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Your Rune For Today
Elhaz Elhaz represents your power to protect yourself and those around you. It also connotes the thrill and joy of a successful hunt. You are in a very enviable position right now, because you are able to maintain what you have built and reach your current goals. Enjoy. |
9 Wolfmonath
Baubo’s Day of the Midwives
Color: Red
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a red cloth place a single red candle, a chalice of fresh milk, and a Sheela-Na-Gig.
Offerings: Give aid to a midwife.
Daily Meal: Center around milk or dairy.
Baubo Invocation
Hail Baubo, Mother of Laughter,
Great open door upon your belly,
You who open all things,
The woman’s womb, the hard-bound heart,
The eyes shut tight in fear,
The belly full of mirth repressed,
All these you tear open like a child
Reveals their holiday gifts with glee.
We are your packages, your presents,
To undo as you will!
Today no weeping will sound through our halls,
And only mirth shall walk our paths,
O Baubo upon the bridge!
You watch those who walk down to the dark places,
You see those who weep their sorrow
Like Mother Demeter trailing in the dust,
And your great heart of understanding
Knows that no word of sense will ever help
When the shadows are darkest.
Only absurdity, only paradox
The extravagant, the foolish, the incredible,
The outlandish and preposterous,
Only these can make their way
Under the tight doors of desolation,
Through the cracks of misery.
A small thing, laughter, yet without it
We drown in the rivers of our own self-importance.
Hail Baubo, Mother of Mirth!
(One or more who have been chosen to do the work of the ritual come forth to do Baubo’s job. They must shed their clothing, and naked wear faces painted on their bellies, and tell jokes until laughter is rampant. Finish with the chant listed on Ilithyia’s Day.)
Your Rune For Today
Elhaz
Elhaz represents your power to protect yourself and those around you. It also connotes the thrill and joy of a successful hunt. You are in a very enviable position right now, because you are able to maintain what you have built and reach your current goals. Enjoy
Your Rune For Today
Elhaz
Elhaz represents your power to protect yourself and those around you. It also connotes the thrill and joy of a successful hunt. You are in a very enviable position right now, because you are able to maintain what you have built and reach your current goals. Enjoy.
How’s my favorite bunch of people doing this morning? I hope fantastic. I didn’t get that much sleep last night but I had a blast, lmao! That probably needs explaining, hmm? We found out yesterday the building’s heater at the refuge had went out. I decided I would turn them on before they were needed to get that smell out of the air. I turned the knob, nothing. What? Nothing, no way! I called my hubby and a couple of the men that work at the refuge to come and look at the heater. Well they looked and looked. Heck I might as well been looking, lol! They figured it out. It wasn’t working (a bunch of geniuses, I tell you!). Right now, we have three different sets of babies in that building. It was suppose to get down in the thirty’s last night. I believe it got just a little colder. These babies are too little to be left in that temperature. So I called Annie and asked her if she wanted to come over and spend the night with me. “Of course, that will be great,” was her reply till I said, “I will meet you at the animal refuge with our sleeping bags.” Her reply was, “Ooooooh!”
With this new time, it is dark around here at 5:00. I really don’t like to be down at the refuge by myself. You can hear everything. Annie shows up about 7:00. I was definitely glad to see her. We turned the TV on, made some coffee and dear sweet Annie had stopped and got supper. Have you ever tried to eat supper with baby skunks, kittens and rabbits around? We ended up standing up to eat and those little farts tried to climb our legs. You would think they had never been fed. Human food, never. Baby food, yes. After we got through eating, we sit down and watched some TV. We drank coffee and talked about everything. I don’t believe we have laughed so hard in our lives. We let the little babies have free roam in the building. They were hilarious too. We did observe that the rabbits and the skunks did not get along at all. When bedtime came, I told Annie, we were going to have to divide the babies up and keep them warm. I gave her a wonderful choice. She could take the skunks and kittens and I would take the rabbits. Or she could take the rabbits and I would take the skunks and kittens. You can probably imagine what her choice was (especially since one of the skunks had reared its tail at her, lol!). We spread out our sleeping bags, gathered up our critters and curled up. When we zipped the sleeping bags up, the babies went wild in the bags. They were playing, cutting up and carrying on like kids you were trying to get to sleep. Annie got to laughing and then I got to laughing. Her rabbits were going nuts too. We finally said the heck with it and just laid on our sides and talked all night. I think the babies finally went to sleep about three this morning. I know with my bunch they all curled up together in a ball at my feet. Annie told me her rabbits were curled up in the bend of her knee. So when the babies got to sleep, we fell asleep about an hour later. But we had the best time. It is good to bond with a good friend and the Goddess’ little creatures all at the same time.
