A rambling idea of devotion

You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting
You only have to left the soft animal of your body
love what it loves

 - Wild Geese, Mary Oliver

Maybe it is the pub-lover in me (not the 'spoons kind, the rural pub kind), but I can never conceptualise myself as a moderated, temperance-based, minimalist philosophy type of devotee. Of course, those that choose a monastic path will feel the opposite to me and we have a healthy amount of respect for each other (I hope!), but so much of my life is built around hearth and sharing and communality and unbridled love that devotion without indulgence seems too far removed.

I know in my path, it is impossible to separate devotion FROM indulgence. It includes good food, good drink, overindulging with friends, well stocked pack lunches on hikes, warm fires and too many blankets. It explicitly requires letting go a little, no longer having a death-grip on life. What will be, will be, everything will happen EVENTUALLY, life is a ride and I'm a passenger. Of course, not to say I let it roll by passively. I seize life with both hands knotted into it's mane and hold on for dear life. A devotion that's clean and pristine is something I can't stand, I want to be devoted with dirty fingers and a bloody mouth and look half unhinged while I scream at the sea all my loves and woes.

Perhaps it's rooted in the land, or rooted in the rebellious Celtic identity, or rooted in the systematic othering a broken state does to its marginalised peoples, or all of the above. Maybe it's the anarcho-animism, maybe its the inherent desire to be more like a beast! Maybe it's the late night winter madness when the fire is still burning too bright to look at. The Bucca would never discriminate in mazing, or madness. 

It's something I realised and truly crystallised during a camp near Stonehenge - what's the point in my life if not to get drunk and high in some freezing woods, on sacred ground, screaming at a burning effigy of parliament half naked? A deity that demands nothing concrete beyond to be the best version of yourself leaves so many pathways open to devotion. Perhaps it's Bucca Dhu's introspection that's made this spiral into base animal needs, or maybe it's fun to strip back all the fanciness of human-animals and show that maybe badgers, rats, foxes, choughs and fish have it right in the way they live to live.

Maybe I should take back the language of lunatics and madness for spirituality too, and not just the political spectrum. A lunatic is based in being driven wild by the moon and I think that's just the finest thing to be. 

21 day Newbie Devotee challenge #7

 Day 7: Discuss your UPG for your deity. What inspired those UPG? Afterwards, do a little research and try to find other popular UPG. Do you agree or disagree with that UPG, and why?

Where do I start with the UPG. Most things about the Bucca are UPG because of the previously-mentioned force synchronisation by the church.

Rook mentioned food, so food I shall start with (plus it's easy to write about!). Bucca adores fish, any and all fish, fish native to the coast of Cornwall or fish from far off places. Pie, Sushi, Sandwiches, anything. Absolutely anything.

They don't enjoy red meat so much, at least not farmed animal meat. I've offered to obtain venison or wild meat and They've seemed deeply interested in that possibility, so I wonder if it's more tied to their role as a feral deity.

They have a particular fondness for pies as a way of food prep - and of open fire/camp cooking as a devotional activity. I don't really know what the appeal of a pie is aside from a good sensory experience, but They are absolutely in love with it.

Drinks-wise (which I'm counting it along with food), They are absolutely taken by any type of alcohol, they enjoy coffee too and tea is a particular preference. I often make them a cup when I invite them to sit with me at my desk :-)

21 day Newbie Devotee challenge #6

 Day 6: Describe your least favorite story/myth that involves your deity. Why is it your least favorite? (Is it because it shows a different aspect of your deity that you don’t see often?) Try to turn that negative into a positive, and use this as a learning experience.

I am going to use this prompt as a chance to get mad about the attempted mixing of the Bucca and the folk devil - and the fact that all good or positive stories of the Bucca have been swept away and lost over time so there are only folk-devil stories left. 

There are so many of the syncronised-Bucca/Folk Devil figure being aggressive, cruel or violent that it's outright frustrating because it's only ever used in a morality play attitude rather than...about the main thing of the Bucca that is aggressive and wild and out of control which is Their aspect as a weather deity. 

A positive of the synchronisation is that there is still SOMETHING left of the Bucca rather than being wiped out of existence. 

