Day: August 1, 2012

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

How much voice do we really have in our own affairs? How free are we to speak out on the things we know and believe and want to say? How much voice do we have in public affairs?

How much goes unsaid because it may be bad for business, or it might make us look foolish? How often we should speak up but think it is none of our business. How quiet we are when someone’s unethical hand does wrong?

What is it that inhibits us? Our own fears. Fear of our own ignorance, fear of losing, fear of the bugaboos we know lurk somewhere, but just aren’t sure where.

Who are the people who are free of fears? They are the individuals who govern themselves in such a manner as to have thought our their own ideas enough to be able to speak freely for themselves.

Ethics would seem to be something to ignore if you wish to be successful in business. Many people strive harder today than at any other time to divide their lives so that being seen in church is good taste, and being unethical in business proves they are shrewd. Being successful isn’t nearly as important as proving that they’ve gotten that way by the clever undoing of their opposition.

There was a time when building a better mouse trap by the most efficient methods gave us satisfaction, but too often these days we are impressed because someone is smart. Not smart with intelligence, but smart with the cunning that goes along with the jungle code of getting before someone gets you.

The person who tries to get ahead by ethical methods, and by wanting only to provide something better than is already in existence, must also be equipped to withstand ridicule.

Frankly, the race of the tortoise and the hare is still on, and while the hare is tearing around showing off its ability to be a fast runner, the tortoise is making progress, and never losing its way.

Socrates, being asked the way to honest fame, said, “Study to be what you wish to seem.” Success takes time and moral discipline, but our success will be as human beings first, and then the crown of success in business will sit easily and firmly.

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Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

Visit her web site to purchase the wonderful books by Joyce as gifts for yourself or for loved ones……and also for those who don’t have access to the Internet:

 

http://www.hifler.com
Click Here to Buy her books at Amazon.com

Elder’s Meditation of the Day
By White Bison, Inc., an American Indian-owned nonprofit organization. Order their many products from their web site: http://www.whitebison.org

Elder’s Meditation of the Day August 1

Elder’s Meditation of the Day August 1

“Everyone got to find the right path. You can’t see it so it’s hard to find. No one can show you. Each person got to find the path by himself.”

–Charlie Knight, UTE

There are certain times in our lives when a voice whispers to us. The voice doesn’t always talk. Usually we hear it best when we are sick and tired of being sick and tired. Inside of every person is the knowledge that a Supreme Being exists. Sometimes a restlessness occurs and it makes me feel I need to be doing something or I need to be going somewhere or maybe I start wondering who am I? Often when this happens, I feel lost. Inside of everyone is the natural, built-in desire to be walking the Red Road, or to be seeking a relationship with the Creator. No one can force us to make this journey. We must make this journey because we want to. This journey is not on the outside. The path is inside of ourselves. It is inside that we must begin our search.

Oh Great Spirit, help me this day to look within myself. If trouble arises, let me realize that it’s not what is going on but how I am looking at what’s going on. Give me Your power this day to conduct myself according to Your way of life.

August 1 – Daily Feast

August 1 – Daily Feast

Going fishing to the Cherokee is a na su hv s gv, and it is never a waste of time. And neither is dawdling along, or staring into space. Great people have known the wisdom of taking time to let their minds drift with the cork on a fishing line. Who is to say that sitting quietly doesn’t do more than running all over looking aggressive and building up blood pressure? Silence and down-deep thought can be just as active as making a big stir. Sometimes we learn something by study, but going fishing makes us wise. We know we can’t sit still forever – but a little escape from the stress and pressure certainly makes a happier, healthier person.

~ Several of our young people…..were instructed in all your sciences….but when they came back to us they were bad runners, ignorant of every means of living in the woods…. ~

SIX NATIONS

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Daily Motivator for August 1 – True success is being you

True success is being you

There is great value in who you are. Let it flow into all you do.

Success is not really a matter of getting this thing or having that  experience. True success is being able to live each day as the beautiful,  authentic person you are.

True success is being you. True fulfillment is a life spent doing what you  know is important and meaningful.

When you compromise your integrity, you lose. When you speak and act and give  and live from your heart, you win.

Instead of striving to impress others, do those things that will genuinely  impress you. Live true to your own highest standards, for they are the ones that  really mean something to you.

The treasure that is your life is unique in all the universe. Fully live,  enjoy and fulfill the richness that comes from the honest, beautiful reality of  who you are.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

Daily OM for August 1 – Storytelling

Storytelling

Reviving a Community Tradition

by Madisyn Taylor

Most cultures use storytelling to pass down family history using the power and energy of the human voice.

Ever since our ancestors could first communicate, we have gathered to share our stories. We have passed along creation tales and tragic stories of love lost. We have repeated accounts of real heroism and simple stories of family history. When our forebears lived closer to the land and to each other, the practice of storytelling was imbued with ritual and occasion. Members of the tribe would often gather around the fire to hear their genealogy recited aloud by an elder or master storyteller. Listeners could track how their own lives, and the lives of their parents, interwove with the lives of the other tribe members, as everyone’s ancient relatives once played out similar life dramas together.

As a custom, some cultures’ storytellers repeat the same tale over and over because they believe that each time you hear it, you come to the story as a different person and view the plot and characters in a new light. Hearing the story over and over is a way to gauge where you have been and where you are now on your path of personal evolution. It also helps the younger generation learn the stories so that they can pass them to forthcoming generations.

When we hear others tell stories, we can laugh at their humorous adventures, feel the thrill of exciting encounters, see parts of ourselves in them, and learn from the challenges they face. Though most of our formal traditions of storytelling are lost, it does not mean we have to be without. We can begin new practices in our own families of listening to one another, of honoring our own journey, and witnessing the journeys of those around us. We can revive the fireside communal by gathering around the campfire or hearth with family and friends, sharing in stories. By building new practices of storytelling, we give ourselves and the ones we love an opportunity to draw ever closer in our shared human experience.

Bad Kitty Chooses and Trains Her Witch…

Bad Kitty Chooses and Trains Her Witch…

by L. Lisa Harris

The candles were lit, as the heavy scent of incense caressed the air. “We all come from the Goddess” was playing softly in the background as we passed energy hand to hand to cast our circle. Deities were invoked, and quarters were called with poetry and passion.  Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a movement as a furry black paw reached out from under the altar cloth and snatched my ritual candle lighter. The familiar strikes again.

