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 ‘Paganism’ 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 [...]
Full Moon Esbat Ritual
Posted in Archives #4 Pagan Thoughts and Writings, Divination, Empowerment, Healing, Magick, Paganism, Poetry/Prose, Ritual, Spirituality, witchcraft, Women's Spirituality on Wednesday March 7 2012 | 2 Comments »
Tomorrow is BOTH a Full Moon…and International Women’s Day. Can you imagine how powerful the energies of the day might be? So why not take advantage of such and do a ritual to raise and send out that energy on behalf of women everywhere? To do so can be especially important at a time when [...]
Nature Is the Best Teacher…
Posted in Archives #4 Pagan Thoughts and Writings, Earth Day, Eco-Psychology, Empowerment, Healing, Nature, Paganism, Spirituality, witchcraft, Women's Spirituality on Monday February 27 2012 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve been feeling a bit “out of sorts” lately. Some of it could be attributed to the seasonal cabin fever that we all tend to get around this time of the year, although in reality this has been a rather mild winter here in the Midwest. I think it’s just that I’ve been a little [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
A Winter Solstice Ritual
Posted in Archives #2 On Being Deaf and Pagan, Archives #4 Pagan Thoughts and Writings, Deaf/Hearing Relations, Deaf/Pagan Relations, Equal Communication Access, Interpreting, Paganism, Ritual, Sabbats, Sign Language, Spirituality, The Yule Series, witchcraft on Wednesday December 21 2011 | 1 Comment »
photo by johnivara SpiritWolf steps forward and in voice and sign calls all the members to the Circle: The wheel of the year turns on taking us from season to season one to the next. Life and time moving endlessly, it is as it will be, without beginning or end. And so it has brought [...]
Yule Series II – “The Holly King vs. The Oak King”
Posted in Archives #4 Pagan Thoughts and Writings, Irish/Celtic, Nature, Paganism, Ritual, Sabbats, The Yule Series, witchcraft on Tuesday December 20 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Because this post seems to be quite popular with my statistics right now, I thought I would copy it and bring it back for this year as a special Solstice treat for the Friends of the Crossroads. Enjoy it, and may you have a blessed Winter Solstice! Any discussion of the Winter Solstice and holly [...]
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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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