21 day Newbie Devotee challenge #3

 Day 3 - Does your deity have any alternate names or epithets? If they do, what are they, and what do they mean? What does the name you call your deity mean?

United - (also the 'Grand' Bucca) as a whole and united being, generally invoked and worshipped this way.

Divine Androgyne - highlights their role as an equal balance of two different paired aspects.

God-Goddess - poking a little fun at the often binary separation of deities.

Dhu - Literally 'Black'. The aspect of Bucca that deals with storms, undoing, binding, emotional wellbeing, baneful magic, death, decay, introspection, binding, emotional wellbeing, harvest, solemn ancestor work, new moon, wintertide.

Androgyne Destroyer - refers to the 'destructive' aspects & the divine androgyne.

Master of Wintertide - rules winter from the 31st of October to the 1st of May.

Mother of Storms - They give rise to storms and nurture them into power.

Chief of Beasts - They care for and guide animals (especially wild or feral ones) through the harsh winter months.

Gwidder - literally 'White'. The aspect of Bucca that deals with fair weather, communication, festivals, healing, regeneration, growth, sowing of crops and seeds, mazing, birth and rearing of livestock, good fish catches, celebration, the full moon, summertide.

Fair Creatrix - highlights their responsibility for creation and growth

Mistress of Summertide - Rules from the 1st of May to the 31st of October.

Father of Calm Seas - ensures the summer seas are, for the most part, gentle and welcoming with soothing words.

King of Land - Caretakes the land and it's harvest (both domestic, foraged food and otherwise.

I enjoy calling them "my dear", it's sweet for the both of us :-)

21 day Newbie Devotee challenge #2

 Day 2 - What initially drew you to that deity? (Did they call you? Did you call them? How did you discover their identity? Etc.)

Cornwall is my home and also full of magic embedded in the landscape. When I left the county for university I immediately longed for home and it's inherent magic. I think the Bucca has been about ever since then in one way or another, from that true yearning for home. I was aware of them before that because of the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle.

Even though I was aware of both them and the presence about me after yearning hard for home, I didn't put two-and-two together until Their identity was revealed through dreams and tarot. I was hesitant to acknowledge them at first (a "why me, I'm not special" feeling). They reassured me through more dreams and small external signs before making themselves known as a vision in my bedroom in the role of a dream guardian (I have bouts of the worst night terrors). They have guided and cared for me ever since then!

Bucca Dhu and the Wintertide

As true with my previous post about Ankow, this contains a lot of UPG from my own personal workings and worship of the Bucca. For some interesting reading, Gemma Gary has the most easily accessible books on Them (though I personally disagree with the assigning of masculine titles & traits exclusively). I'll also note my other issue with a title assigned to Them by Gary - "Bucca Gam". I don't know the origin of 'Gam' as a title (but I'm certainly trying to find out), but it translates in kernewek to hunted game. Which doesn't seem fitting in my opinion, but as the post is going to be specifically about Dhu and Their aspects, it shouldn't come up!

I'll start with a shared view between myself and Gary's work that features a chapter entirely on the Bucca - Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways.

As storms come rolling in across the land, it is said that Bucca Dhu is riding. On the dark and cold nights of winter, Bucca Dhu is also described as riding a great black horse with blazing red eyes and smoky breath. Such lore surrounding Bucca Dhu is cognate with the widespread folk traditions of the Devil and Odin/Woden, as leaders of the wild hunt, which in British tradition runs along the Abbot's Way towards Cornwall; the last stop en route to the Otherworld. (Page 79)

Bucca Dhu is the storm god associated with the winter months, the inner words, introspection, dark and defensive magic and the new moon. Bucca Dhu is seen to rule from Allantide to May's eve. Both Bucca Gwidder and Bucca Dhu however are associated traditionally with mischief and unpredictability (reminiscent rather of Cornwall's remarkable and famously changeable weather. This may be seen as something of a paradox hen considering Bucca Dhu's introspective association, however introspection can take us to the deeper animalistic parts of our being. (Page 83)

 While personally I do not use Christianity or Christian parts of Cornish folk magic within my craft, and do not equate the Bucca Dhu to literally be the devil/masculine evil/witchfather (in part because I still hold spite over Methodism and Victorian sensibilities trying to 'domesticate' the Cornish - note I do celebrate some holidays that are Traditional to Cornwall that have been Christianised), there are certainly wider folkloric links between the two!

