Rhyd Wildermuth

Wildfire Trump Fire destroys, and fire creates. This is as its always been, and as it always will be.

"If you require an authoritarian strongman to manifest your destiny, then that destiny was never yours in the first place.

And if a single authoritarian strongman can destroy an entire order of being, that order was never going to survive anyway."

rhyd.substack.com/p/wildfire-t...

I realise you might not have been asking for an essay response. :)

The 'hearth' part fits more with Freyja than with Diana, though, but it's possible the name comes from how you could easily create cookfires (one part literally looks like a large fireplace) at the base of some of the stones.

It appears to have been both an old druidic site to Arduinna and a later site to Freyja, so there was likely also some Dianic cult activity as well.

About 5 kilometers from my home here, a really short bike ride, is a site the Luxembourgish Franks called both the Haerdchenlei and the Freyley. The first name translates as the "hearth rocks" and the second as "Freyja's rocks." The stones there are carved with ancient ritual drawings.

And so the Franks would then perform rituals and give offerings to one of their own goddesses as well in these sites. For them, the most obvious was Freyja. So, you then see cult to Arduinna, Diana, and Freyja all in the same place.

Another fun thing. When the Franks started settling these areas after being pushed westward, they started using the very same holy sites as the Celts (they were all intermarrying, and this is usually how religions shift peacefully, with a husband and wife each bringing their own gods).

In fact, there are a few Roman references to Diana Arduinna, the Diana of the Ardennes.

That being said, there was wide cult to Diana in Trier, which was originally a Celtic city and then a Roman one, just on the edge of the Ardennes. This was at the same time, so it's quite possible the Treveri celts (who lived here and gave Trier its name) had already added her name.

That hunting goddess was Arduinna (again, the high place bit). But the bishop who is the reason why this story exists called her Diana, because he'd never been there and since Diana/Artemis is the only pagan goddess officially named in the bible, most churchmen assumed they were all Diana.

The Arduinna connection to Diana and Artemis comes via the Christians who tried to Christianize these lands. A fanatic named Walfroy the Stylite supposedly sat on a pole for weeks until the natives agreed to tear down a large statue of a hunting goddess in a "high place."

First of all, the root of Arduinna is likely the Celtic word for "high," as in "high places." Usually in ard- or ardd-. There's also a slight potential it's also related to a very old form of the word bear, which is also sometimes -ardd (seen in Arth-ur), but this is speculative.

Fun stuff here. In fact, there is indeed a relationship betweeen Artemis & Diana and Arduinna, but not via etymology.

Haha! Would have been cool. :) I was born and lived around Chillicothe, Ohio, but only up to 12 (1989 ish).

The Hostile Country And why a TikTok ban won't be enough

"The problem isn’t just that we cannot easily judge who and what should represent to us an accurate source of knowledge, but also that we don’t even have time to ask ourselves these questions before scrolling on to the next post, the next image, or the next reel."

rhyd.substack.com/p/the-hostil...

Completely understand. And thanks!

please feel free to verify this with a google search. :)

I am indeed a practicing druid. Member of OBOD, author of multiple books on paganism, and the director of publishing of a pagan publisher of books on druidry, paganism, polytheism, and others.

Hi there, I'd like to be added.

Yeah, why not?

January Letter On arbitrary rituals, gym and body stuff, and upcoming writing

"I’ll take the path of actually liking myself, in all the selves it’s been and is and will be, thanks very much."

rhyd.substack.com/p/january-le...

Lol, just for you. :)

absolutely great book, though -- as with all Graeber books, I find -- doesn't quite do what Graeber intended. Also, if you're really into Sahlins' work (the better of the two in my opinion), see his 'The New Science of the Enchanted Universe').

My best essays of 2024 A short list of my favorite works this year.

Here are my best essays of 2024.

Includes long-reads on Israel & Identity Politics, demons & schizophrenia, the "left" versus the working class, immigration, the problem of utopian socialism, how the gym changes everything, and more.

rhyd.substack.com/p/my-best-es...

Gardens Come With You... ...and also wait for you on your return

"A garden is a gathering of spirits, of old friends and new, of allies and companions. They are great, thronging crowds of voices whispering, cajoling, and summoning you to the life you summon for them..."

rhyd.substack.com/p/gardens-co...