The day before last Thanksgiving, I had an overwhelming urge to adopt a kitten. It wasn’t planned out. It wasn’t even rational. I needed a cat and I needed it that day. After we bought our house, we had discussed adding a new pet to our family some time in the future, but had made no immediate plans. As a matter of fact, my dear husband had not actually agreed to it. I rationalized my impulse by telling myself that since our whole family would be home for four days, it would be the perfect time to bring a new family member into the household, especially since the smell of roasting turkey is so welcoming. Visions of our happy family playing with a cute, fluffy frolicking kitten filled my mind. It was time; hubby would come to see that once the cute little fluff ball snuggled up to him and purred.

I picked up the phone and called the local Petsmart adoption center. I was in luck, an organization called “Spaying To Save Our Pets” had several cats and kittens up for adoption, but I would have to get there before 1:00 p.m., as they were going to be packed up and taken back to the shelter for the four-day holiday. I took an early lunch and headed up to South Hill to see the kittens. When I arrived there was quite the display of meowing, yowling, tumbling and cuteness.

These cats knew that they were “auditioning” and were hamming it up good. It was almost sensory overload.

My eyes went immediately to an older kitten, about six months old, with long silky black fur and penetrating amber eyes. I knew that my husband and daughter liked very young kittens with short hair, and that hubby would have a fit if I brought home a cat whose fur clashed with our white carpet. My dear husband has what I consider to be an unnatural attraction to vacuuming and takes great pride in making each nap of the carpet stand at attention, spotless and clean. He’d freak out if I brought home a cat with long black fur just waiting for the opportunity                          to shed all over the place. I tried to ignore her and find something interesting, or attractive about the babies and shorthaired cats, but I kept returning to those big amber eyes, that penetrating stare that said, “You want me.”

“It wouldn’t be fair for me to pick the cat I like, just because she looks like a `witchy kitty’; this is a family pet.” I told myself. Kitty had other ideas.

After the other cats and kittens got done making fools of themselves or completely ignoring me, my eyes returned to the black kitty. She calmly sat in her cage, regal and oblivious to the hubbub going on around her. With her head held high and her fluffy tail gracefully circling her perfect little paws, she let out three dignified, soft, throaty mews, then reached her paw out of the cage and put it on my arm as if to say, “You may pick me up and hold me now.” I asked the clerk if she could get the kitten out so that I could hold her and she instantly began to purr and snuggle. I was hooked. When I looked at the tag on her cage, I noticed that her name was “Sabrina,” a fine witch name. She had been brought back earlier that very day.

The adoption center people wanted to make sure that we didn’t have a dog, as she had been returned for “beating up” a Yorkshire Terrier in her previous home. I had to respect a tough kitty and considered myself fortunate to have had the urge to come adopt a cat the same day that this fabulous creature had been brought back in.

She bewitched the rest of the household in short order, and I began to wonder if she would become my familiar. She loved the whole family, but attached herself to me quickly and completely. She could not sleep unless it was on or in my face, and I was not allowed any unauthorized or unsupervised trips to any other room in the house, especially the bathroom. It became apparent that I had acquired a fluffy shadow.

She was attracted to anything magickal, and had a weird thing going with my Witch Barbie’s familiar. She would jump up on the dresser at night and steal her little gray plastic cat, as if to say, “I’m the only familiar in this house and don’t you forget it!” I soon found that she had a collection of sacred items, including one of my rune stones stashed under the altar in our bedroom. It didn’t take her long to earn the nickname “Bad Kitty.” One afternoon I came home from work to find her sitting in the middle of the small Brigid wheel on the living room altar as if to say, “I’m magick.” She somehow managed to jump from the floor, over a circle of seven-inch taper candles, into a space of less than 12 inches, without knocking a single candle out of place. I have no idea how she did that, but she was quite proud of herself.

The first time I cast a circle in her presence, to charge some herbs for witch balls I was making my coven members for Yule, she went crazy (more so than usual), tearing in and out of the bedroom and creating a ruckus. Finally, as she was taking a short breather, I yelled down the hall at her, “If you want to be my familiar, get your furry little butt in here and help, otherwise go harass someone else. I’m busy.” She stuck her nose and tail in the air as if to say, “It’s about time you offered me a proper invitation” and sauntered into the bedroom and sat next to the altar concentrating on my work, only occasionally taking a break to lick herself. Once she was formally recognized, she left Witch Barbie’s kitty alone, as it apparently posed no further threat to her status.

From that point on, it was apparent that I had a certified “energy junkie” on my hands. At our monthly coven meetings, she simply must be in the middle of the circle as it is being cast. She bounced off the walls for three days after “attending” her first circle. She has since learned to ground her excess energy. There is to be no magick in the house without Bad Kitty being in the middle of it. She will only leave a circle if drums are bought out, and only for as long as the noise is going on. She is able to slip in and out of the circle without actually breaking it.

I do a lot of magikal work involving meditation and visualization in the bathtub, as it is the only place in the house that I can get any quiet and privacy. One night, as I was meditating in the tub with my eyes closed, I felt a “furry presence.” Bad Kitty had let herself into the bathroom and was perched on the edge of the tub with her front paws on my shoulder, her face right in mine, and her bushy tail dangling in the herbal water. She and I were sharing breath, and much to my surprise, energy. I could feel that the circle was stronger after she entered it.

Bad Kitty is in transition from silly kitten to serious magikal partner. We spend a bit of time each day working on our physic communication. We play a little game where one of us pictures in our mind’s eye, what we would like the other to do. It works about 85% of the time. She often uses this skill to argue over when and what she’s being fed. When she’s not filling my life with trickster energy, she’s actually helpful magickally. At rituals held in my home, she will often feel and fill an energy gap in the circle. If someone is distracted, uncomfortable or for some other reason is not moving energy as well as they normally would, she sits just behind them as if to fill in the gap. Several of us have felt the circle strengthen when she has done this.

Unfortunately, she is still young, at just over a year old, and definitely has her moments when she’s an unfocused, obnoxious adolescent. I was recently working a seven-day spell for something extremely important, and discovered that she is up for no more than three days in a row of any single working. The first three days, she could sense me getting ready to do the work and enthusiastically supervised my preparations, lent her energy during the actual working and served as guardian. On the fourth day she couldn’t decide if she wanted to be involved or not and grudgingly entered the bathroom with me. On day five I picked her up and carried her into the bathroom with me, thinking, “I started this working with the cat, I should complete it with the cat.” After that, I realized that no familiar is better than a bored familiar and let her off the hook for the rest of the working.

The more we work together, the more I discover how powerful the magikal connection we share really is. I often wonder why I had the overwhelming need for a cat at the exact moment I did. I would like to think of myself as a humanitarian who “rescued” a homeless kitty from a shelter. But we all know that I was merely the pawn of a cat looking for her own “pet witch”.