We got woke up this morning by the guys coming in for work this morning. They walked in and asked us what the heck were we doing? One made the comment that my hubby had threw me out and look where I ended up, lol! He was just being a smartass. But we had several jokes made about us. I told them pay back was a witch, lol! We gathered up all our little babies and put them back in their little homes. Annie went her direction and I went mine. I came home and the first thing that met me at the door was Razzy (remember she’s the pet bobcat, now). She backed me up against the walk and smelled me from my head to my toe. Occasionally doing her little growl, I asked her if she knew who she was messing with. She looked up and “oh, yeah, your momma!” Lick, lick, lick! I went through the same thing with Kiki and Stinker except they didn’t back me up against a walk. I told them I know I smell like a skunk (literally). I was going to take a shower, give me a break! I ran and took a shower real quick. It woke me up. Then I was off to work for the day. I grabbed Kiki to bring her with me and she sort of backed up a bit. I told her I wasn’t a giant skunk going to kidnap her. Good grief, I am your momma! I didn’t get sprayed. I guess a skunk just has a natural aroma about them. Apparently it rubbed off on me and it is hard as heck to get off.
When I hit the office building, the first thing I did was ask Annie if I stunk. She asked me, “What do you want me to do, sniff you from head to tail?” I just laughed. She said I smelled like vanilla musk, which is good. That just happens to be my body spray. I know you were dying to know what kind of body spray I wear, NOT! But we are still laughing about last night. We are both hoping there is nothing major wrong with the heater though. You know concrete get sort of hard after a while. I think I need some oil for my metal back, lol! I will be worse than the Tin Man in Oz if they don’t get that heater fixed. We could move them into the office but Kathleen would freak out if she came in and there was a skunk on her desk. Of course, we would die laughing!
I hope you have a super fantastic day! Remember it’s Monday, as if I have to remind you! Only four more days and its the weekend again!
Luv & Hugs to you all,
Lady A
More Winter Comments
Your Rune For Today
Elhaz
Elhaz represents your power to protect yourself and those around you. It also connotes the thrill and joy of a successful hunt. You are in a very enviable position right now, because you are able to maintain what you have built and reach your current goals. Enjoy
Elder Tree Month
Color: Russet
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a russet cloth set three black candles, a cauldron filled with water, a vase filled with elder branches, a cup of dried elderberries, and a knife.
Offerings: Give aid to the elders in the House, and outside.
Daily Meal: Soups and stews, and soft foods.
Ruis Invocation
Call: Hail the month of passing.
Response: For all things pass away.
Call: Hail the month of waning.
Response: For all things must fade and die.
Call: Hail the month of creaking wood.
Response: Hail the month of creaking bones.
Call: Hail the month of the dwindling Sun.
Response: Hail the time of all endings.
Call: For even as we began the year in silence,
Response: So we shall end the year in silence.
Call: For even as we began the year with chill winds of newness,
Response: So we shall end the year with chill winds of darkness.
Call: May the raven croak his warning from the bare branches.
Response: May the deer leave her footprints in the wake of the first snows.
Call: We will surrender ourselves to the darkness.
Response: Yet even with that surrender, we shall not pass away.
Call: For the seed that was grown in the spring still lives.
Response: Its life force is given back to the Earth.
Call: Its life force is given back to the Maker of new life.
Response: And new life shall spring forth in time.
Call: This is the moment of waiting for the end.
Response: This is the moment of bowed heads.
Call: Elder Goddess, teach us to praise loss, death, and the passing of all things.
Response: For from this flux we know your blessings flow.
Chant:
In the eye of the Moon
We walk willingly
Into the darkness.
Reed Month
Color: Blue-green
Element: Water
Altar: Upon cloth of blue-green place a vase of reeds, a single blue-green candle, a great bowl of water floating with wetlands plant leaves, and a knife.
