Tag: Gardens

Your Ancient Symbol Card for Sept. 21 is The Rose

Your Deck of Ancient Symbols Card for Today

The Rose

The White Rose indicates the need for or the presence of purity of intention. The question to ponder is, “Am I/he/she being self-serving, or other-directed?” The caution is that even if we are reasonably certain our motives are generous, if we are yet attempting to impose our idea of what should be, we are not acting at the level of the White Rose. When the White Rose appears, examine your own and others’ motives, and then trust the answer that brings you true peace of mind.

As a daily card, the Rose denotes a time in which you will be best served by allowing your actions to be guided by what is best for the greatest number even if the path indicated is not the one you feel is best for you.

Calendar of the Sun for August 17

Calendar of the Sun

17 Weodmonath

Day of the Sacred Grove

Color: Green
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a green cloth patterned with leaves, place many tree branches. In front of the altar should be one or more potted saplings to be planted.
Offerings: Plant trees, on your own or other property.
Daily Meal: Vegan

Invocation to the Trees

(Call and Response)

We call you Birch, first of the trees to stride into the field!
We call you Rowan, chaser of demons!
We call you Ash, avatar of the World Tree!
We call you Alder, tree of widely spreading fire!
We call you Hawthorn, May-tree of Beltane!
We call you Willow, tree of the moon on the river!
We call you Oak, lightning-magnet, tree of the Iron Wood!
We call you Holly, with leaves like spear-points!
We call you Hazel, with nuts that give inspiration!
We call you Grapevine, autumn’s harvest!
We call you Ivy, with your magical embrace!
We call you Reed, soldier of the wetlands!
We call you Elder, healing-tree of the grandmothers!
We call you Silver Fir, living green in the coldest snow!
We call you Aspen, tossing tree of the winds!
We call you Yew, tree that watches over the denizens of graveyards!
We call you Elm, first woman of the North!
We call you Whitethorn, guide on the path!
We call you Blackthorn, adversary who tests our mettle!
We call you Spindle-Tree, turning on the lathe!
We call you Guelder Rose, ripe with red fruit!
We call you Sycamore, beloved of Lady Death!
We call you Apple, fragrant blossoms of the Isle of Avalon,
And we ask for your blessing upon our lives.

(Pots of blessed tea are carried out to the woods and orchards, and poured at the roots of the most honored trees. All should touch the branches for a blessing.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

The Wicca Book of Days for August 16th – Chelsea Curatives

The Wicca Book of Days for August 16th

Chelsea Curatives

The oldest rock garden still to be seen in England was completed on August 16, 1773, in the Chelsea district of London, England. It is one of the many marvels that together form the Chelsea Physic Garden, which was established near the River Thames in 1673 as a teaching garden for trainee apothecaries, who needed to become familiar with the appearance and properties of curative plants. Today, its medicinal roots continue to ben nurtured in such areas as the  Garden of World Medicine and the Pharmaceutical Garden. For more information, visit www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk.

 

Saint Roch

In Christian tradition August 16 is the feast day of Saint Roch, a French-born hermit who not only caught and survived the plague, but cured others of it, too. Invoke his aid today if you, or your friends are unwell, and a swift recovery may follow!

Daily OM for August 2nd – Trees and People

Trees and People

Children of Mother Nature

by Madisyn Taylor

We can be more like trees opening our crown to the Universe and rooting down deep with our feet into mother earth.
A tree that is beginning to grow sends roots down into Mother Earth even as it reaches and opens to the sky above, seeking nourishment from the sun and the moisture in the air and in the rain that falls. In the same way, we can envision ourselves as treelike beings, imagining that we have roots reaching down into the earth, energetic strands that keep us connected. At the same time, the crowns of our heads lift and open to receive nourishment from above. Just like a tree, we seek the sunshine and water we need to survive and thrive. Both trees and people serve as conduits for the intermingling of the opposite and complementary elements of air, water, sun, and earth. 


We also share creative ways of growing, regardless of the challenges we come up against in our environments. Trees will even grow through rock, shattering it, in their effort to reach the air and light they need to survive. We are similarly resilient, with a built-in propensity for growth and the conditions that promote it. We find creative ways around the obstacles we confront as we move along our paths, moving toward the light that feeds us, just as trees grow around other trees and rocks as they make their way upward. 


Contemplating the ways in which trees and people mirror one another brings us into alignment with the reality that we are part of Mother Nature. Our children, and the trees and their children, will live together on the earth as long as we all survive, sharing the elements and serving together to forward nature’s plan. Walking in a forest can be a meditation, the interweaving lives of all living creatures and the planet on which we all take root and reach for the sky

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.

Calendar of the Moon for July 14

Calendar of the Moon

14 Tinne/Hekatombaion

Day of the Spindle Tree

Color: Pale yellow
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a pale yellow cloth set a vase of spindle-tree twigs, a single pale yellow candle, a pot of soil, seeds of some medicinal or useful herb, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offerings: Plant seeds. Do some handcraft.
Daily Meal: Vegan

Invocation to the Green Man of the Spindle Tree

Hail, Green Man of the Summer!
Spindle tree of the craftsman’s pride,
You who have been carved and sectioned
Into spools, wands, and many other things,
You who pride yourself on being useful,
Guide our hands as we turn
Things of nature into things of use.
Show us the beauty in pure function
And in pure service,
In the comfort that comes
Of being a worthy tool
And a well-worked object.
Remind us of the satisfaction
In the creation of some new thing
That will please the hands
Of many generations to come.
We hail you, sacred spindle tree,
Green Man of the Summer,
On this your day of labor.

Song: Fashioned in the Clay by Elmer Beal

(Each comes forward and plants a seed in the pot of soil, saying, “Hail Green Man of the Earth!” Water is poured onto the pot, and then the rest is poured out as a libation. Ring bell and dismiss.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for April 4th

Calendar of the Sun

Aequinoctium Vernum

Colors: Yellow and light green
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of yellow and light green set a pitcher of rainwater, small dishes of seeds (as many as there are people), a vase of budding branches, and a single green candle.
Offerings: Seeds to be planted in the garden.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian

Aequinoctium Vernum Invocation

Earth, you begin your awakening
To the touch of the life-giving Sun
Whose rays stroke you like a lover.
Earth, your joy in awakening
Springs forth first golden
And then the green of life.
We awaken to your new life
And your new season,
And you help us to believe
That no matter how long the winter,
Spring will always come again.
We stand in the time of the year’s morning
And, like all living things,
We reach upwards for the sky.

Chant:
We open Earth and
Earth receives you
She gives you life and
We believe in you

(Each takes a pot of seeds and goes to the garden, and hoes or otherwise prepares a space for planting, and then plants their seeds, chanting while doing so. The pitcher of rainwater is carried out and ritually poured onto the seeds.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Garden Blessing for Ostara

Garden Blessing for Ostara

By Patti Wigington

 

Say a blessing over your garden as you prepare it for spring.

The earth is cool and dark,
and far below, new life begins.
May the soil be blessed with fertility and abundance,
with rains of life-giving water,
with the heat of the sun,
with the energy of the raw earth.
May the soil be blessed
as the womb of the land becomes full and fruitful
to bring forth the garden anew.