Animals Talk, We Should Listen

Animals Talk, We Should Listen

by Napecincala (Little Paws)

The early autumn air lay cold and damp around me as I tried to find a comfortable spot in my blanket. I had been in this pit for two days with no food and no water, but no vision came despite hours of singing and praying. I leand up against the wall and rested my back. I was tired and hungry and very thirsty, but I remained standing and stared at one of the fruit wood poles that my prayer ties were hung on. A little black spider started to spin a web between the pole and the string of my ties. It worked very quickly. I watched the operation, entranced by the beauty of the design and the opalescent colors that danced off the thread in the early morning light. It was beautiful when it was done. Then she crawled up the web and waited at the place where it was attached to the pole.

I stared up at the sky, and as the morning progressed the air warmed the dirt around me. The pit transformed from a cool retreat to an earthen oven. I pulled my star blanket over my head to keep off the biting deer flies. Only my blanket-clad head could be seen above ground by the helpers who periodically came to check on me. They did not speak to me, and I supposed they just came up to make sure I was still breathing.

Every once in a while I would look down at the web, but the spider had not caught any breakfast that I could see. A rabbit, unaware of my presence within a circle of prayer ties, hopped out from behind a rock and started to nibble on the fruit I left for the spirits. Crows called to each other, and butterflies, attracted by the bright colors of the prayer ties, would light on the string, searching futilely for the way in to the nectar of this strange, red cloth flower.

A large vulture soared on the warm updrafts above until it spotted a potential meal and disappeared over my diminished horizon. An hour or so later he was circling above me again. I kept thinking he was just waiting for me to die so I could be the next blue plate special. I held my pipe in my hands and sang prayer songs one after another in a high keening voice, begging for a vision.

As evening approached, bats performed amazing acrobatics above my head, hunting the wretched mosquitoes that had plagued me for nearly four days. I welcomed them and watched them dance in the gloaming. Even with all the mosquitoes in the air, the little spider still waited at the end of its web for a meal.

Stars lit up the prairie sky one at a time as darkness descended. I heard the scuffle of some ground animal behind me, though I never saw the passing porcupine. Only her tracks in the dust attested to the visit.

I woke that morning to a vision of diamonds suspended from the spider’s web. Morning dew and gray light formed a beautiful sculpture. Still the spider waited, and nothing disturbed the perfect form of the web. When the helpers came to take me out of the pit, I was weak with hunger and angry. In four days I had not been granted a vision. During the sweat lodge afterward the medicine person asked me what I had seen.

“Nothing,” I replied.

I could hear the smile in his voice as he asked, “So you were sleeping with your eyes open?”

“No, grandfather, what I meant to say was that I didn’t have a vision.”

“Oh,” he said across the darkness, “So you did see something while you were up there.”

Then I talked about the spider and the crows, the rabbit and the porcupine, the butterflies on the line. I described in detail how I felt and what I was thinking about, but I am sure he could hear the bitterness and disappointment in my voice. I had prayed and fasted for four days for a vision and spirit helpers, and it felt like it was all for nothing.

“Did the spider ever catch anything?” he asked.

“No.” I replied. It was the only part of my time “On the hill” that he asked about.

When we were all done and I was readying to leave, a woman helper came up and said that it takes a long time for most human beings to understand why things happen the way they do.

“We don’t really live in a fast food world, you know.”

Months later I began to understand that my time on the hill had given me everything I asked for.

*************

The above story is a parable, pure fantasy, a modern re-telling of an old Lakota story designed to teach something about the error of expectation and the need for patience when seekers are trying to learn from the natural world.

The reason I chose to write this parable in this way is because most white people walking the red road (learning about Native American spiritual beliefs) have a similar experience when they start out. I certainly did. More importantly, speaking in detail about personal visions and spirit helpers is a little like talking in detail about your sex life. It is usually more information than anyone has the right to know about you, or wants to know.

Like most people raised in a Christian culture, I came to the ceremony of “hanblecia,” crying for a vision, with all kinds of preconceived notions about what a vision was and how it would come to me. My pagan ideas also came into play, as I imagined animal spirit helpers as more like familiars that I could command than teachers I could learn from. Perhaps the most limiting expectation that I had was that I would be given an “important” animal spirit, like an eagle or a wolf or a bear. So, when my spirit helpers showed themselves to me, I didn’t see them, because I was not looking for them in the context in which they appeared.

My day-to-day world is bound by “clock time,” which is faster than Nature’s time, and “computer time,” which is so fast that I can’t even perceive it. As I contemplated my own hanblecia I began to see that time is a key to being able to listen to the animals. Lots of questions came to mind in the weeks following. Does a stone live on the same time as a hummingbird? Do daytime animals perceive time in the same way that nocturnal animals, like bats and porcupine, do? Why is it that most vision seeking ceremonies impose such difficult physical demands? What the Elder lady was trying to say, at the end of my story, was that Unci Maka (Grandmother Earth) has no respect for human concepts of time. We do not really live in a fast food world, and a real connection to Nature’s spirits requires that the human being accommodate them, by slowing down and focusing.

As in the Christian tradition, Lakota stories say than humans were the last thing to be created. But rather than being superior to everything, man was decidedly inferior. All the animals stood around First Man and First Woman and laughed and cried at how pitiful these naked things were. They had no fur to keep them warm, no teeth and no claws to feed themselves and they had nothing to offer the other animals in return for knowledge. Coyote laughed so hard at the sight of them that he died of it. Almost by accident, First Woman stepped over his prostrate body and brought him back to life. In his gratitude, Coyote begged the Great Mystery to do something to help these pitiful creatures. He thought that if they just died it would be better than the miserable short existence that they were in for.

Wakantanka had another idea. He created a plant, tobacco, and gave it exclusively to human beings. He also made the every spirit in nature long for the taste and smell of it, but the only way they could get it was if human beings offered it to them. So it was that human beings learned from animal spirits and other spirits in the world how to live.

I love this story because it clearly says that we needed the spirits in order to live. They did not need us. It is only with offerings of tobacco and a certain amount of humility that they are willing to reveal themselves to us. This was the purpose of the hundreds of red prayer ties I made in preparation for my ceremony.

In my fable, though, I did not have a vision in the way I expected. Rather the actual animals appeared in my world and demonstrated through their actions what I needed in order to live. The spider demonstrated careful construction and patience. The rabbit showed a certain amount of courage to come out into the open when it knew predators were still around, that there is a certain risk involved in really living. The porcupine taught me that I could figure out what was going on around me by simply opening my eyes and seeing the evidence. The vulture spoke to me of the opportunities to grow and change that death sometimes represents. The crows talked to each other and helped each other by sharing information. The butterfly reminded me that there is beauty in persistence. Even when it won’t get you what you want, it makes you stronger. The bats taught me flexibility and the immense power of listening carefully.