Offering: Recycle something useless into something useful.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian soup and sandwiches. Only water or herbal tea to drink.
Ngetal Invocation
Call: Now is the time of the bleak cold.
Response: Now the reeds whisper in the swamp.
Call: Now is the time when we see the growing dark.
Response: Now is the time when we begin to shiver.
Call: Now is the time of bare trees.
Response: Now is the time of rain and wind.
Call: Now the rain fills the wetlands to overflowing.
Response: Now the swamp overflows into our lives.
Call: We feel our feet dragged down into the cold waters.
Response: Yet the wetland is the source of greatest life!
Call: We feel ourselves pulled into the unfamiliar.
Response: Unfamiliar to us, but no less of value.
Call: The damp cold begins to reach our bones.
Response: We must welcome its touch.
Call: We must keep it far away with fire’s warmth!
Response: We must welcome its touch.
Call: Why should we not ban it from our lives?
Response: For this, too, is a Mystery of water.
Call: Not the deep mystery of the Ocean…
Response: Not the running flow of the river…
Call: Not the crystal of snow and ice…
Response: But the secrets of the still waters.
Call: From the still waters springs the greatest number of lives!
Response: And it is this that we must honor.
Call: Welcome into ourselves the song of the whispering reeds!
Response: Welcome into ourselves the oncoming winter.
Chant: Cold as stone
Marshes heart
We will own
What is apart
Reed Month
Color: Blue-green
Element: Water
Altar: Upon cloth of blue-green place a vase of reeds, a single blue-green candle, a great bowl of water floating with wetlands plant leaves, and a knife.
Offering: Recycle something useless into something useful.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian soup and sandwiches. Only water or herbal tea to drink.
Ngetal Invocation
Call: Now is the time of the bleak cold.
Response: Now the reeds whisper in the swamp.
Call: Now is the time when we see the growing dark.
Response: Now is the time when we begin to shiver.
Call: Now is the time of bare trees.
Response: Now is the time of rain and wind.
Call: Now the rain fills the wetlands to overflowing.
Response: Now the swamp overflows into our lives.
Call: We feel our feet dragged down into the cold waters.
Response: Yet the wetland is the source of greatest life!
Call: We feel ourselves pulled into the unfamiliar.
Response: Unfamiliar to us, but no less of value.
Call: The damp cold begins to reach our bones.
Response: We must welcome its touch.
Call: We must keep it far away with fire’s warmth!
Response: We must welcome its touch.
Call: Why should we not ban it from our lives?
Response: For this, too, is a Mystery of water.
Call: Not the deep mystery of the Ocean…
Response: Not the running flow of the river…
Call: Not the crystal of snow and ice…
Response: But the secrets of the still waters.
Call: From the still waters springs the greatest number of lives!
Response: And it is this that we must honor.
Call: Welcome into ourselves the song of the whispering reeds!
Response: Welcome into ourselves the oncoming winter.
Chant: Cold as stone
Marshes heart
We will own
What is apart
5 Blutmonath
Herne’s Day I: Prey
Color: Brown and green
Element: Earth
Altar: On a cloth of brown and green lay dried leaves, pine incense, a vase of dead branches with dry leaves attached, antlers, and figures of deer. The room is dark, lit with a single green candle.
Offerings: Cobs of corn. Willingness to face a fear that is pursuing you.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian.
Invocation to Herne I
Hail, Lord of the Forest!
The deer are gathering
In these your deepest woods,
Great stag with antlers wide and proud,
Soft-eyed doe for whom
The warriors clash their horns,
Delicate fawn mottled as the underbrush.
The hares are finding
Their winter burrows,
The squirrels collecting
Their hoards of fodder,
The pheasant and quail
Readying themselves for the season
Of death on many sides.
You who understands
The desperate chase,
Heart pounding, feet pounding,
Knowing well that death
Is your destiny,
Help us to make peace
With the oncoming challenge
And to know that it is only
One of our many moments
In the cycle of life.
Chant:
Horned One, Lover, Son,
Leaper in the corn
Deep in the Mother
Die and be reborn.
(As the last sound of the chant dies away, all bow to the altar and leave room in silence.)