Depression Healing Ritual

Depression Healing Ritual

Go outside during the daytime and find yourself a large tree.
Oak is the best choice, but any large tree will do.
(Deciduous trees are better than evergreens for some reason; go figure!)
Place the palm of your projective hand (right if right handed,
left if left handed) upon the trunk of the tree and say something like this to the tree:
“Blessed tree, my brother (or sister) of wood, I am in great need of your healing.
I feel hollow inside, as my depression
grips at my very heart. I ask that you aid me, assist me in healing myself of this.
Please assist me to feel strong and solid
inside, assist me in being happy again.”
Now, sit down facing the sun and lean your back against the trunk of the tree.
As you become more relaxed, feel yourself melt into the trunk, becoming one with the tree.
Feel that you have become a branch, full of leafy foliage.
Feel the Sun beat down upon you. Drink in the Light of the Sun God.
Feel His Love fill you, pushing your sadness into the tree.
Fill yourself with the energy of the sun, and allow this to pass through you into the tree as well.
You are now part of the tree; you are the tree.
Feel the overwhelming Wisdom locked into your wood, your leaves.
Feel all that it is to be a tree.
Now, slowly, feel yourself separate from the tree, becoming human again.
Lean forward, and stand. Face the tree, and thank it. If you feel like it, give it a hug!
You and the tree are now one; you are the tree, and the tree is now you.
Love the tree, and care for it. The better the tree is cared for, the happier you will be in the long run!
And become one with the tree as often as you need to by performing the above ritual and enjoy!
If you ever need to move far from the tree, explain this to it, and give it back the woody feeling
inside, and it will give you back the human feeling it has.
When you move, find a new tree. Also, if you can, whoever moves into the place you
were in, if at all possible, ask them to take special care of this tree because it has meaning to you.

Interview With A Hedgewitch

Interview With A Hedgewitch

Author: Juniper

You can call me Dizzy; I am a thirty-something Greenwitch, no affiliations, no initiations. I am something of a girly girl, a blue-collar babe, love to garden, hate to cook. I work as a manager at a greenhouse and garden center outside of Edmonton, Alberta. I am married with no kids, yet. I have been practicing witchcraft for a little less than ten years now. But not very well and not working as hard as I should at it either. I am a pagan and I follow a sort of Gaulish inspired path that way.

Juniper is a 29 year old Hedgewitch, who has been practicing since her mid-teens, no affiliations, no initiations … or wait, she just joined OBOD for some reason, so that’s one.
Juniper owns and operates Walking the Hedge, a blog and forum and sometimes other things as well for Hedgewitches and Kitchenwitches and Trad Witches and anyone else too really.

Juniper’s blog has a small following and is known for being controversial and written in very plain language. She even swears sometimes! She writes raw poetry in an almost street style and rants and writes articles on life as a witch and pagan. And once in a while she posts some really helpful and practical tips as well.

The Forum is also called the Wild Geek Hang and is (surprise, surprise) a place where “garden party manners” are kept, so people talk way more about what they do, day-to-day, than show off what they think they know. But there’s a lot of wisdom and insight and fun and debates there. The people come from all over the world and different paths and lifestyles and its all good. Even if it’s a bit slow in posting, the forum has a large lurker population. And I am one of its moderators.

Juniper is from BC and lives there now but for a few years she lived northeast of Edmonton, we met towards the end of her time living there. She lived on a 4.5-acre property in a lake district type area in rural Alberta, at the edge of a Provincial wildlife grazing reserve. She was in a small mobile plus additions and big deck right in the middle of forest and swamp and ponds and mucky lakes. Sometimes she had power and running water and sometimes she did not, especially at winter when her pipes would freeze and power lines would go down.

At the time I met her she lived more or less alone with her dog Crash and a hedgehog named Chewbacca.

She knew that patch of land like the back of her hand and would walk around barefoot and point out all the different plants and animal tracks and things to me. There was something about her and it took me a while to figure it out.

I was busy trying to practice witchcraft and paganism, here was this strange young woman out there actually living it. And not in that weird creepy way where people think they are an elf and freak out every time the broom falls over or something. More like Juni knew that everything was somehow sacred and just lived that way. It’s hard to explain but it made sense.

Why was I struggling to make time to stand for 15 minutes at some fancy altar in a room at the back of the house? Why wasn’t I sitting on my own deck, chanting softly to a pot full of geraniums instead? That’s what I really wanted to do, deep down. It changed everything.

So today I am going to interview Juniper for a writing class, and for her blog and anybody else who cares. This interview was conducted about a week before midsummer 2009. It was conducted via IM and microphone, but not webcam as Juni is on dial-up.

D: Okay so to get the ball rolling we have some questions from members of the Hedge and friends and such

J: Fire away, will you be answering as well?

D: Yes. Okay here goes:

D: For new green or nature witches, what are a few things that you should start practicing, learning, and doing first?

J: Good starting question. Lets see … the usual suspects.

Get to know the area you live in. Even if you live in a city you can still learn what climate zone you are in, when certain birds nest in the eaves of your apartment building, what kind of plants grow along roadsides and in construction zones.

You can track the course of the sun through the year from a window you know, or a sunspot on the wall. Get to know the parks in your area, the natural features in your region, adopt a tree or shrub nearby. Check out some books on local plants and animals, rock formations, local folklore …

D: Think about what kind of nature you like. Gardening, hiking, animals, the ocean, wildcrafting, environmentalism, and learn about it. Find out what kind of recycling programs they have in the area, community gardens, dumps, and composting rules.

D and J: Then go do it! *laughs*

J: Try to grow something, anything, a potted ivy on your windowsill. Even if all you do is learn how hard it is. Buy a field guide for your area and take it everywhere. Learn about the history of your area. Reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Hmmmmmm… Join a hiking club or volunteer at a local garden, take an herb-walk or bird watching class through your Rec Center. Volunteer at an animal shelter or arboretum, or whatever they have going where you live that interests you.

Go for a hike, sit your ass down and think about why you wanna be a nature worshipper?

Reconnect with favorite hobbies, arts and crafts, your passions and talents. How do they apply to your spiritual life?

D: Have a Wild Corner of your yard or garden if you can! Let it grow wild. Nature spirits love it. I just learned that.

J: You have a new friend.

D: I do. It looks like a wrong colored firefly and I’ve seen it three times now.

J: Neat.

D: I offered it apple juice.

J: Apple juice?

D: Why not? I don’t want drunken raccoons.

J: Did it like it?

D: I don’t know. How do you tell?

J: Like to see? Usually you can’t, I guess. The idea is generally that they take the spirit or essence of the offering, not the offering itself.

D: What like a psychic vampire?

J: Uh, sure.

D: That’s disappointing.

J: Well, sometimes something cool happens.

D: Like what?

J: Well the drink might disappear really fast. But raccoons can do that too. Or you will see the spirit a little longer than usual the next time, or … well, anything … probably, mostly likely, you will never know. Have faith, my child.

D: *laughs* Funny aren’t you?

J: I am.

D: Have you ever heard of an offering being rejected?

J: I may have known someone who promised a certain goddess a certain big time offering, and instead chickened out and tried to appease her with just mead instead. The next day the bowl was split in half and the mead all spilled all over the place.

D: Oooooh! Was it you?

J: No, my life isn’t very dramatic.

D: *laughs* Next question: So you live out in the rural Canada do you think everyone, especially pagans, should move out to the country?

J: NO! As everyone says, if we all moved out to the country there would be no more country.

D: *laughs* of course.