None of this interpretation came out of a book and the holy person who was assisting me did not even attempt to interpret what happened to me on the hill. He did stress, by his silences and later his questions, that while I could not control the things that happened, I certainly did control what they meant. It was my responsibility to find the meaning in the ceremony, not his. On reflection, I could tease out the lessons that all these helpers had given me. None of them were glamorous or particularly powerful medicine, but each brought me a lesson I needed at that time.

He also brought the spider back into my awareness with his question. “Did the spider ever catch anything?” When I thought about it later, I came to understand that just because I had done all the ceremony in the right way, at the right time and with the right materials, it did not guarantee that I would “catch” anything. And in another way, my answer had been wrong. The spider did catch something. It caught my attention. In those few minutes that it was spinning its trap, I was transported. I felt no hunger and no thirst. Time stopped as I gazed in awe at the beauty of the thing. I was listening and they were speaking in the language of symbols. Those moments, when time was suspended — that was my vision.

Lammas Bread

Lammas Bread

2 cups warm milk

2 packages dry yeast

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup brown sugar

Mix together in a large bowl, cover and set in a warm place until doubled (about 30 minutes).

Add the following:

 

3 Tbs softened butter

2 cups unbleached white flour

Stir until bubbly.

Mix in the following:

1 cup rye flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

With floured hands, turn the dough onto a floured surface and gradually knead in more white flour until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a large greased bowl, turning once so that the dough is greased, cover with a cloth and set in a warm place until it doubles in size (about 1 hour).

Punch the dough down and divide in two. Shape into balls, flattened at the top and place on a cookie sheet. Cover and set in a warm place until doubled. (about 1 hour) When the final rising is almost complete, use your athame and carve a pentagram in the centre of the loaf as you recite a blessing of thanks to the Grain Goddess.

For variety, once the bread has been separated in two, shape the dough into figures symbolizing the God and Goddess of the Grain.

Cover and allow to rise until doubled.

Beat together:

1 egg

1 Tbs water

Brush the loaves and bake in a preheated oven at 300 degrees for 1 hour.

Share this blessing of the Goddess during your Lammas Feast.

HARVEST BLESSINGS: A LAMMAS RITUAL

HARVEST BLESSINGS: A LAMMAS RITUAL

by TaTa Chakra a.k.a. TerraFire

From Oct 98-Oct 99 I had the great blessing of living in a run down farmhouse at the foot of Mount Pisgah just southeast of Eugene, Oregon. I knew when I moved in that my stay there would be impermanent but I quickly grew deeply attached to the beauty of this five-acre property.

The man who had lived there before my housemates and I was an avid gardener whose devoted labor had turned an acre of the property from old river bed full of blackberries into a resplendent garden of visual delight. Because this man had been on good terms with many of the local green witches there were many people, mostly women who came to the garden to harvest the herbs and make herbal medicines. The man had also planted plum apple, peach, cherry and asian pear trees. There were logan berries, gooseberries red and gold raspberries, elderberries and of course many many blackberries. He had trained the blackberries over a bower and around the fence so that they created a privacy screen.

Behind the 16 more or less straight garden rows which had an irrigation system, was a ritual circle with three rings of wildflowers. My housemates and I dug a fire pit in the middle of this circle. We also began to keep bees, which was something that I had longed to do for many years. Bees are very sacred to me and the sound of their humming buzz is one I have always associated both with the cone of power and with my own inner guidance.

There were many lovely trees on this property as well, besides the fledgling fruit trees, there were two transplanted redwoods, not more than 30 years old, three old black walnuts  to which we assigned the archetypes of maiden, mother and crone. The plant being that I grew most attached to was a Cottonwood tree, which was at least 75 years old. This tree was at the far northwest side of the property just 6ft from both edges of the property line.

A thick growth of mugwort had been planted against the fence. The cottonwood tree welcomed me as her magical companion. I regularly meditated by the tree, created a directional invocation with her, held counseling sessions, taught classes and also did trance work laying in the grass beneath her branches with a mugwort breeze drifting over me. My housemate called the place fennel farm because no matter how much fennel we weeded out more sprang up in its place. Fennel Farm was the most idyllic place I have ever lived and the perfect setting for the 3rd annual Luscious Leo Lammas party.

The Luscious Leo Lammas party was a brainstorm of how to create a public ritual space with the organization Cauldron of Changes and simultaneously celebrate my birthday (Aug 1st) and the birthday of my dear friend Mike (Aug 7th). I also had several other close Leo friends whose birthdays could not be ignored, (take my advice: never ignore a Leo’s birthday if you hope to be close to them).

For several years we had held the party and ritual at Mike’s house in town but this year it would be at Fennel Farm and bigger and better than ever. In addition to the ritual we had a keg, a huge vegan birthday cake (it was Eugene, remember), party lights and tiki torches, a stage for performance of poetry and music and we also hired a local African Dance troupe “Foli Kan”. We made crowns for all of the Leo’s to wear and had a kids activity area.

Lots of people came prepared to sleep over night in tents and we prepared the neighbors and invited them to join in. I had written a special invocation chant for the Goddess and God and practiced this and a directional invocation song with a small group of other priests and priestesses. We spent a considerable time preparing the ritual space and gathering our ritual tools and props. As Night began to fall Mike and I (High Priest and Priestess), gathered the ritual attendees together at the gate that lead into the garden and the ritual space beyond. We explained the ritual to everyone, what would happen in what order and taught them the chants. Then the High Priest picked up a tiki torch and lead a procession into the ritual space singing “We are a circle within a circle” by the group Welcome to Annwyfn.

As the group of about 80 people created a circle entering the ritual gate in the east and traveling clockwise around to take their spaces, I walked the outer perimeter with my smoky quartz athamé casting the circle three times. The group continued to sing “we are a circle” as each directional priest/ess in turn raised their voice above the group to call in their direction. In the East the song goes “You hear us sing. You hear us cry, Now hear us call you, Spirits of Air and Sky” which the directional priest finished by marking an invoking pentacle in the Eastern Watchtower with his athamé. He completed the invocation by lighting the three Tiki Torches set in the East.