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
Good Sunday Morning, my friends! I hope you are having a fantastic weekend! I know the graphic above is a little corny but……I would love to be fishing right now, lol! It is still a little cold here to even think about fishing. But Kiki and I love to go fishing. Remember Kiki, she is my little baby Pom. Kiki and I were out in the yard yesterday pulling weeds and digging up the herb garden. I swear I never saw so many worms in my life. That is what got me to thinking about fishing. If I was going fishing and digging for worms, I won’t see a worm to save me. But that figures, doesn’t it? We have three ponds around us stocked with fish. Last year, Kiki and I went fishing every pretty afternoon we could. Kiki got used to going fishing. When I would pull in a fish, the little fart would jump on it. She would want to play with it and it was a fight getting the fish away from her.
It was hot one afternoon, probably about 90 and we had gone down to the pond. Kiki is furry as everything. When she is washed and groomed, she feels like a little, soft teddy bear. Well, I had just took her to the groomer’s and she looked gorgeous. Here we go to the fishing hole, I sit down and started to fish. Kiki was wandering around the bank. I caught a fish, here she came a running. I fought with her and finally got the fish and put him back in the water. I had noticed Kiki had quit wandering and was sitting and watching my line go out in the water. I didn’t think a thing about it. I brought my line in because a fish had stolen the bait. When I threw it back out, I be darned if Kiki didn’t jump in the damn pond and go after it. I was about to have a heart attack. The pond starts out swallow but in the middle no one knows how deep it really is. She started swimming like a fish out to the line. Well here I go in the pond, still holding the fishing pole and chasing her around the water. I finally got out to my hips and caught the little brat. I drug her back to the bank and I was mad. I made her sit on the bank and not move. Well in the middle of all this loop la, I had caught a pretty good size catfish and didn’t know. I sit down myself and something jerked the crap out of the line. I fished with two hooks on the line. The catfish was on the bottom hook. Here comes Kiki excited, she had never seen a catfish. I had him laying on the bank, getting the hook out of his mouth. Well the brat jumped on him and on him and on him, till finally she jumped right on that top hook. You never heard anything yelp like her in your life. I know it hurt and I cried and cried. I think I just threw the fish back in the water. I picked her up and calmed her down. She had the hook stuck in her front paw. I didn’t have a knife or nothing with me. So I took a lighter and burned the line from the pole. This freed her from the pole but not the hook. So I took off running to the house, which is about a half a mile away (I got my exercise that day!). I ran into the house and she was crying and whimpering. I sit down in the kitchen floor with her. Well here comes hubby and Kiki is his baby (though she is stuck up my butt constantly, lol!). He threw a fit and went into hysteria. I told him to calm down and get me the pliers from the junk drawer. He got them and thank the Goddess, the hook was only stuck lightly through her pad. I was able to gently remove the hook with the pliers. I ran and took her to the bathtub to clean her paw and she stunk to high heaven. So I just gave her a bath. After that I gave her something for pain and she calmed down. Then I knocked my husband in the head and he calmed down, NOT! I am not a violent spouse, yet, keyword “yet!” He informed me I was never to take her fishing again. Yeah right, we have done made our fishing plans for this year. We have figured out, I am only going to fish with one hook this year, lol! No more doggie fish for me!
You know after a memory like that, I don’t think I would rather be fishing right now, lol! Instead I would rather be sitting here doing just exactly what I am doing!
Have a great one, my friends!
March 8 – Daily Feast
Nature has her indecisive moments. A ma ga nu go gv, the season when new life springs up, may come early with its wildflowers and blossoming trees. She is known for her adolescent behavior, all smiles and flowers in her hair, only to be in tears in a few minutes. We think, this is it, we will never change our opinion. No, we will not be moved, we will cling to this one idea and time cannot erode any part of it. There can be no parting with this idea, nothing and no one can make us think differently. Spring may hint that she is here – so we can relax. But she is never adamant that she will not change. It is only the human being that claims such powers. But the power that keeps us moving and changing and becoming better is not our power but Galun lati.
~ We will never let our hold to this land go for we say to you that our father who sits in heaven gave it to us. ~
AITOOWEYAH, THE STUD, AND KNOCK DOWN
‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*<<<=-=>>>*
A CHARM TO BIND AN ENEMY
Cobwebs from your house
Black cloth
Recently dead fly
Paper and pen
Long cord
Gather cobwebs from your house. Place them all a tangle upon a black cloth.