J: Besides, people need to be in the cities and towns, greening them up and growing gardens in backyard and on balconies. I knew a kindred once who were going to buy a small apartment building and green it up and live in it, it was a great idea, it never happened though. Too bad.
I don’t think that to be a real pagan you have to be living out in the country on some farm digging in the dirt or raising horses.

But its what I do. I should also mention that I come from farm folk, its not like I ran away from the city or anything, there’s always been at least one person in my family in possession of a farm or acreage. We kids would get shipped off to the farm in the summer, right.

D: Oo okay *laughs*

J: Just because I do something, doesn’t mean I think everyone else should.

D: Next question: Being a newbie is tough, there’s so much out there and its hard to tell what’s good and what isn’t. It’s hard to know what to study first and what not to bother with. How do I quell the panic?

D: One of the best pieces of advice you ever gave me was to make a list of what really mattered to me deep down. Like, 10 or so things that have the most meaning to me, and to use that list as my guide while surfing through all the information and subjects and stuff that’s out there.

J: Yes, prioritize and stick to it.

It is very easy to find yourself spending a lot of time and energy on astrology or tarot cards, when you still don’t even have Paganism, or mythology, 101 stuff down. Not that I have anything against astrology or tarot cards.

You need to decide what you can’t live without, what gives your life the most meaning. Then stick to that list.

If that’s family, then you need to make sure that your practice involves the family in some way. If connecting with the divine matters to you its time to incorporate devotional practice, if you are a poet look into Bardic pursuits etc.

If one of the items on your list is animal rights then figure out how to incorporate that into your practice, lots of nature witches lean more towards working with animals than plants.

D: And you’re one of them

J: I guess, so. There’s a balance though.

D: And remember; no one can learn everything anyways.

J: Right. Next question.

D: Hedge Druid means solitary Druid now…

J: Is that a question? I don’t know why Hedge means “solitary” to people, it ought to mean “shaman”. The Hedge is the Veil, you know that which border between the Otherworld and this one. Hedge refers to walking between the Worlds, first and foremost. *sighs* This is a pet peeve of mine.

D: And all kinds of borders and edges.

J: Thresholds.

D: Ditches.

J: *laughs*

D: Oh and outcasts, tricksters and outsiders, which is like Solitary but not.

J: I’ve forgotten how silly you are, Dizzy my dear. A Hedgewitch is an edge witch.

D: Can I be a Hedgewitch and still be a Christian?

J: Lots of the old cunning folk were.

D: Wasn’t that pretending so you didn’t get caught?

J: Maybe, maybe not. How do you get into the head and heart of people long past? I think people mixed stuff more than we often think. Who am I to judge?

D: We can contact the ancestors and contact dead cunning folk or druids or something?

J: Sure.

D: Are you going to any pagan fests this year?

J: I’m planning on heading out to the Druid Gathering in Alberta in a couple of days, other than that I’m not sure.

D: Okay this is a good one: I am sick of 101 books! I want more, what do I do?

J: Pick up a couple of your favorite pagan/witchcraft books, and then pick out the books in the bibliography in the back. Source material my friends. There’s also a lot more in-depth and advanced pagan books coming out now. Seek and ye shall find. And podcasts, I wish I were not on dial-up.

D: Podcasts are good. What else?

J: Hmmmm, if you are that kind of person, it may be time to have a look at something like the OBOD or ADF training programs…

D: Witch school?

J: *laughs* Or your local adult education or Recreation Center.

D: Take an aromatherapy course, or yoga, or meditation.

J: Exactly. Even an afternoon class on pruning shrubs and trees will come in handy when wildcrafting and cutting trees for wands and such. Classes like that are often only $30 and a couple of hours on the weekend.

D: Awesome.

J: A class at the pottery shop will earn you offering dishes.

D: You can volunteer too, that’s free. Volunteer at a community garden or wildlife center or the SPCA …

J: Learn by doing, if you’ve had enough of books, its time to start doing. Practicing. Experimenting. Do that for a little while. Then sit your ass down and really think about what the heck you are doing and why, and what seems to be working for you and what isn’t and why?

D: Ooooooo … you’re right.

D: Any tips on studying paganism and witchcraft?

J: When it comes to many subjects, such as history, mythology and herbalist, pagan authors often read books written by PhDs in those fields and write their own personal opinions as facts in their books. Read pagans books with a grain of salt and then read the books written by the PhDs and form your own opinions.

D: Some of those books are hard! Books by Silver Ravenwolf are easy to read.

J: Yes, but not all of them … and wah, wah! Poor baby. That’s what the dictionary and search engines are for.

D: Oh man, Juni!
I live in a city, how can I be a nature witch?

J: There are lots of ways to go green in the city. I’m not sure I’m the best person to answer that question. Adding a little green to the city is important, even just a windowsill or caring for the tree in front of your house.

D: Green in the city is vital.

J: Tear up the parking lots and plant gardens!

D: What book is that from?

J: Um, Starhawk, 5th Sacred Thing.

D: What’s new with the farm?

J: We are currently looking for a couple of young pigs, to help root out an overgrown veggie garden.

D: Pigs do that?

J: Yep

D: Cool.

D: How do you see paganism in society today and the in future?

J: You’re asking me? Uh, vital.

D: You didn’t holler something about a revolution.

J: I must be getting old.

D: How important is paganism in this new millennium?

J: Vital. Grow baby grow.

D: One thing you want to say to everyone?

J: Don’t be so hard on each other.

D: Or yourselves! Next Question: What sort of tools and items do you use in your wicked witcheries?

J: In the day to day, usually just whatever is handy and myself. I still have remnants of my days when I had to have 3 of everything and have it all on my altar all the time and what not. Now I just dig out a ceramic cup, fill it with dirt and stick a charcoal disk in it, toss in some homemade incense and away we go.

For the big fests I like to pull out all the stops and make a big deal out of it. Why not eh?

The stuff in between, I have a staff and a stang, and a bag of little bits and bones and stones and things. I love candles, even if that’s all I’m using. I recently acquired a nice stag skull that has a total of seven tines.

D: What drew you to witchcraft?

J: Everything. Mythology first, folk tales, poetry, the land.

D: What traits do you think help you in this endeavor?

J: I try very hard to utilize all of myself all of the time. Or something. An open mind and also critical thinking skills, a genuine love for the land, animals, the sea etc…

D: What aspects do you find the most challenging?

J: Other people and their egos. Getting past my ego and doing it for some greater than just to make myself feel special.

D: What are good and bad things about group ritual and solitary ritual?

J: I’m not experienced with group ritual well enough to properly answer that question. I attend a handful of ritual and events a year, often not much more than that. I love the community and the fun, but it’s tiring. I like to do my own thing and not have to explain myself all the time.

D: What’s the typical day of Juniper the Hedgewitch like?

J: Depends. Get up around sunrise, when the housedogs want out. They come and whine at the bedroom door, so I get up and let them out, go back to bed if I can. If there are babies, like puppies or new horses or something then I’m also going to check on them.

I get up really when I have to I guess, it depends a lot on the time of year. Start with tea and breakfast on my deck. Feel the wind, watch the birds, and pat the dogs. Blink bleary eyed in the general direction of the Sun. If there’s time for yoga before a shower wonderful!

Check emails and the Hedge and such. Walk the dogs either up and back down the mountain or along the road depending on the weather. Wave at the old elder at the head of the drive way as you go by. Admire the view of the valley.