Three more rounds of the chant were sung before the Southern Priestess sang out loud and clear, “Inside our hearts, there grows a spark, love and desire, a burning fire.” She raised her wand and drew an invoking pentacle on the Southern Watchtower. The song continued again and the Western Priestess sang, “Within our blood, within our tears, there lies the altar, of living water.” Holding the chalice another invoking pentacle was described and hung in the air in the Western quarter.

The North Priestess took her turn singing strongly “Take our fear, take our pain, take the darkness into the earth again.” Holding her paten up as invoking the northern pentacle. Then all the directions sang together “The circles closes, between the worlds, to mark a sacred space, where we come face to face.” And the song ended. The High Priest and I thanked everyone for coming to participate in our Lammas ritual. We explained that we were going to chant to draw down the Goddess and God into each other. We called the God to us and into the High Priest. We Called the Goddess to us and into the High Priestess.  Everyone repeated this three line sing song refrain I AM THE GOD, I AM THE DIVINE, I AM THE DIVINE And the priest responded with the following: IN THE DARK I’M THE NIGHT IN THE DAY I’M THE LIGHT. Then everyone sang the Goddess chorus which was simply: I AM THE GODDESS, I AM THE DIVINE, I AM THE DIVINE and the priestess responded ” I AM THREE I AM ONE AND I CAN’T BE UNDONE”. While this sounds complex on paper it was rather simply done and the text of this singing invocation are given here in completion:

Singing Invocation of God and Goddess

Chorus refrain A: I am the God I am the Divine, I am the Divine

Chorus refrain B: I am the Goddess I am the Divine I am the Divine

Chorus A God response: In the Dark I’m the Night In the Day I’m the Light

Chorus B Goddess Response:       I am Three I am One And I can’t be Undone

Chorus A God response:     I am Young I am Old I am Green Black and Gold

Chorus B Goddess Response:       Maiden Mother and Crone In them Each I am Home

Chorus A God response:     I’m the Flowering Rod I’m the Bountiful God

Chorus B Goddess Response:      I am tree I am snake I will keep you awake

Chorus A God response:     I am Hoof I am Horn As I Leap through the Corn

Chorus B Goddess Response:       I Spiral and Wind As I Labrynth through Time

Chorus A God response:          I’m the One Inbetween I’m the Seen and Unseen

Chorus B Goddess Response:       I’m both Woman and Man Alchemist that I Am

Finish with both Priest & Priestess hands joined singing:

In My Heart and My Mind I am the Divine

The Priestess says: The God is Amongst us, Blessed Be!

The Priest Says: The Goddess is Amongst Us, Blessed Be!

After the invocation, the ritual continued with an explanation of Lammas, The High Priest and Priestess asked participants to look around them at the bounties of the earth and to think upon all of the goodness and wealth that the planet offers us daily. Their words spoken here were in the form of spontaneous offerings from the deities invoked. They explained that Lammas was the first harvest of three harvests, that this was the time of harvesting fruits and flowers, the time to celebrate community and friendships, the time to begin storing things for the coming time of darkness.

As the Description of Lammas ended the Priest and Priestess started Charlie Murphy’s chant “It’s the blood of the Ancients that runs through our veins, And the forms pass, but the circle of life remains” And as the drummers chimed in and the group picked up the chant the Priest and priestess took up a basket and bowl respectively and revealed a Mystery to all the participants in groups of two or three around the entire circle. The Priest showed his basket full of harvested fruits, vegetables and grains saying solemnly “This is the God” and the priestess showed her bowl of rich garden soil saying solemly “This is the Goddess”.

When the Showing of the Mystery was complete a brief grounding meditation was led and each person was asked to answer the Question “What Magickal gift is present in your life right now?” Participants were asked to think of the blessings of this gift to experience it’s presence in their life and to make their awareness of it as big as possible.

They were instructed to focus on the sense of gratitude and blessing and send it off to the earth and sky to anyone in need of it during the cone of power. The cone of power was facilitated by high priest and priestess with the help of the directional priest/esses and began with our imitation of bees buzzing. After several minutes of our toning getting progressively higher the cone was sent off and then held in resonance as we fell to the ground, earthing the energy. Several minutes of silence followed before the priest and priestess arose and moved again to the central altar. They brought out local Blackberry wine and freshly made blackberry juice and a rack of fresh honey comb. The Priest said the Feasting Blessing (from Starhawk’s The Spiral Dance, p.169)

All Life is Your own, All fruits of the earth Are fruits of your womb Your union, your dance. Goddess and God We thank you for blessings and abundance Join with us, feast with us, Enjoy with us! Blessed Be.

And we took the honey and wine and juice to each person as they laughed and made jokes and began to dance and sing again. When all had eaten and some had seconds, it was time to “devoke” the deities and directions, earthing again the powers we had raised and acknowledged. God and Goddess, each direction in turn were invited to leave and thanked for their presence. We sang “The Circle is Open” of course ending with Merry Meet and Merry part and merry meet again.

It has been a moving process for me to share this ritual with you, to consciously re-enter my experience of that sacred day in that beautiful and sacred place where I had the good fortune to live for a while. I hope that our ritual may inspire further rituals, that we humans may become more and more compelled to experience and express our closeness to the earth and our gratitude for her bounty. Blessed Be.

IN PRAISE OF THE GREAT MOTHER

IN PRAISE OF THE GREAT MOTHER

by H. Jeremiah Lewis

I know why they call you the Great Mother – Rhea, Cybele, Idaia or whatsoever thy name may be. You are the Mother of All Nations, the Queen whose Name is glorified everywhere and at every time.

You, Mother were the first, before you there were no gods. You brought all things into being and from your holy womb came the multitudes – stars, gods, men and all creatures that populate the world. We all share the same birth, the same flesh, the same Mother. It is to you that we return, when the measure of our days has been poured out. You are the comforter, and you welcome us back to you with wide-open arms. Mother, you are the end, and yet you promise us a new beginning as well – for in you all is made new.

Men know you by many names and  by  many  faces.  Sometimes  they  call  you “One”, sometimes “Many”. You are the fulfillment of the gods – you  are  the power by which they rule. This is why men  call  you  “Great”,  for  in  the world and among the gods you are indeed the Greatest.  Like  Zeus  you  have authority and power. Your words are commandments, and the  whole  of  nature hearkens to you. If you say  “Mountain,  be  lifted  up,”  the  earth  shall tremble and the great Parnassus shall be torn from its foundations and  hang in the air before you. If you say, “River, roll against  your  course,”  the water will leap at your word and rise like a salmon against the current.

And yet you are the one who set down Themis, who laid out  the  eternal  law by which even gods are bound to obey. With Pallas  you  are  the  keeper  of peace, and the protector of cities. You defend us from the wild  beast,  and the arrows of our enemies. You also assure that neighbors treat  each  other with civility, and that our appointed leaders govern us  according  to  your precepts.

