Go Where You Feel The Most Alive

The god Lugh was worshiped in Ireland as a deity of the sun. This connection with the sun may explain his name (it means “shining one”), and it also may account for the attributes that he displayed: he was handsome, perpetually youthful, and had a tremendous energy and vitality. This energy manifests itself especially in the number of skills he had, according to legend, mastered. In fact, there was a tale that related Lugh’s myriad abilities at arts and crafts.

As told in the Battle of Magh Tuiredh, the god traveled to Tara, and arrived during a tremendous feast for the royal court. Lugh was greeted at the door by the keeper of the gate, and was immediately asked what talent he had - for it was a tradition there that only those who had a special or unique ability could enter the palace. The god offered his reply: “I am a wright”. In response, the gate keeper said: “We already have a wright. Your services are not needed here”. Still, Lugh, not to be so easily dismissed, continued: “I am a smith”. Again, the guard retorted that the court had a smith that was quite adequate; but the god was not to be dissuaded. In short order, he noted that he was also a champion, a harper, a hero, a poet, an historian, a sorcerer, and a craftsman. To this list, the gate keeper merely nodded his head, and stated matter of factly that all of these various trades were represented in the court by other members of the Tuatha de Danaan. “Ah, but you do have an individual who possesses all of these skills simultaneously?”, was Lugh’s clever and inspired reply. The guard was forced to admit his defeat, and so Lugh was allowed to enter and join the festivities.

According to Celtic mythology, Lugh was the son of Cian and Ethlinn. After the god Nuada was killed in the Second Battle of Magh Tuiredh, Lugh became the leader of the Tuatha De Danaan (the term for the gods and goddesses who descended from the goddess Danu).

Does anyone else on the pagan community feel genuine love for their deities? Not in the romantic sense, but more in the way you love a family member. It's especially strong coming from a religion where you never felt a genuine connection to "your" God. You felt fear, obligation, confusion, curiosity, and maybe love on some level, but this love is different.

It is finally understanding the feeling people around you described from being in church every Sunday. It's growing up finding the congregation's hands in the air, the singing and crying, the raw emotion to be... unusual, strange. What were they feeling? How can I feel this way? You try to forge that connection, but you're never successful. You start to doubt the God you grew up with. You wonder if he hates you, or if you're not trying hard enough — if you're broken.

...Then, one day, you find what you've been searching for all this time, somewhere else. You experience the feeling of finally meeting your soulmate, finally finding your place or your tribe. You experience the pure joy, the peace, the childlike wonder, the longing, the wisdom, the bond, the reverence, the admiration. You experience an unfamiliar tightness In your chest when you pray to them or make offerings.

I've never felt more in love than I am with my gods. Ive never felt more at home, more at peace.

I hope to feel this way for the rest of my days, because what is life without the gods? What is life without something beyond this world, yet at the same time, an integral part of understanding the meaning of existence on this physical plane — on this planet?

“i don’t like writing about my day, but i want to keep a journal”:

quotes and copywork. when reading, if you find something you enjoy, just copy it into the notebook. you can copy a whole chapter if you wish, highlighting what caught your attention the most.

definitions. look up on a dictionary and copy it. you could write your own dictionary as well, making up definitions for words.

lists. a classic, write movies to watch, books to read, the playlist of the month or just the groceries you have to buy.

maps. when going somewhere, you could draw the route you took or just a map of the place itself. just look up the place on google maps and copy it. you can draw a little map of all the places you have lived or the schools you have attended as well.

photos

take “notes” as you watch movies / documentaries. write down phrases that caught your attention or doodle.

illustrations and clippings. if you see an image or piece of art that you liked, put it in your journal. if it’s from a book or from a magazine I would recommend scanning it, tho’. it will serve as a record of what kind of art you enjoy through the years.

newspaper clippings from the day.

tickets and pamphlets. from movies, museums, transportation.

postcards

records. you could record for a month what the temperature was when you woke up and when you went to sleep. if you do that for a year, it gives you a better notion of the passing of seasons. you could record rainfall and other seasonal changes as well. you could choose something (an animal, a plant, an item or object) and write down every time you see it.

rubbings of leaves, coins, landmarks.

count. there’s a scene in the movie Coraline (2009) where Coraline’s dad tells her to go count the windows. you could do the same type of counting game if you are bored and write down.

mindmaps/sketchnotes + timelines of books, movies, music albums.

collages

pressed leafs and flowers

your collections. if you collect anything you could write down an inventory or maybe try to draw the items.

recipes. write down recipes and give it a score every time you try it. you could do the same for drinks you try out.

stickers

comic strips. you can find a bunch of it online, glue your favorites in your notebook.

Displays of physical affection in The Lord of the Rings (2001—2003)

Keiths Tower, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

What is your favourite small, painfully human gesture?

and also if we can just:

Lugh is kindness. Lugh is creativity. Lugh is vitality. Lugh is masculinity. Lugh is dicipline. Lugh is confidence. Lugh is strength. Lugh is reciprocity. Lugh is an embracing warmth.

Hail Lugh, the shining god of warriors and kings.

Morning Offering Prayer to Lugh

O Lugh,

sun shining upon me,

I offer You my prayers, works,

joys and sufferings

of this day, 

Bless me with Your wisdom, 

Your courage, Your skill, 

Forever and Always

Forever and Always 

Causeway Coastal Route (Northern Ireland)