Balancing Light & Dark
The Wild Hunt
The dark days will soon be on us and action is required. Please join us to create balance. We will journey for clearing and raising power, then engage the Wild Hunt. We balance darkness with light, engage the Faery Folk, guide the dead, or simply honor the time of year. There are different ways to participate depending on your shamanic experience and personal choice.
We offer two self-paced versions of the Wild Hunt.
2020 version; 101 minutes.
2024 version; 70 minutes.
The longer version has more background included.
Both via video from BirchGrove Hearth in Eugene, OR; Leader – Reid Hart
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Balancing Light & Dark: The Wild Hunt
This event is intended for folks with shamanic journey or sacred ritual experience who want to work with compassionate helping spirits to rebalance the powers of light and dark.
The first third will focus on preparatory journeys. Then we will raise power in this dark season and prepare for the ritual hunt and other activities. The final third will focus on the "Long journey" to engage the Wild Hunt.
Prepare for the Wild Hunt
Just find a time and space where you can be uninterrupted for about 1 to 2 hours. It is good to have space to move around.
In the preparatory journeys you will develop an intention for this year's Wild Hunt.
Have a candle, your drum or rattle, a "ritual weapon (could be your drumstick)", and an offering for the spirits.
You can connect through time to all others completing the Wild Hunt this season!
Thank you for contributing to keeping the balance between dark and light in the world!
History & Roles
According to ancient European tradition, the time between Samhain and Yule is considered a time of danger when raiders from the Otherworld create chaos and ill fortune for the men, women, and animals of this world. Fierce winter spirits approach. Green spirits of fertility decline into their annual winter torpor. The fairy hosts visit and scavenge our world in their seasonal journey to change dwellings. The Lords of the Dead conduct wild rides to round up the wandering ghosts who have died and not yet crossed over into the next life.
Download the article below for more background.
Traditionally Europeans have participated in these awesome nights by waging ritual warfare with the dark forces, making a stand for life and the survival of the human spirit and forces of life. They used shamanic flight and combat to oppose the forces that bring death each winter and to assist suffering beings trapped in the chaos between the worlds and the seasons. Roles include:
- Meeting or dancing with the Faery
- Helping the Dead
- Balancing or clearing the World
- Bringing Light
- Ritual battle with the Fomorians, or powers of darkness
The Evil Fomorians
Download this article by Tom Cowan on the Fomorians (Irish dark Spirits). It provides background on the players in the Wild Hunt.
Download Article on the Fomorians
Engage the Wild Hunt
We act as warriors, to create a balance between light and dark so we can move forward into winter in a place of love and joy and brilliance. While the dark forces are ominous and dark, they are not seen as evil. They are respected as the dark half of light; yet inaction will lead to being swallowed by the dark. It is important for the forces of light to take a stand. We assert life to maintain the balance. So you are not invited to a fight between good and evil, but to stand for the balance between dark and light. We will explore this further in the preparatory journeys.
Choose one of the two videos below and click on the video to enter the Wild Hunt!
Thank you for contributing to keeping the balance between dark and light in the world!
2020 Video Timestamps (101 min)
0:00 Introduction
4:30 Purpose/Roles
8:15 Group Drumming
12:40 Call in Spirits
21:00 The Cairn
38:10 Background; Soul Hiding
>>> Start Here after call in if Experienced
45:36 Soul Hiding journey
47:36 Instruction Wild Hunt Journey
48:52 Blessing for Wild Hunt/Final Intention
50:48 Break (5 min)
55:20 Final Intention
1:03:08 Raise Power & Long Journey
1:35:35 Celebrate & Retrieve soul part
1:41:03 Completion
2024 Video Timestamps (70 min)
0:00 Introduction; Initial Drumming
04:31 Call in Spirits
11:50 Purpose/Roles
18:05 Fomorians/Tuathe te Dannan
26:37 The Cairn
33:09 Soul Hiding journey
38:13 Raising Power; Under Earth Song
43:37 Wild Hunt Journey
1:05:32 Retrieve soul part; Grief; Celebration
1:09:45 Completion