The home is your primary concern, as it is with Hestia, and you watch  after women with a careful eye. You make sure  that  there  is  a  good  home  for children to be raised in; A clean place, with much  laughter  and  joy,  and always enough food for  their  bellies.  In  a  house  where  you  are  well honored, there is peace between  the  husband  and  wife  and  love  is  the foundation of the family.

But you watch over even the unhappy  family.  When  the  man  stumbles  home after too much time with Bacchus, you make sure that he  passes  out  before he can set into the woman, or you stop his angry hands from doing  too  much harm. Anyway, men like this usually die  early  and  leave  happy  widows  – which I think you have something to do with.

You are the Mother that Hera should be, for you do not make distinctions  in your love. All men and all gods are your children. You do not  pay  overmuch attention to our sins,  and  even  when  we  fall  short  of  our  goal  and disappoint you, your love is evident in  the  chastening  hand.  Men  should recognize that we share a common Mother and stop this endless bickering.  Do we think that it will make you love us any more?

Men and gods are not your only children. The animals share in your love,  as they share in Artemis’. You delight in the wild creatures, in the  lion  and the hound and the stag in the forest. You join them in  the  hunt,  in  wild dances through moonlit trees, and in the  tearing  of  raw  flesh.  You  are honored in the spilling of warm blood and in the glory of life continued.  I have seen you appear, goddess, in a swarm of bees and in  a  squirrel  in  a tree. You are the kitten’s warm underbelly, and the wise  old  crow  that  I share my lunch with.

That bread – I recognize as a gift from you, even as I give  it  to  you  as the crow. For you, goddess, as Demeter discovered and bestowed  to  man  the gift of grain, that we might put aside uncivilized fare, and eat  that  holy and nurturing food, bread. You have ordained that we should eat  other  food as well. Life-giving grains and fresh salads and grapes from  the  vine  and so much more. And all this bounty comes from you Mother,  for  you  are  the earth itself.

You are broad bosomed and firm of foundation, for  it  is  on  you  that  we build our homes and live out our lives. You rise  up  in  the  mighty  snowtopped  peaks, and you slope down into the gentle  valleys  rich  with  corn. The forest is one of your faces, and so  is  the  desert  valley.  A  single blossom reveals your presence in a barren field, and your hand  is  felt  in my garden. What extraordinary beauty you show to us  goddess,  it  fills  me with excitement just to think about it.

How like Aphrodite you are in this, for  love  of  the  general  can  easily shift to love of the specific. For instance, I hold in my heart  a  love  of all mankind, but when that pretty girl with the big brown eyes  comes  along it’s not her noble spirit that I am thinking about!  O  goddess,  thank  you for lust! When I am with my love, how  great  it  is  to  feel  your  warmth throughout my body, and to feel my flesh rise  under  your  gentle  coaxing. The smell of her hair, the taste of her  lips,  the  softness  of  the  skin beneath her knee, the breath she releases as I explore her body – these  all are sacraments and together we worship you, goddess, for  you  are  the  one who delights in life and all of its expression.

Though you share Poseidon’s realm, there is no animosity between you and Athena. Indeed, Mother, you are both wisdom and the inspiration of wisdom. All knowledge comes from you, especially the inspired and impassioned sort. You bring thoughtful men to greatness, and those that govern themselves according to your precepts are called “Wise”. You, Mother, are a Mystery. Only those who approach you with humbleness in their heart will gain an understanding of you, and even then, it will be a partial understanding – for you are too great to know in full. The fool approaches you boldly and proclaims that he knows all of your mysteries, but when questioned, he replies with nonsense. He knows nothing. (Although I know I’m right, I wonder if you give a special revelation to the fool. Is he more knowledgeable in your ways than I?  Would you tell me if it were so?)

Like the Muses you delight in music and in song, and you share these things with men. It was you who taught us to stretch skins across the drum, and to bring out its wonderful rhythms. You taught us to play on the pipes as well, and to chant hymns to you and your honor. This was the first music, and is still the best to my mind.

I shall come to you, Mother, whenever I am trying to craft a poem, and you will help me discover the right words and the right shape for the thing. This is how it has always been, even with this poem. It shall remain so forever.

The moon and the sun govern time, and you are revealed in both. Like the moon, you delight in torches, drums, and rituals at night. You, Mother, are many-formed like the moon, passing through one shape into another, embracing a multitude of meanings. You also govern magic, and bestow on your followers the utmost power. Your servants are only limited in what they can do by their imaginations, for you have taught them the secrets of the universe, and put into their hands the power to change their world.

Like the sun you are strong and all-powerful. You reach down and comfort us, pushing back the shadows that we might grow in the light. One may know that you are near by the attendant warmth and glow that can be found in only one other place – the sun. One of the greatest joys that I have had is to spend a day in the fields with a good book, lying out in the sun. This is another pleasure from you.

We come to you from diverse paths. War brings many, and disease. Old age is a great man-harvester, and so too the passions of youth which are frequently attended by folly and haste. You embrace all who come to you, Mother, and in your arms we find comfort and the pain that we felt in dying is gone. You wipe aside our tears, and sing to us comforting songs, for we are your children. All of the miseries that we felt in life, the pains and sorrows that continually assailed us are washed away in your embrace, and all that is left is joy. Death is not forever, and soon we are returned to the living, to struggle once more and to find joy in the moment.

In your many facets, you do not abandon those who are among the dead and those who are dying. No, you are with them ’till the end, and beyond. The soldiers laid out with their wounds too great, they call upon you, each one. “Mother,” they whisper and shout, as you walk among the line, offering what comfort you can. You stroke the cheek of this one, wiping the sweat from his brow, while the next man’s pain is too great, and all that you can do is close his eyes and help ease his way into Hades’ land.

You were with these brave young men when they were in  the  field,  and  you helped steady their spear and shield and urged them on  against  the  enemy. You made them noble, Mother, you filled their hearts with bravery  and  gave them strength to do what they must in this terrible situation. And if  their bravery began to wane, you were close at  hand,  riding  with  them  in  the chariot, marching with them through the mud.

To offer one’s life for the defense of another is the noblest thing  that  a man can do, and all who do so receive honors from you as well as from  Ares, for you, Mother, are the Queen of Hosts, and the defender of  the  innocent. You share with Hades the world below, and to you come all the multitudes  to be reborn. For the grave is your womb, and in its shadowed depths  men  find rebirth.