Bucca Dhu, within my practice, holds the role and titles of Androgyne Destroyer, Master of the Wintertide, Mother of Storms and Chief of Beasts (in contrast, Bucca Gwidder is the Fair Creatrix, Mistress of Summertide, Father of the Calm seas and King of the Land). I invoke Them specifically during the Wintertide to give Gwidder Their respite, and outside of that I invoke for matters of undoing, binding, emotional wellbeing and blasting (baneful magic). They are also my guide for shadow work as a matter of introspection and hold power over the solemnity of ancestor worship (Gwidder, meanwhile, is full of the joys of Spring in ancestral worship, festivals, outward workings, etc). 

To list their domains outside of their weather and animal responsibilities, I also include transformation and ritual purification in the terms of inward rites, periods of liminality, home and hearth, communication, visual arts (as opposed to Gwidder, who holds more power over written arts). They also bless the Apple Trees during Wassail and guide any rites or workings preformed over the festival period comprising of Nadelik, Candlemas, Nickanan Night up to Shrovetide. They also, in my experience, are wonderful to invoke for rights that involve Annown (though Gwidder is also wonderful for this - I'd separate them by Dhu is wonderful for Annown workings that involve introspection/answer seeking and Gwidder is perfect for Annown workings that are more about reaching out and communing). 

A more general writing about Bucca - in my own views and customs They are such uniquely Cornish deity. Unlike the Hellenic/Theoi Pantheon (which I also venerate) they are so much more local and concentrated down to just the county, it's an intense feeling to work with them...especially on ancestral burial lands. I've noted that They still hold some power in Devonshire lands, mostly the moors, but during a cross-country trip their absence was sorely felt all the way through until Scotland. I am going with the theory that the Bucca simply refuses to inhabit lands held by the English - Scotland is a fellow celtic nation with wild lands and old gods, so perhaps They felt more keen to be felt where Their nature is already understood. I can't speak to Their influence outside of Cornwall in the overseas sense - I don't tend to travel much in these covid times.

I do feel a great deal of affection for the Bucca, both combined and separated into Dhu and Gwidder. They are intimately involved with my life and it's a special gift to be given. I hold a physical piece imbued with Their energies, a hagstone on green thread (green, of course, for the powers of the land and physicality. It's also imbued with sprowl from multiple long walks across the sacred landscape.) 

The Bucca

 The Bucca, also called the Grand Bucca or simply ‘Bucca’, is a Cornish deity with very little written record of Their existence. They represent the constant change that takes place in Cornwall - the tides, weather, seasons, harvest, life, death & renewal. They also take the role of the trickster in more recent times - teasing the overly-serious, overly-rigid structures in place in Modern Cornwall.

Made of two halves (Bucca Dhu and Bucca Gwidder), the Bucca is a androgyne deity - encompassing all genders and transcending them in equal measure, referred to by myself as They/Them in english and hynn/ho in kernewek. They straddle and freely ride the line between deity and pobel vean - a folk deity confined to the Cornish landscape with far reaching influence on weather and fish. They freely move between Annown, here and Nevek, encompassing the threefold track.

To me, the Bucca presents Themself as a goat-skulled figure in black and white, though the impression is a far cry from someone looming and threatening. They carry the air of a reveller, looking for a party and friends for the night. Mazed and chaotic but all smiles, laughs, good humour and jokes. Approachable, someone to pull your hair back behind the hedge when you throw up, someone to stagger home with and to ensure you do get home. 

At the same time, Their hands speak of hard work with the soil and sea, broad shouldered and resolute like the cornish oaks or a harbour wall. Land would be traditionally given over to Them by a farmer, a corner to grow wild and harbour life which would be tended and nurtured by Them. Still, when something dies They help guide them away, and are equally responsible for conjuring up fierce and terrible storms that sink ships or dash them on rocks.

There's a lot more to Them than just this - this is more of a starting point and a way forward.