Feed dogs, feed horses, water, etc…

Repair fencing; clear out old chicken coop. Haul water around. Push a wheelbarrow around. Wonder if the pick up truck is going to make it up that hill with this load?

Eat when there’s time, I BBQ a lot even in winter. Stop for a sec and think “Thank you”, because I’ve gone hungry before, then eat.

Train dogs, workhorses, build pigpen. Consider what a horse-y shrine in a horse pasture would look like?

Take a break in the evening to unwind, maybe meditate. Read. Catch up on emails and the Hedge and stuff. Maybe write something. Watch the news or a documentary while I bead or sew or something.

Say a prayer before bed, kiss the dogs good night, tuck in the horses. Sleep.

D: How do I connect with the land?

J: Well like I said earlier, learn what you can about it. Then get out on it, as much as you can. Keep your eye and ears and all open and watch and listen and learn. Be patient.

D: What would you like to tell the public about yourself?

J: I’m really a very sweet person.

D: What would you like to tell the public about the Craft?

J: I’m not someone who should be representing the Craft in that manner to those people.

D: Why should someone take up the Craft?

J: Because it does that weird funny thing to their heart, and because it makes them think and grow as a person and spiritual being.

D: Why shouldn’t someone take up the Craft? (Or maybe who shouldn’t take it up.)

J: Idiots looking for power, people playing make believe, people who want a quick fix for their pain.

D: What would you like to tell beginners in the Craft?

J: Get real and be real and know why you’re doing what you’re doing. Practice makes better. Use you heart, your instincts, and your brains too. This isn’t pretend; this is religion.

D: What would you like to tell more advanced practitioners?

J: Nothin’ … no … Get real and be real and know why you’re doing what you’re doing.

D: Are you at base Pantheist, Polytheist, Animist, some mix of these, or something else?

J: Yes.

Okay I’ll tell you one of those crazy stories that make people look at me funny. Once upon a time, while hanging out in the underworld, I happened across the guy with the antlers, who was just, well hanging out. After a while nothing happened, so I figured I’d ask a question. I asked:

“So, are you a individual god, all gods, a primal god, or what? How does that work anyways?”

He said, “It doesn’t matter.” True story.

So, while I find it very interesting to think about this and wonder at it and look at theories, I’m not all that concerned over it.

D: What does Witchcraft/Hedgecraft, etc. bring to the mosaic of world religions?

J: White people can have their mojo back, with out having to steal words like mojo.

D: Did you really sacrifice a toad?

J: The only toads that live out here are endangered species, so no.

Dizzy: What are you reading right now?

J: I have a very short attention span, so I rarely read one book just straight through. I usually have two or three on the go and I sort of rotate.

D: Yeah right! I remember you reading a whole book from start to finish in like 6 hours straight on a car ride to Drumheller. It wasn’t an easy book either it was like a history book on the Celts or something. You were reading like a hundred pages an hour or something scary like that.

J: Okay so sometimes I can do that. I don’t think that was a history book, I think that was a mythology book.

D: Please tell me that wasn’t the Mabinogion.

J: Which translation? *laughs*

D: You’re such a nerd! I’ll ask again, what are you reading right now?

J: Lets see, my purse book is a paperback fiction by Anne Bishop, one from her Black Jewels trilogy. A world I’d love to go live in, so long as I didn’t wind up in one of the bottom castes! My bathroom book right now is “The Quest for Merlin” by Tolstoy. And my bedside book is “Masks of the Muse” by Veronica Cummer.

D: Cool! And what are you listening to right now?

J: I spent most of the winter listening to a bunch of Alan Watts’s lectures and a few podcasts, like the Crooked Path podcast and I got all caught up on Deo’s Shadow. Now I’m trying to work through my audio OBOD course, so that’s taking up most of my listening time and to compliment that I’ve started to Celtic Myth Podshow from the beginning again.

D: Oh, cool. I actually meant music though.

J: Oh, sorry I’m such a nerd! I’m going through a Celtic Punk phase right now, lots of Dropkick Murphy’s and such.

D: When we first met you made me listen to lots of Classical.

J: Yeah, I go through that phase every few months.

D: So I am not a very good reader. And like non-fiction books are really hard for me. But to be a good pagan you have to read all these fringing books! Any suggestions?

J: Oh good question! Let’s face it, not everyone can handle non-fiction, textbook style reading material. Some of folks might not have the reading comprehension, the text book style of teaching might not gel with how you learn, maybe non-fiction is just too damned dry for you.

D: Or maybe you’re a student and are sick to death of instructional manuals and stuff. So what do I do?

J: Okay let’s see…Reference material. Okay, still non-fiction. However, reference materials, such as encyclopedias are a good non-fiction option for non-fiction haters. In something like “The ABCs of Witchcraft” you have all sorts of information condensed down and in alphabetical order. The wonderful thing about books like this is that even if you only read one or two pages a day, you will still learn something.

D: Ick!

J: Har har.

Poetry. From Homer to Yeats and beyond, there is a plethora of poetry out there chalk full of great folklore and wicked witchery. And that’s not counting our modern pagan poets to be found either!

Podcasts, and you could try to wade through Youtube to find hidden gems…Hmmm…

D: So you once told me to pick a tree and look at it everyday. Talk to it and stuff.

J: That’s pretty standard; you see that in a lot of 101 books now, because it’s a good idea.
Hmmm how to put this?
When you are first starting out its like you can’t see the forest because of all the trees. There’s just so much. Actually even when you first get out into a real life forest its like that, not knowing the names of the trees and suddenly wanting too.

But once you start to learn about the trees themselves. This is a spruce, this is a willow it grows near water etc, the more familiar you become with the forest. Suddenly you can navigate and start to feel yourself along.

D: Literally and spiritually.

J: Layers of metaphors there. *laughs*

D: If you want to connect with nature start small.

J: Sure, bite sized pieces. Learning about just one tree can lead to all kinds of discoveries. What kinds of birds live near you, magickal properties of the wood, maybe the berries are edible, watching the life cycle of another living being, maybe there’s folklore attached to that kind of tree, connecting with the land, starting to add a spiritual aspect to your daily routine, trees make great metaphors for all kinds of things …

D: All that good stuff!

J: Indeed.

D: Why do you blog?

J: Well I started a website because at the time I was interested in learning HTML code, and a few friends and I were wanting a forum to call our own, so that’s how the Hedge got started. But writing a website from code is time consuming, especially if you are learning as you go. So I decided to go to blog format because it is way less work. Also I could post less proper articles and essays and just be myself more.

Also, I’m actually a very upbeat, cheerful person. I’m the girl everybody goes to if they need a shoulder to cry on, or need to be cheered up.

D: I do that! I bug you when I‘m down.

J: Yes you do, but that’s okay. Anyways, when you’re known in your social circle as the person to go to for cheering up, people often don’t react well when you’re upset. It freaks them out; “Oh my gods Juni is upset, the world must be ending!”

D: *laughs*

J: So the blog started to become an outlet for that. Even if its just little more than shouting into an empty room, I still get to vent and articulate what’s been weighing on my mind or heart.

D: You should write a book.

J: Is that a question? What shall I write about? And do not say a 101 book!

D: Oh … uhhh, not a Hedgewitch 101 book?

J: *laughs* no that’s so, done. Why add yet another to the pile? I like to think outside the box, you know, stuff that would never sell, like a book of poetry and photographs.

D: How about a book on your like life and practice and being a witch everyday and stuff? You’re an interesting person. And there’s like, no books on like one witches daily pagan practice.