Another deep place that you rule is the sea. All waters belong to you, and their flow is governed by your hand. The mysteries of the ocean are your mysteries, and you know all that is hidden within them. You protect the ships on the surface, and many are your companions below the waves. The dolphin and octopus are most sacred to you, but you delight in all the creatures of the sea. It is fitting that this is one of your elements, for water sustains life. Without water nothing in the world could live. It is the same with you, Mother. No man could draw breath but for you.

This, then, is why they call you the Great Mother – for in all the world there is not another who possesses so much power and beauty, and unifies so many within herself. Blessed is the Mother, and blessed all who call upon her!

Ancient Mother

ANCIENT MOTHER

Holy Mother, you are the Earth!

You ground us as we walk upon you,

You are in the trees that shelter us

And when we hug the trees we hug you.

You were here from the very first,

Nurturing us; and we made clay statues

Celebrating your thighs and breasts

That birthed us and fed us.

We baked bread in your images,

Since we knew all food came from you.

Lady of the Beasts, we are grateful…

Since earliest times, we have loved you.

Asherah, Astarte, Mawu, Inanna,

Ishtar, Anahita, Gaia, Isis;

So many from such different lands!

We don’t know all of your many names,

But we know you have always loved us,

Cared for us and protected us;

You are rooted in our lives and our dreams.

We hear your voice in the humming bees

See your beauty in the blooming flowers,

Hear the sound of your drum and sistrum.

The very beat of our hearts is in tune with you,

For you are the Ancient Mother of our souls.

Beth Clare Johnson

The Coming Of Lammas

 

Hear the call of the rooster in the early morning haze, another day of heat and
humidity. The corn silently ripens in the field as the crows gather to claim their
share. The scent of fresh ripe tomatoes fills the air in the kitchen. The clean mason jars, brought from storage, washed and ready to receive the bounty of field and garden glisten in rays of the morning Sun that pierces the veil of mist.

In the cool of the cellar are the crockery jars, ready for the pickling of cucumbers and cabbages the bins have been cleaned to receive their full compliment of the first harvest of potatoes, onions, cabbages and carrots.

As July passes, we remember the flag, thirteen pentagrams in a circle, one for each English Colony that made up a young nation; or one for each lunar month in a year and now, of course, it could be one for each witch in a coven. The red and white stripes are like the streamers on a May Pole.

Americans, American witchcraft and American Wicca are totally unique, nothing quite like either has ever been seen before, even in this great, new land of ours. The American nation, founded for the purpose of religious freedom is the home of the greatest revival of ancient practices in the world. The Neo-Pagan religions are growing by leaps and bounds and as American Witches we have the best the two worlds, both old and new have to offer.

A very few are born into the tiny pockets of hereditary witchcraft that seem to be
still scattered about the world, the rest of us, we the chosen children, must make
our own new traditions, claiming as our own, gathering bits and pieces from
around the world. Who is brave enough to deny us this right, remembering the
God and Goddess themselves have called us to the fold and made us their own?

We are a people, we are the children of the Gods, they have made it so. Our task is to reclaim the good, the useful, the ancient ways from the wreckage of the past.

Lammas or first harvest is a bountiful and wondrously full time of year, what
traditions are each of you celebrating during this time?

If you have a tradition that is too secret to share, keep it to yourself, this is an echo for caring and sharing. Those of us who are the Goddess’s chosen children, those of us who answered the call of Herne the Hunter in whatever form, here we can learn and develop our own new and uniquely American Traditions based upon the Ancient Ways; with a flavoring of the new for sauce….

Celebrating the first harvest with American Corn Dollys, pumpkin pie and jack-o-lanterns, bobbing for Washington apples, hard and soft cider, homemade bread, hand shucked popcorn, ice-cream, made at home like our grandmother’s did….

Rites and rituals, burning of last winter’s candles….

Ritually washing with handmade soap made from the finest tallow…

Cologne and rosewater, made from the bounty of our gardens or from the corner farmers market…

Reclaiming the ancient ways… in our hearts and minds, in our homes, in our
rituals, looking to the Gods themselves for guidance…

Lugh of the Long Arm (Poem)

“O Lugh of the Long Arm:
You arch over earth
To kiss the corn,
To call it forth,
To see it born.
Your hillslopes flaunt,
breathe golden bees.
From parched fields
Scant dewfall flees.
Your chest is opened
Your heart exposed
Your blood like bronze
And amber flows.
Sun sears your flesh
Asprawl in thistles
Through your wound
Your life’s breath whistles.
You laid you down
In fragrant thyme,
To bleed the sun’s
Entranced decline.
You wrestled harvest,
Corn to capture –
Now we see at sunfall
Your face of rapture.”

– Lughnasadh Ritual by Llwyn y Ser, The Grove of the Stars

No. 4 Things to do for Lammas….

 

The Celtic God, Luga (Lugh, Long Hand), is noted for his high  level skills in many arts and crafts: smith, carpenter, bard, healer, herbalist, magician,  gamesman, spear throwing, military leadership, etc.  Get out your paintbrush.   Fix something in the yard or garden or home.  Tidy up the garden.   Create something, make something.  Start learning a new practical skill  or craft.  Clean your weapons and practice with the weapons.

Quiz of the Day – How Centered Are You?

How Centered Are You?

by Annie B. Bond

This fascinating quiz gives us important information about the ways we  usually relate to the world: through thinking, feeling, intuiting, sensing–or  from a centered place which many believe is the goal of our inner work and  healing, a place of deeper/higher consciousness.

Take this multiple-choice quiz and learn more about your basic nature,  here:

1. Your lost pet is returned to you, but the finder refuses your offer of a  reward. You

a. Are deeply moved by the refusal, though you would have done  the same in that position.

b. Inquire about the expense incurred in  returning the pet and insist that the other accept that amount with your  thanks.

c. Express your gratitude for having met such a fine person as the  finder.

d. Know the finder doesn’t need the money or he or she wouldn’t have  refused it, so you extend thanks.

2. At a restaurant a waiter spills some soup on your jacket. While he is  apologizing, the manager intervenes and threatens to fire him for being so  careless.

a. You assure both the manager and waiter that the jacket has not  been damaged and the incident is unimportant.

b. Recalling mistakes you’ve  made yourself, you reassure the manager that no great harm has been done.

c.  You convince the manager he should excuse the accident if the waiter will pay  for dry-cleaning your jacket.

d. You make light of the incident and joke  about it with your companions.

