route with my own posts here at the Crossroads. [...]
The Yule Series
Posted in Archives #4 Pagan Thoughts and Writings, Art & Literature, Beasts and Animals, Divination, Food, Herbs, Irish/Celtic, Magick, Nature, Paganism, Ritual, Sabbats, Spirituality, The Yule Series, witchcraft, Women's Spirituality on Sunday December 25 2011 | Leave a Comment »
My readers who have been following the Crossroads for awhile might recall that in the past, to celebrate the Winter Solstice, I did a month’s worth of posts entitled “The Yule Series” in which I shared information about various aspects of the season’s holiday celebrations – such topics as the meaning of solstice, the return [...]
The Yule Series – The Sun In the Greenwood
Posted in Archives #4 Pagan Thoughts and Writings, Art & Literature, Irish/Celtic, Nature, Paganism, Poetry/Prose, Ritual, Sabbats, Spirituality, The Yule Series, witchcraft on Thursday December 22 2011 | 5 Comments »
To continue to the celebration of this holiday season, I have dusted off yet another post from the past…here is another ritual, this one compliments of John and Caitlin Matthews, taken from their book “The Winter Solstice.” Merry reading, and a joyous holiday to all of the Friends of the Crossroads! Come, my readers… and [...]
The Stones, The Sun, and Solstice at Newgrange
Posted in Archives #3 A Deaf Pagan Shares, Archives #4 Pagan Thoughts and Writings, Art & Literature, Astrology, Eco-Psychology, Irish/Celtic, Magick, Nature, Paganism, Sabbats, Spirituality, The Yule Series, witchcraft, Women's Spirituality on Monday December 19 2011 | 1 Comment »
Last October, I was honored to be able to join Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone in celebrating the Sabbat of Samhain at the Hill of Ward in County Meath, Ireland. Both Janet and Gavin have played a key role in resurrecting the ancient rites of lighting the Samhain bonfires at this sacred site. The Wheel [...]
Support the Movie Project
Posted in Archives #4 Pagan Thoughts and Writings, Art & Literature, Cinema, Earth Day, Eco-Psychology, Empowerment, Equal Communication Access, Healing, Magick, Nature, Paganism, Spirituality, Universal Issues, Video Posts, witchcraft, Women's Spirituality on Tuesday August 23 2011 | Leave a Comment »
In my previous post, I introduced my readers to Starhawk, her book The Fifth Sacred Thing, and to her dream to bring this book to the silver screen. In this video, Starhawk now introduces us to her producers, as well as some beautiful artwork in the Bay area. In addition, she talks about the importance [...]
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MEET OCEAN
Ocean is the creator & manager of this blog. Born deaf into an all-hearing family, she was raised oral and attended hearing schools. Ocean began learning sign language at the ripe old age of 16, and after meeting a Deaf man began her own journey through Deafhood. She graduated from Gallaudet College (now University), and has held positions both within & outside of the field of Deaf Services.
Ocean has been a practicing Pagan for 30 years, and considers herself "an eclectic witch," with a primary focus on Celtic Spirituality, but an interest in many different areas. A skilled tarot reader, she once donated her services to help raise funds for a Domestic Violence agency. She has also done workshops on aromatherapy, herbalism, & Paganism for the Deaf Community.
As a passionate advocate, Ocean often speaks out on the need for greater access for Deaf people (Pagan or otherwise) - interpreters, captioned videos, CART, etc...and works to build bridges between the Deaf & Hearing communities.
She lives not far from her hometown on the banks of the Ohio River with her two cats, Karma & Gandalf.
To contact Ocean,
you may email her at oshginva@gmail.comMAKING CONNECTIONS
This sculpture shows the sign for "connect"...and that is what Deaf Pagan Crossroads is all about - making connections. Connections between Deafhood and Paganism, connections between the Deaf Community and the Hearing Community, connections between myself as the writer and you as the reader. I hope you will take the time to read my various posts, some of which are listed below. Welcome to the Crossroads, and I hope you make some connections here!
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