Procure then a fly, recently dead, and set it down upon the mass of webs.
These words should then be written down on paper:
North, South, East, West.
Spider’s web shall bind him best
East, West, North, South
Hold his limbs and stop his mouth
Seal his eyes and choke his breath
Wrap him round with ropes of death.
Fold the paper 4 times and wrap it, the fly and webs in the black cloth, forming a small bag.
This should then be bound up with the end of a long cord and suspended from a hook in a dark corner of the home.
Do not disturb it, but let it hang until it is thickly covered in dust.
Then take down and bury it in the earth to work its influence in perpetual secrecy.
Earth Witch Lore – Caves
Most caves have local folklore surrounding them, with one common theme; they are inhabited by spirits or dragons and are forbidding places, desolate and dank. So many legends tell of ghosts haunting caves. These legends were perpetuated by pirates and the like to scare people away from their hiding places and thereby keep their loot hidden. They also stem from ancient days when bears and lions might be found in the caves.
For ages, the members of ancient tribes lived their entire lives in caves. In Sweetwater, Tennessee, there is a cavern known as “the Lost Sea,” which features an underground lake with its own variety of plant life (which only grows underground). It is said to be the home of the white jaguar. This cavern is a world within the world. The hauntingly beautiful columns of stalagmite drip healing waters upon those who stand beneath it. Not surprisingly, this cave is also thought to be haunted. It was sacred to the Cherokee tribes.
The Earth Witch knows and understands that caves actually relate to the process of birth. Spirit haunts a cave as a “pregnancy,” or a continuation of life. Therefore, a cave is sacred ground. All that it holds within relates to life and death, as it all stems from the cave. The cave is the birth canal of Mother Earth.
Deer is a keen observer, enabled to see well in low lighting and its sensitive hearing allows it to perceive a twig snap in the distance. For the first few days of life a fawn hardly moves, hidden by the color of its coat from predators. Once it can stand, it follows its mother around to learn how to survive. The graceful movement and gentle nature of these creatures show us the innocence of nature. Deer is a messenger of serenity, can see between shadows and hear what isn’t being said. Deer teaches us to maintain our innocence and gentleness so we can share our
open heartedness with others.
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.
Although bears are thought to be ferocious carnivores, they are actually quite playful and eat less meat than some smaller animals — supplementing their diets with plants and fruit. Bears are astonishingly swift for their size, running 35-40 mph in short distances.
The most common bear is the black bear. This name can be misleading since some black bears are various shades of brown. The Grizzly is most famous for its ferocious strength but is not aggressive by nature. The largest bear is the Alaskan Brown
Bear who is a relatively solitary animal. The “cute” Polar Bear is the most aggressive of all bears — the best hunter and the most dangerous.
Bear teaches us to respect our natural hibernation cycles. Just as Bear rests during winter and reawakens during spring, we need spaces of rest and rejuvenation. Bear calls us to awaken the potential within ourselves and the power of our unconscious mind. Bear reminds us there is a time for playfulness and a time to be assertive.
Your Animal Spirit for Today
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CardinalWake up! Cardinal is chirping at you—bringing a message of personal power. Stop shrinking from your destiny. Stop pretending that you are less than. If you are unsure of your path, ask Cardinal to fly with you—it’s certain he will help you focus, gain clarity, formulate a plan, become self-assured, and step out into the world with the confidence befitting a person of your power. |
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Hope that diffused in the hazy air
left me with no words, that I could say
system it is, that’s not so fair
leaving me alone, in an utter dismay
Startled to see that just “luck” prevails
proving luck is enough to lead the game
hardwork bewildered, seeing its losing trail
aspirations buried, to avoid the shame
futile it is, to ponder upon the ruling of fate
it’s no one, who deserves a blame
This is a mere unfortunate spate
A tiny bit, in the time’s frame.
Stood up to gather the courage that’s lost
as I know, misery cannot make me its bait
A door closes to open another one fast
proving persistence is my blessing trait!
Rocking in the chair, I think again
what went wrong , that I didn’t gain…
Truth is very simple and just so plain..
Pal…Move forward…..take no pain!!!!
— Copyright © 2007 Viji Mutupuru
Witches Of The Craft® 
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