3. A new neighbor has asked you for a recommendation to your employer for a  position that is available. You don’t know the individual well enough to give a  competent recommendation but you

a. Are pleased to have the neighbor know  you have influence, so you agree to the request.

b. Agree to ask your  employer to interview the neighbor.

c. Have a feeling he or she wouldn’t be  right for the position, so you refrain from arranging any meeting.

d. Do as  asked so you won’t hurt the feelings of the newcomer.

4. You are in line at a supermarket with about nine items in your basket,  when someone with a full shopping cart asks to go ahead of you so as not to be  late for an appointment. You have ample time. You a. Perceive that the  person is always late, so invent an excuse for refusing. b. Are happy to be  of assistance, so exchange places and start a conversation with the person. c. Know what it’s like to be late, so agree to change places. d. Realize  the other couldn’t save that much time by going first, so invent an excuse for  refusing.

5. On a television show you are offered the choice between taking a stated  sum of money or gambling on what is behind a curtain. You decide

a. To  follow your impulses, since whatever you receive will be best for you.

b.  According to whether you need the money or can risk losing it for something that  may be worthless to you.

c. To gamble on the prize behind the curtain  because you’re enjoying being on the show and want to prolong the fun.

d. On  the basis of your success or failure in guessing correctly in the past.

6. Everyone is taking a turn at telling stories at a gathering. You choose  the content of your story on the basis of

a. What you believe is most suited  to the backgrounds and interests of those present.

b. Some possible future  incident of a science-fiction nature that would intrigue your listeners.

c.  Whatever seems most important to you at the moment.

d. The inherent  fascination of the topic, so you can tell one of the most memorable stories.

7. Though you are happy in your present position and expect advancement, you  are offered an immediate promotion in another part of the country. You  decide

a. You will refuse the offer rather than leave your family, friends,  and current business associates.

b. That while you have considered the  situation, no clear alternative seems preferable, so on the basis of a hunch you  decide it is or isn’t right for you.

c. After carefully considering the pros  and cons of the matter.

d. That what is in your best interest will happen  without any strenuous effort on your part.

Here is the key. Just note in which category you scored highest:

1.

a=feeling

b=thought

c=centered

d=intuition

2.

a=centered

b=feeling

c=thought

d=sensation

3.

a=sensation

b=centered

c=intuition

d=feeling

4.

a=intuition

b=sensation

c=feeling

d=thought

5.

a=centered

b=thought

c=sensation

d=feeling

6.

a=thought

b=intuition

c=centered

d=sensation

7.

a=feeling

b=intuition

c=thought

d=centered

 

Lighten Up – Difference Between a Spell Checker and a Spelling Checker

Difference Between a Spell Checker and a Spelling Checker

by Don

Having been in the Pagan scene for many years, but being new to computers, I was fascinated when I saw a program that was called a “Spell Checker”. My naive mind had visions of a program that would check the contents of the spells that I typed up. I imagined that it might make suggestions such as, “You’ve forgotten to specify the type of incense to be used”, or…”You are supposed to use a green candle for money spells, not red!” I soon found, however, that it only checked the spelling of the words, not the wording of the spells.

I discovered this difference during the course of updating my (computerized) Book of Shadows. I had typed up an ancient spell called “The Wicca Charm”, and to my horror, when I pressed the Spell Checker option, the computer altered the wording significantly. Those of you who know more about computers than myself (which is probably everyone except the natives of the Upper Amazon) would undoubtably know that when a Spell Checker finds a word that is unfamiliar, it assumes that a typing error has been made, and it substitutes a word that it thinks may have been intended. I however, did not understand this basic premise.

And since Pagans tend to have a language that is littered with words that other people do not normally use, the results from using a Spell Checker can be hilarious, as was the case with the computer’s versions of “The Wicca Charm”.

The original spell is shown immediately below, and following that is the revised version that resulted from using the Spell Checker program.

The Wicca Charm

Wicca followers heed the call of Lammas to Imbolg, dancing deosil, never widdershins as we worship ye old religion.

From the grimoire’s magic true, we find that we now have the runes; & the sigils that will bring power to our Sabbat’s witching hour.

With a pentacle in hand, await the Goddess’s command, then cast your circle with athame and with a censer burning vervain.

Throw your talisman into the fire, and to you comes what you desire. Then jump astride a besom firm and ride until the talisman burns.

The computer-revised version is

The Knicker Charm

Knicker followers heed the call lamingtons to imbibe, dancing docile, never widdling we worship a yelled religion.

From the grim one’s magic true, we find that we now have the runs; & the sickness that will bring power to our sad bat’s twitching hour.

With a testicle in hand, await the Goddess’s command then cast your circle with shame and with a sense of burning vermin.

Throw your tallest man into the fire, and to you comes what you desire. Then jump astride a bosom firm and ride until the tallest man burns.

“The Wheel of the Year has turned once more….

 

 

“The Wheel of the Year has turned once more,
and the harvest will soon be upon us.
We have food on our tables, and
the soil is fertile.
Nature’s bounty, the gift of the earth,
gives us reasons to be thankful.
Mother of the Harvest, with your sickle and basket,
bless me with abundance and plenty.

The power of the Harvest is within me.
As the seed falls to the earth and is reborn each year,
I too grow as the seasons change.
As the grain takes root in the fertile soil,
I too will find my roots and develop.
As the smallest seed blooms into a mighty stalk,
I too will bloom where I landed.
As the wheat is harvested and saved for winter,
I too will set aside that which I can use later.

As the grain dies, it transforms to bread,
and brings us life through the winter.
We bless this bread, and it blesses us in return,
and we are thankful for the gift of the harvest.”

– Patti Wigington, Hold a Lammas Harvest Festival

 

Daily Feng Shui Tip for August 1 – ‘Lammas Cooler’

Everyone else might be dancing in honor of today’s Lughnasad, or the Celtic celebration of the upcoming harvest, but I’ll be making some magically delicious ‘Lammas Cooler’ to keep the heat away and the mystical here to stay. If you’d like to join me in this uplifting libation then you’ll need one half cup each of blueberry puree and freshly squeezed lime juice (approximately a dozen limes), three tablespoons of agave sweetener, two tablespoons of brown sugar, three cups of cold spring water and some fresh mint for garnish. Place the berries and the agave in a blender and blend until smooth. In a mixing bowl stir the puree, lime juice and the sugar together until the sugar dissolves. Divide this mixture among drinking glasses filled with crushed or shaved ice. Stir in the spring water and garnish with fresh mint leaves. Of course, it couldn’t hurt if you’d like to add a little something more potently potable. Either way, the Llamas libation is believed to banish the blues while allowing you to feel lighter, brighter and better about life in general. Now, that’s a wonderful way to start a waning summer month!

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com