J: Maybe. I have also been thinking about writing a book about actually working with animals in your practice, and not just like having a deer totem but not know anything about deer.
Actually is there that book … ah, “Irish Witchcraft from an Irish Witch” that’s along those lines, the daily practice of a witch. I think I skimmed that once.

D: Which means you read the whole thing a couple of hours.

J: It was a small book and a relatively light read; I forget the name of the author right now though. O’Brien or something.

D: You said to me once “I eat books for breakfast”

J: No dear, that was cheerleaders, I eat cheerleaders for breakfast, and Paris Hilton wannabes.

D and J: *laughs*

D: How was the hosting Beltaine 2009 at your farm? Did the meal go good? People brought good food? I hate it when everyone brings potato chips.

J: Yeah me too. A feast is only as good as the food you bring, and the people eating it.
We couldn’t have the pig roast, no volunteers on Friday to dig the pit or anything. Plus we had a horse injure herself, which costs money, so unless people were willing to chip in for the cost of the pig, it wasn’t going to happen. So we had roast chicken and other goodies instead.
The potluck was good people brought pretty decent food. I was impressed.

D: Cool, it went good then. Did everyone behave themselves, any glitches or anything?

J: Well, there are always things that go wrong. Especially when your volunteers all disappear, except one.

D: *laughs* wasn’t I supposed to bring my big BBQ and all the stuff?

J: Yes, and I don’t mean this in a mean way, but I won’t rely on anyone else quite as much next time.

D: Sorry hun! What was the hitch?

J: One of the crones attending was insulted I served cheap wine.

D: WHAT?

J: Yeah. I served a total of 3 bottles of wine for Beltaine and I guess the inexpensive stuff wasn’t good enough.

D: Oh wow, did she actually say something?

J: Yeah. Sitting right beside me too, like I wasn’t going to hear her. So I told them, “hey its Canadian wine”. But still, I guess I should have spent 30 bucks a bottle or something.

D: How rude!

J: Really. I’m not made of money. Should I have spent a hundred bucks just on wine?

D: Wait … no one gave you money for the wine or anything?

J: No, this was all entirely out of my pocket. I’m a farmer, I live hand to mouth folks.

D: And they were complaining that you didn’t spend more money on them? I wouldn’t be inviting that mean old crone back if I were you!

J: Really. But, sadly I don’t think I could get away with that. She’s a member of the training Coven out here, and this is a small town. And you know what that means.

D: Even though that crone is the one who needs to learn manners. You don’t go to someone’s home and comment on the wine like that!

J: Ah, well.

D: That’s something that pisses me off about the pagan community. Some bitch runs a Coven, or even just belongs to one, and that gives her way too much power and influence over the rest of the community.

J: Especially in places with a smaller community, where there’s just less people and a less mature community; you don’t see the bad apples get away with that quite as much in larger and longer established communities.

D: So you get mean bitches that show up at someone else’s celebration and are totally rude, and if you dare say anything…

J: *laughs*

D: Outcast.

J: Exiled.

D: Witch War is declared on your Solitary butt. Here comes the gossip, the insults, the lies and the backstabbing.

J: Yup, if anyone wants me, I’ll be running around in the bush with Fionn and his merry men …
*laughs*

D: Fionn who?

Something needs to be done. Paid and trained clergy is what we need. Trained, paid and held accountable. People willing to devote their lives to the community, not just those who are looking for a power trip or ego boost. Not just some control freak with a charming smile. REAL Clergy.

J: We also need to really start recognizing the folks out there busting their butts, whether they have a 3rd degree or not.

We ALL need to start offering to help out. It’s not that tough to offer to do the dishes or carry a box of equipment or whatever. My Mom raised me to be helpful, where did people’s manners go?

We also need more people brave enough to vote with their feet. If you’re sick of the antics of one spoiled HP, then just stop showing up, it’s that simple.

D: Go do your own thing.

J: Maybe they’ll get the point.

D: One reason why I love you and your forum at the Hedge is the acceptance.

J: I am a voice of the little people, a champion of the underdog! Gather together under my freak flag, my Solitary and Outcast friends!

D and J: *laughs*

D: You should be paid clergy. You’re great!

J: *laughs* I don’t think so

D: No, no, no! I mean it. You teach well, you are patient; you don’t make fun of people or look down on people.

J: I’m not yet 30, I have no formal training to speak of, not much experience leading group ritual, no fancy education to brag about, suffer from stage fright when in front of groups…

D: *interrupts* So? People should be donating money to train you! It would be worth it!

J: Uh, I don’t think so dear. *laughs*

D: I still think that you’ll be a killer Big Name Priestess someday. I can’t wait until you’re grey haired and kicking butt!

J: Shouldn’t I write a book or something first?

D: But you’d do it. I know it because you’re you.

J: I’d happily spend my life just tending some pagan temple for the community, sweeping floors, replacing candles, handing out pamphlets, running the library, and tending the gardens… *sighs*

D: No, no, no! You should be a real Priestess and not for one Tradition or Coven, but for all paths. Not just some lackey cleaning floors!

J: If you insist.

D: So why don’t you?

J: Because a girl’s gotta eat, and the bills need to be paid. I have no help running this farm, let alone leaving it to someone else to run while I go to “pagan school”. I love paganism; I love the pagan community, despite my bitching about it. I’d love to devote my life to serving paganism and helping it grow in a good way. But I’d starve to death if I tried.

D: And no one is going to feed you while you work towards that goal.

J: Exactly. Let’s not forget, that training isn’t free either. You can’t be full time clergy and hold down a full time job too, let alone family and having a life and such. You know how many burnt out leaders in the pagan community I’ve met? Too many.

D: Right.

J: How can I run my temple if I have to work a full time job to pay the mortgage for it? I’ll never be around to have the freaking thing open. Besides, there are other ways to contribute and be influential without having to lead a Coven or something.

D: Okay let’s change the subject slightly before we get ourselves in trouble. So what do you see your current role in the community? Where do you fit in?

J: Hmmmm. Well let me tell you a story.

I headed down to an open ADF ritual for last Ostara. And there was a girl in her late teens there, very shy, very awkward. It was pretty obvious that this was one of her first ventures into attending an open ritual or anything along those lines.

Before things got started, the Grove leader mentioned that there would be a point in the ritual where everyone can come up and give some kind of an offering. And this girl blurted out that she is Otherkin, a wolf no less, and she wanted her offering to be a howl. The Grove leader said that was fine, but you could see a little trepidation on her face. Otherkin are rather odd people after all *laughs*

D: Do you believe in Otherkin?

J: No comment.

Anyways, we get to that point in the ritual and everyone lines up to put his or her little offerings in the dish and I take my turn and come back to my seat. And here is this girl, sitting there in the back with her head down, looking at the floor. I knew, just knew, that she had chickened out and she couldn’t bring herself to do the howl. I also knew that if she had said in front of everyone that she was going to howl and then didn’t, she would be beating herself up over it for a while, and might not get up the guts to attend another ritual or anything for some time. You could just see it in her body language.

So, me being me, and all … I snuck over to her and crouched by her chair. I asked her if she would feel more comfortable if we howled together? Because, like I care what people think of me right? Not!

She was very much relived and gave me a huge smile in thanks. Poor thing was shaking, so I held her hand, and we waited until everyone else was done his or her offerings, but the leader hadn’t yet signaled everyone to sit down and stop the chant she had us singing. I counted to 3 and we let out a nice, long, loud, beautiful howl together. She was beaming after that, proud that she had the guts to do it, and she thanked me very much, gave me a hug and I went back to my seat.

