This blog has been in existence for a year and a day, so every pagan will understand why I have to put something on it today, whatever.

My last posting was about the official denial to the widow of a Wiccan veteran to allow that his religious symbol, a five pointed star inside a circle, be placed next his name on a memorial wall. There were some 40 other religious symbols on the ‘approved’ list, but not one for a religion that has our ignorant president's disapproval.

Well, here is a short review of another example of how ignorance among officials reacts on those they are supposed to be helping. Forest Fisher is an inmate under the jurisdiction of the Virginia Department of Corrections. Many of the inmates of course are Christians, Muslims and Jews. They are allowed to wear their religious symbols of cross or crucifix, (many varieties), hand of Fatima or Allah, and the Star of David. But Forest is a member of Asatru. Look up Asatru on the Web. These people worship the gods of Ancient Northern Europe, deities like Odhinn, Thor, Heimdahl, Frejya, and many others. There is a revival in this country of a Norse religion MUCH older than this country with its trifling couple of centuries of colonial based history. The older gods are in the DNA of everyone who speaks one of the Germanic languages, including English. Just watch their faces when you give them a set of polystone runes to handle.

June brides were a pop song cliché when I was young. But it wasn’t just because June rhymed with Moon. It is a very ancient custom. People tended to get married in June for centuries because in the old days when Beltane was celebrated as the beginning of summer in May, that month was the month in which the god and goddess were wed and conceived the divine child to be born at Yule, nine months later. (See my posting Hooray! Hooray! The first of May…Beltane 4/27/2007).

Every pagan knows about that connection. People then didn’t want to compete with the deities, and marry in May, bad luck at least and great misfortune at worst. So they waited until June to follow the marriage example. And June 21, the Summer Solstice was treated by them as Midsummer, not the beginning of summer.

Earlier this month a sixty two year old student of mine wrote a short appreciation of the Emerald Tablet for me. I was amazed at the new perspectives she brought to it. The Emerald Tablet as most of you will know is a one page summary of the most important principles of alchemy.

I learned it by heart when I began my interest in alchemy at age seventeen. I read it, contemplated it and repeated it at least once every day for ten years or so until I finally got what it meant. When I began my studies in mathematics I thought of the consummate genius Newton, who I knew was one of the last famous alchemists. I got hold of his translation and used that too. So when I read the report of my student I had thought about, read about, and contemplated the Emerald Tablet for sixty years. Her take on it was refreshing and contained all kinds of new dots and perspectives to connect.