~ THE TURNING OF THE WHEEL ~
MAY DAY / BELTANE / WALPURGISNACHT 2009

: STILL A FEW AVAILABLE :

Limited Edition Leatherbound Hex Collection

This complete collection of all four issues of Hex magazine, is beautifully bound in leather by Jason H. Craban. Each magazine is stitched with linen into the spine of this sturdy and handsome handmade case. The binding lays flat for ease of reading, and is held closed by a leather strap. The edition is limited to 13, all numbered, and signed by the artisan and editors of Hex. It features the first two issues which are now out-of-print and unavailable as well as the third and fourth issues which are nearly sold out as well.

IF YOU WANT TO PURCHASE A COPY
REPLY TO arrowyn@hexmagazine.com WITH YOUR ORDER.

First come, first serve!

If you are one of the lucky ones, when your email is received, you will be notified, and sent an invoice through PayPal to complete the purchase of your copy.

Each leatherbound copy is $100 + shipping

All proceeds go to Hex Press to support its continued effort to provide folks with an excellent volunteer-based, community-supported, not-for-profit publication.

: ALSO AVAILABLE :

Limited Run of Issues 1 and 2

I decided to cave in to public pressure and sell half the extra copies of Issues 1 and 2 individually! There are only 10 each and… THESE ARE THE LAST COLOR COPIES OF THESE ISSUES THAT WILL BE PRINTED! THAT’S IT. IT’S FINAL.

IF YOU WANT TO PURCHASE A COPY
REPLY TO arrowyn@hexmagazine.com WITH YOUR ORDER.

First come, first serve!

If you are one of the lucky ones, when your email is received, you will be notified, and sent an invoice through PayPal to complete the purchase of your copy.

Each copy is $15 + shipping

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May Pole (circa 1907). source: www.victoriantraditions.com

Spring Break ~ Heathen Style

Today’s college students aren’t the first people to celebrate spring break. For Heathens, the time around early May has always been time for a break. The fall garden crops are in full production or just beginning to wane; many of the early summer crops have been started; and the poultry are nearly back to full production. The larger livestock are also delivering babies…often in the middle of the night during a rain storm, says my friend. For the Heathen Hearth it’s also a time for visiting neighbors, bonfires, May Poles, pot luck moots, remembering folkways, and just maybe a taste of last summer’s fruit based mead – which should be ready to bottle if it hasn’t been already.

Today in the US the May Pole is a pretty standard concept, a pole with ribbons hanging from the top that are woven together in a May Pole Dance. Sometimes at this time of year we see schools and churches giving public May Pole performances. European May traditions, however, were and are, far more varied—even from neighborhood to neighborhood. They involve witches who revel in the night, rituals designed to restore good luck and health, and days filled with activities such as the crowning of May Kings and Queens, or choosing a May bride and bridegroom.

In Germany, the night before the first of May is called Walpurgisnacht, and is said to be a time when witches gathered around hilltop fires in the night to welcome spring and spirits or wights from the other worlds. Then on May 1st many folk traditions involved chasing out those same witches and wights! One could speculate that the witches and the rest of the townsfolk were actually one and the same. May Day activities culminated at about sunset with lots of noise making such as that made by cracking whips, ringing cow bells, blowing bulls horns, singing, and making a general racket to scare away the perceived threat of gathered witches in the area as they watched out for them through the first night of May around bonfires.

The same bonfires would later be used to scare away any illness or bad luck that might be attached to the farm animals, perhaps by the witches. The animals might be driven between two fires or through the smoke of a fire to cleanse and heal them. The people would also cleanse themselves with the fire, often by jumping over the flames.

Other areas of Heathen Europe also celebrate this time of year, in one way or another. In Sweden, Walpurgis is celebrated with bonfires and the use of fresh greenery to decorate doorways and windows. Here the use of a pole at Midsummer is similar to that of a May Pole. In Finland it’s festival time, and in Ireland and Scotland it’s time for Beltane – another festival celebrated with bonfires and greenery.

May poles were Heathen long before the schools and churches took up the dance. These poles might be associated with the world tree Yggdrasil and certainly reflect the magic of the Vanir Gods and Goddesses. Sometimes a pole would be collected, receive various degrees of decoration, and then be erected in a prominent area as a group effort. Today May Poles in Germany are sometimes made of metal and the decoration often reflects some of the businesses in town; older poles were made of trees with evergreen being a popular choice. In older times poles might also be kept year after year while in other places they might be placed into the evening bonfire.

For the Heathen Household deciding how to observe Walpurgis Night and May Day should start with a look into folklore and realizing there is no “one way” and that our own ways of observing the turning of the seasonal wheel should grow and change with our knowledge.

For Walpurgis Night enjoy a bonfire, either outside around a fire pit, inside at the fireplace hearth or if these options aren’t available light a candle or two or three. Then spend some time in meditation or tap into whatever Heathen mystical pursuits you favor with the goal of accessing information about the future.

Then on May Day scare away any bad luck or ill-meaning wights from the homestead. At dusk start a bonfire, use friction or flint if you can, pull out your bulls’ horn or cow bells, or anything else you think might startle and scare away those wights. Perhaps fall back on a Yule tradition and cleanse the home with the fire by carrying it around to clear out negative energy and wights, either inside, outside or both.

Then later on the first day of May, when others can join you, celebrate with a May Pole Dance. This year the full moon falls on May 9 and our small but growing group of neighborhood Heathens will gather here on that day. Neighbor being an operative word; if they think the drive is worth it then they are neighbors! The neighbors will bring great food and drink and the excitement of gathering with others, which will be as genuine as it was generations ago. Later we’ll all grab a ribbon or two and dance round the pole, with a dip and a rise, a dip and a rise. The dance seems almost an imitation of the sun and moon as they dip and rise through the seasons of earth. The friendships, the folkways, the turning of the seasons, all bring the magic of the old ways back into our lives. Enjoy the magic; it’s a medicine better than any pill.

~Teresa “Hedgewife” Luedke

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IMPORTANT HEX ANNOUNCEMENTS

The narrative subject for the Fall issue of Hex is…What I learned from my grandparents. Send your experiences to submissions@hexmagazine.com. These are due on the Summer Solstice.

I am opening an invitation to participate in a collection that will go up on the new website called Altared Spaces. I am trying to collect a series of photographs of people’s altars and also spaces or environments that have been altered to make a sacred space. There is currently no due date, you can just send photos with a brief description, and your name to: altars@hexmagazine.com

Thank you all for your continued support and involvement with Hex!

~ cheers, Arrowyn

Until Summer Solstice, may you and your
household be blessed and kept. Hail!
~ HEX Magazine

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