The end.

D: Totally. Wow Juni, that’s just you all over. That’s who you are.

J: I often say that I’m a “nobody” just another Jane Doe Pagan and folks think I am putting myself down, but I’m not. I say that with pride.

Look, I work hard, I study hard, but mostly I live what I believe. But I am nobody special; I am just another ordinary, solitary, eclectic, blue collar, uneducated, unlineaged, self-taught witch.

D and J: And proud of it! *laughs*

J: I am NOT going to lower my eyes or bow my head or be ashamed of that dammit! That’s a big part of who I am, as well as my persona and reputation within the greater pagan community.

D: I don’t just practice the old Craft, I ***ing LIVE it! You are a voice of the little people, a champion of the underdog!

J: I get these emails, or comments on my blog, or people joining the Hedge forum all the time, who are drawn to the Hedge like moths to a flame. Because that’s what they are too, many of my readers and our Hedge members come from little towns, not big cities with big, mature and thriving pagan communities. Or they have been rejected enough times by their own fellow pagans, they are sick of it you know?

Then they find this tiny little corner I … no WE … are slowly carving out of the larger pagan community and I love it!

D: You are not a real Witch!

J: You are not a proper Pagan!

D: I love you! *laughs*

J: I love you too Dizzy. Ha ha! Maybe the title for my first book should be “Not a Real Witch”. I could use a little more help though … I hardly have time to moderate, admin, write, plot and plan etc and still lead my own life *laughs* I am not a super-person who can do a million things in a day.

D: Well, I think that’s a pretty good place to stop this. Thanks very much for letting me pick your brain a little.

J: Thank you and you’re welcome. I hope you get a good grade.

D: Me too!

Oh and you have permission to edit this and submit it to your blog or Witchvox or anything on my behalf, no, our behalf.

(FYI: Dizzy got an 86% on her project)

ENCHANTING YOURSELF SPELL

ENCHANTING YOURSELF SPELL

Go to a flower shop and find a red rose, the best one that you can find.
Take it home and say these words,
“Whatever it is that (she) is attracted to is contained within this rose.”
Visualize rose colored energy coming from your genitals into the rose.
Now crush the rose into powder and keep it in a small package.
Lace some of your key chain with it everyday you know that you will see her.
When you do, put your hand in your pocket and touch the keys.

A Garden Dedication (Earth Magick)

A Garden Dedication

A special god or goddess garden can be wonderful addition to your landscaping with a small amount of planning. As an example, we will look at a garden dedicated to Hecate. Hecate is the ruler of the three-way crossroads, so if it is possible to place her garden close to one, it would be a smart choice. Traditionally, altars dedicated to Hecate were erected at such locations. For plant choices, look up her history and choose plants that have symbolic connection to her, such as the poppy flower, azalea bush, and cypress tree. For decoration, a lantern is a good choice, as Hecate is said to always carry a torch and to be the embodiment of a living flame. A statue is always a wise choice as well.

In your overall landscaping, you can place a small tribute garden to Hecate where the paths meet in a three way-crossroads, if you have no actual roads near your gardens. This is probably the safer choice to avoid toxic fumes from vehicles bothering your delicate plants.

Once the planting is complete, it is time to dedicate the garden. If you included any sort of altar components in your design, simply set it up for use. If you didn’t you can erect a temporary altar from a garden bench or large stone. If you can plan your planting schedule around the moon phases, so much the better. The dedication ritual should ideally be performed under a full moon.

Supplies:

A chalice, filled with a sweet red wine

Several sticks of willow or sandalwood incense

4 clear quartz crystals, programmed with growth and love

Go around the garden and place the incense sticks in the ground. Light them and blow out the flames so that they begin to smoke. Once the aroma begins to drift through the gardens, say something along the lines of, “This smoke consecrates this garden as sacred ground. Only love and light may enter here.”

Next, take the crystals and bury them at the cardinal points while calling upon the universal energies of each direction to aid your garden in its task to thrive. Be specific and ask each direction to bless the garden and leave behind some of its essence. Important note: You are not calling the corners per se, so a dismissal is not mandatory. However, if you feel you should include one, by all means do so.

Now walk the circle with the chalice in hand, and splash the wine about the garden. Say, “I dedicate this land and all it contains to Hecate. Blessed it shall be. May it thrive and hold fast to her honor. As it is sacred ground, no one may pollute it. Hecate, come and dwell in your sanctuary!” Clap your hands three times. The dedication is now complete.

Tend this garden faithfully but allow for nature to run its course. Hecate may have plans to add a plant here and there, and this should be allowed. However, you should remove any weeds (especially those that are not related to Hecate) and, if necessary water the ground. Accept the notion that Hecate will reside with you as long as this area is maintained properly.

You can create a generic goddess garden by following the basic outline of a moon garden. Moon gardens frequently include all the silvery herbs as opposed to the greener varieties. They often feature gazing gloves, wind chimes, white stones for pathways, and white stone benches for relaxing. Moon gardens often delight scents, as most of the flowers are very aromatic.

If you decide to incorporate lighting into a moon-garden design, keep it subtle and stick to pathways only. You want the moonlight to reflect off of the white and silvery plants, creating a glow. Important note: When sitting in a moon garden at night, it is not unusual to be attacked by insects. Prepare yourself beforehand with a solution of mint essential oil diluted in rubbing alcohol.

Magickal Gardening (Earth Magick)

Magickal Gardening

 Magickal and healing herb gardens are sanctuaries of the soul. Indeed, any garden is a magickal on to the Witch.

The earliest formal record of gardening dates back to a stone tablet from Mesopotamia circa 4000 BC. It describes how Enki, the Sumerian God of Water, provided fresh water to the dry land and thereby produced fruit trees and fields from a desert like land. By 2250 BC, the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon were well established in the capital of Sumeria. These are considered to be the forerunners of gardens today.

In Ancient Persia, (modern day Iraq), gardens were the playground of life. They serves as a place of solace, a gathering place for friends and family, and a formal extension of the home outdoors. These gardens were called “Paradise” and were thought to be an earthly view of what heaven must be like. They were cultivated carefully and tended to lovingly. Due to the desert conditions of the area, the gardens were usually enclosed by high walls. Many had aqueducts installed to maintain the irrigation needed for the gardens to thrive. Most often these gardens were formed into a square pattern and further divided into four smaller squares. Fountains and water channels were an important part of the architecture of the gardens. The gardens were said to have two of every fruit tree and plenty of places for sitting so that one could rest and enjoy the view.

Zen gardening is considered an art form by many. A Zen garden is a dry-landscape style of garden consisting of sand trails raked into intricate patterns. Often, the trails are not made of sand at all but rather a crushed type of granite, a very fine gravel. Many times the gravel pathways circle a rock or bush. The purpose of Zen gardening (the raking of the gravels) is to provoke contemplation and meditation. These gardens are thought to be very peaceful and restful to the eyes.

Traditional Japanese gardens invoke a sense of peace and tranquility in both the gardener and the person lucky enough to view the garden. According to the principles of Japanese gardening, each element introduced must be something that could occur naturally. For example, you can find a waterfall in nature, but not a fountain. Hence, a fountain has no place in a traditional Japanese garden.

Knot gardens are by far one of the most fantastical types of magickal gardens. They can weave a spell right into the landscape. A know garden is a very formal, precise arrangement of plants and tress. To create a magickal knot garden, choose an herb that corresponds to your intent and plant it in a pattern. The pattern can be as intricate or a simple as you wish. It can be a symbol, meant to reaffirm the spell, or any pattern that you like.

The ancient Romans brought their gardens inside the home and invented the atrium. Many times the atrium was placed in the center of the home. The area was left roofless and was usually surrounded by walkways. It may have held reflecting pools, herbal gardens and fruit trees.

One of today’s most popular magickal-gardening practices is moon gardening. This technique uses an ancient system of moon phases and astrological placements to calculate planting and harvesting times. In a moon garden, white and night blooming flowers are the main ornaments.

Planting Seeds at Imbolc

Planting Seeds at Imbolc

By C. Cheek

When I was a student at UW, I walked to class every day from my apartment. Along the way, I’d pass some less-than-beautiful sights; empty lots, alleys, easements, and the crud that gathers near gutters in parking lots. Not to worry, I assured myself, come spring, flowers would grow, filling these ugly spots with bursts of color. But then April came, and May, and June, and the route I walked to school stayed barren. Nature provided the sun, soil and rain, but no one had planted seeds.

Sometimes life just hands us what we need. Sometimes all we have to do is wait. And sometimes we have to do a little helping on our own. An envelope sits in my coat pocket. Inside this envelope are seeds mixed with sand to make them spread farther. Some of the seeds I purchased at stores, some I gathered last summer. Now, whenever I pass a patch of dirt, I’ll sow some of those seeds, and with them, I’ll sow a little hope. Hope is the time between planting a seed and seeing it bloom, or die. Hope is when you hear the phone ring and don’t know yet if it’s your best friend. Hope is the moment between buying a lottery ticket and scratching off that final square. When I was child, my mother often told me that wanting was better than having. It took me many years to find out what she meant. Even if your seeds don’t sprout, even if it’s a telemarketer on the other end of the line, and even if you don’t win the lottery, for a brief moment, possibility shines.

Getting in touch with Imbolc means gathering a kernel of hope. For me, as a writer, this means sending out my manuscripts. I call it “applying for rejection letters.” I read the editor’s requirements, check over my story for loose commas, type up a query letter, double check the spelling of the editor’s name, put the pages in an envelope with an extra SASE, and wait. Query letters have a germination period of about three months. At the end of three months, I’ll usually get a tiny slip of paper, not much bigger than a cookie’s fortune, which reads “Thank you for your submission, but it does not suit our current needs.” These little slips of paper cut me, they wound me, they callously toss aside what I’ve spent months writing. So, I find another name, and send it out again. Why? Why do I keep sending the stories out again and again? Because for three months, I can imagine how great it will feel to get an acceptance letter. In my fantasies, an acceptance letter turns into a three-book contract. My daydreams take root, and soon I’m the next J. K. Rowling, with legions of adoring fans, and respect of fellow authors, and book tours in Europe and then… and then…

And then, most likely, I’ll get a slip of paper, or maybe even a letter written just for me, telling me “No thank you.” But for those three months, the daydreams flourish, as sweet as the bite of chocolate you imagine just before tearing off the foil and wrapper, when the bar of candy lies unopened, waiting in your hand. Hope is rich soil, seeded with maybes.Providencewill decide if I happen to write the right letter to the right editor, and if she’s in the mood to read my work. Nature decides if the wildflower seeds I scratched into the mud will grow into seedlings. Even if my efforts don’t bear fruit, I’m guaranteed a period of hope, while waiting to see what happens as the months pass.

The other gardening chore for early spring is pruning. Trees don’t have many ways of communication, but they “know” that sharp loppers shearing off branches early in the year means that it’s time to send out buds and shoots. Roses too, lie dormant in the winter and need the snip-snip of a gardener to wake them up. “Wake up,” I tell them, as I trim off last year’s growth. Inside the house, I peer out the window at the bare canes and think of the months of fragrant blooms lying under that frost-touched bark. When the weather warms, they’ll send out furled leaves, reddish then green, and buds will soon follow. As an inexperienced gardener, I didn’t trim the roses. It felt wrong, cruel somehow to cut back a perfectly healthy plant. The roses still bloomed, still grew, but the leaves didn’t get as large, and the flowers weren’t as numerous. I’ve learned my lesson now. My shears are sharp and ready.

Sometimes nature takes its course without our help, and sometimes it needs our assistance. Friendships are like that too. When I was at the store, I purchased a handful of postcards. Who buys these things, except tourists? Who sends postcards, except people who want to brag about how far they’ve gone on vacation? Well, I do. I got out my old address book and started writing down names of friends I hadn’t talked to in a while. It seems so hard to call people out of the blue. I’m always afraid of what they’ll think. She’ll think I need to borrow money, he’ll think I just broke up and am trying to flirt, my cousin will think I want a favor. So I write instead. No one, it seems, minds a postcard.

I’ve learned that I don’t have to write much. “Thinking of you,” seems to cover it. Or maybe, “I saw this postcard with a beagle on it, and remembered your old dog Spot. How are you and Spot doing?” People don’t often write back. Sometimes you have to send them four or five cards before they write you, sometimes they don’t write back at all. Sometimes they’ve moved, and don’t get the postcard. And sometimes, sometimes they’ve missed you too, and wondered why you’ve drifted apart. Sometimes they get out their address book, and pick up the phone, and call to ask you out to coffee. A rectangle of cardstock and a twenty-three cent stamp, and you automatically get a week of hope that you’re about to rekindle an old friendship. And even if that old co-worker doesn’t remember you, or if he’s moved and the postcard arrives at the house of a stranger, you’ve probably brightened someone’s day. That’s worth fifty cents.

Every day we pass people whose names we never learn. That pierced, pink-haired barista that you buy your latte from might have gone to your high school. That old woman who sits on the same spot in the bus might have important lessons to teach you about life. Your study-partner in that night class might be looking for someone to share his theater tickets with. Sure, they’re just strangers, people we don’t know, and don’t need to know. On the other hand, if you see the same person every day, or every week, how do you know that person isn’t meant to be in your life? It’s hard to be outgoing, hard to strike up conversations without an introduction or the comforting venue of a cocktail party. Seeds don’t need much to grow, a bit of warmth, a bit of rain, and nature takes its course. The wind changes, and flocks of birds know it’s time to return home. Maybe all it takes to turn “that girl from the coffee shop” into “Tina, who plays tennis with me on Mondays” is an extra smile, an extra nod, an extra moment of attention. We are each other’s sun, we are each other’s rain. We have the power to turn the barren soil of strangerhood into a small connection between fellow human beings. You don’t have to do it all, in fact, you can’t make a relationship develop by force any more than you can make a turnip grow faster by tugging at its root, but you do have to make an effort. Plant a small seed of possibility.

I’ve got a small stack of postcards on my desk, each one addressed and stamped and ready for the mailman. It took an hour, and half a booklet of stamps. I wrote just a sentence, or just a smiley face and my name. I’m already imagining how fun it would be to throw a party and invite people I haven’t seen for years. On my kitchen windowsill, tomato seeds wait in their peat pots. In my mind the tomatoes (which haven’t yet sprouted) taste like sunlight, miles better than any of the icy slices the guy at the deli puts on my sandwich. At lunch, I smile at the deli guy anyway, and comment on his funny button, and call him “Eddie,” from his nametag. He recognizes me when I come in now, and even though he calls me “No Peppers, Right?” it’s a start. A lottery ticket, unscratched, is stuck to my fridge with a magnet. It could win me ten thousand dollars–or maybe not. It’s fun to wonder, and hope. I’ve got my novel in the hands of an editor too. As February turns into March, and March turns into April, she’ll work her way down the stack to mine. She’ll read it, and she’ll send me a yes, or a no. I’m in no rush to get my SASE back with the answer. For now, I’ll just savor the possibility of what might happen. Few things in this world taste as sweet as hope.

Have A Super Fabulous Thursday, dear friends!

Thursday, Thirsty Thursday Images, Pictures, Comments
Good day, dear ones! I hope everyone is having a fantastic day. I woke up this morning in foggy London, lol! I wish but not really. I am still in Kentucky but I have never seen such fog in my life. It is after lunchtime and it is still foggy. This is strange, strange weather we have been having. I listened to the News though and I believe everyone is having strange weather this year. Days like today make you look at the calendar and count the days to Spring. I know Kiki and I can’t wait for Spring to get here. We miss taking our walks down to the pond. Kiki might be a little Pom but if I don’t keep my eye on her, she jumps in the pond. Oh, brother! 

One Summer, I got a fishing hair up my rump. There is a huge shade tree by the pond and I figured that would be a perfect spot for Kiki and I to fish. I gathered up all my fishing gear and off we went. You can sit at this pond and catch Blue-Gill after Blue-Gill. That year, none of them were big enough to keep. But this year, they might be a good eating size. Anyway back to the story, I would pull in a fish and Kiki would get all excited. She would pounce on the poor fish, growl at it, snarl and just act down right vicious, lol! I didn’t think anything about it. I threw my line back in and got a bite. This was a good bite. So I jerked my pole and the next thing I knew, Kiki was in the pond after my line. I like to, well you know. She was in the pond swimming out to the line. I dropped the rod and started hollering and going in after her. She turned around and starting swimming back, chasing my line. I grabbed the rod before the fish drug it in the pond. I fish with two hooks on my line. On the first line, I had a medium size catfish. I pulled it up on the bank. Kiki came flying out of the pond and stepped on the second hook. I like to have died. She holler and yelped and was wild as a jacka**. I threw the fish back in the pond and I tried to calm Kiki down were I could cut the fishing line. She wouldn’t hold still to save me. So I was smoking, I decided to burn the line off the rod. It worked. I took off running from the pond to the house to get the hook out of her paw. We got to the house, she was almost hysterical. Hubby heard her screaming, he came running. Well I caught heck from him because she had a hook in her paw. Kiki is his baby! I thought I was going to have to slap him, he was almost hysterical too. He sat down in the kitchen and I got the pliers and started to cut the pointy end off the hook. Thank the Goddess, it was just barely through her padded paw. I had no problem getting it out. When it was finally out, hubby and Kiki loved and loved. He kept telling her, I was a bad Momma because I caused her to get a hook in her paw. Yeah, right! I can ask her now, if she wants to go fishing and she jumps up and down. I really don’t think the experience traumatized her too much, lol!

Have a great day and dream of the warm days of Spring that are just a month and 21 days away!

Luv & Hugs,

Lady A

 

Today’s Affirmation for Thursday, January 26th

“I am committed to finding the most worthwhile routes for my energies – I will work to transform my emotions into the exhilarating energies of the spirit.”

 

Today’s Visualization for Thursday, January 26th

Releasing Negativity

Close your eyes and focus your attention on the breath. As you in hale visualize yourself drawing pure white light in through your nostrils until it fills your being. As you exhale visualize all your negative thoughts and painful emotions passing out of your nostrils in a muddy stream. Maintain this visualization as you continue breathing.

Butterfly

Butterfly spends the first part of its life crawling the earth, before metamorphosis leads it to spin a home for stasis (known as a cocoon). After transforming, Butterfly is reborn as various beautiful colored winged creatures of the air.

This insect is extremely sensitive to the Harmony of Earth, and is the first creature to leave a damaged ecology. Butterfly’s graceful dancing-like appearance on flowers reminds us to find the joy in nature and make it a part of our life.

Butterfly enters our life as a messenger for change. If it comes to us hurt or ill, Butterfly asks us to stop keeping our joy at bay. It may take some time being alone with ourselves to listen to Butterfly’s gentle requests that we allow the natural transformation of things in our lives.

Trees and Magick

Each tree species carries strength and healing, though obviously longer standing tree with deep roots and spreading branches have greater repositories of energy. Each kind of tree also has its own unique powers. These you may associate with the kind of nature essence dwelling in that species or more abstractly with the qualities filtered through different kinds of wood.

Hold a crystal pendulum close to different trees and you will feel in your hands and body, amplified by the crystal, the differing tree strengths. For example, a redwood may make you feel confident and a willow, dreamy and intuitive. Note these feelings in your nature journal along with any images or words that come into your mind.

There are variations in intensity even with different trees within the same species. Take time to explore these energies and to visit forests (children love them) to get yourself attuned.

An arboretum or botanical garden is a good place to start if you are not familiar with trees. Buy a small tree book to carry with you so you can identify trees wherever you go, even in cities.

Autumn’s Element is Water

As Autumn’s element is water, all study of rivers, lakes, ponds and oceans
apply, including the science of hydroelectric energy.  Emotions are ever near
the surface in Autumn. Blend water and emotion and we may easily feel grief at
this time of year. For older children, exploring issues of sadness, guilt and
regret as they pertain to history and the environment–honestly facing the
ambiguities, integrating the shadows and the light–can serve to deepen the
learning experience and heal immigrant consciousness. As emotions take us deeper
in understanding in Autumn and we begin to ready ourselves for the cold, we
watch for the signs and patterns in nature: seeking patterns in stories and
lessons, history and crafts (quilting, weaving, journaling, beadwork) at Mabon.
Watching for clues about how what has come before shapes us today.

Nature–wild nature–dwells in gardens just as she dwells in the tangled woods,
in the deeps of the sea, and on the heights of the mountains; and the wilder the
garden, the more you will see of her there. …..Herbert Ravenel Sass

Enchantment

Run your fingers through the herb. Still strongly visualizing your need, send it into the herb. Feel your fingertips charging the herb with energy. If you find trouble holding the image in your mind chant simple words that match your need, such as:

“Yarrow, yarrow, make love grow.”

Chant this endlessly under your breath. As you run your fingers through the herb feel the infusing the plant with your need.

When the herb is tingling with power (or when you sense that the enchantment is complete) remove your hand. The plant has been enchanted.

If there are other plants to be used in a mixture, add them one at a time, re-enchanting the mixture with each addition.

If you wish to enchant herbs to be used separately, remove the enchanted herb from the bowl and wipe it clean with a dry towel. Replace the candles with colors appropriate to the new herb and repeat the procedure.

When making incense, infusions, sachets, poppets and the like powder or grind herbs (if needed) before enchanting.

If roots or branches are to be enchanted, simply hold in your power hand, visualizing and/or chanting, or lay it on top of the bowl between the candles.

In earlier days to “enchant” meant to sing or chant to. Once you have sung your song of need to the herbs, they are ready for use.

Of course enchantment isn’t absolutely necessary, but it is a method of obtaining better results. The wise herbalist will never omit enchantments.