Tag: Soil

Calendar of the Sun for November 9th

Calendar of the Sun

Media Autumnus

Color: Brown
Element: Earth
Altar: Set out a brown cloth, an earthenware jug of water, dried stalks of yarrow in a vase, and incense of many woods. In front of the altar set a great empty barrel, an earthen pot of soil, another of the day’s vegetation garbage, a smaller one of wood ashes, and a basket of gathered dried leaves.
Offerings: Bits of hair or fingernail parings.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian.

Media Autumnus Invocation

Let us invest in the Earth
Beneath our feet
And see our returns in millenniums.
Let us say that our main crop
Is the ancient forest
Which we did not plant
And will not live to harvest.
Let us say that the leaves
Are harvested when
They have rotted into the mold.
Let us call that our profit,
And prophesy such returns.
Let us put our faith in the two inches
Of humus that will build
Under the trees every thousand years.
Let us listen to carrion.
Let us put our ears close and hear
The faint chatterings
Of the songs that are yet to come.

Chant:
Clay receives you
Earth has chosen you
Worms prepare you
Earth encloses you

(During the chant, several who have been chosen to do the work of the ritual come forward and add the garbage, the ashes, the soil, the dried leaves, the yarrow, and finally the water to the compost barrel. It is removed again to the corner until Spring.)

 

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Moon for November 1

Calendar of the Moon

 
1 Ngetal/Maimakterion

Day of the Reed

Color: Blue-green
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a blue-green cloth set a vase of reeds, a single blue-green candle, a pot of soil, seeds of some rare but useful plant, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offerings: Plant seeds.
Daily Meal: Vegan

Invocation to the Green Man of the Reed

Hail, Green Man of the Autumn!
In this time of whistling winds
And growing cold, when we see
The year wind down towards
Inevitable winter, the reeds
Sing their mournful song
Along river and marsh,
And the eternal ocean’s shore.
Reed who thatched our ancestors
Homes, who gave them roofs
Over their head and shelter
From the wild elements
That your month promises,
Remind us that the best way
To assuage sorrow and mourning
Is by finding some way to work
With hands and body
Toward the coming of a new day,
Even if that day be only for the eyes
Of others not yet born.
Let us put roofs over the heads
Of all who need them, borne
Out of our own mourning
For what should already have been.
We hail you, sacred reed,
Green Man of the Autumn,
On this your day of falling.

(Use any keening, wordless, mournful polyphonic chant. 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 Moon for October 16

Calendar of the Moon

 

16 Gort/Puanepsion

Day of the Blackthorn Tree

Color:

Dark Blue
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a dark blue cloth set a vase of blackthorn twigs, a single dark blue candle, a knife, a pot of soil, herb seeds, a bowl of water, and a bell. Several wooden staves lean against the altar.
Offerings: Plant seeds. Face conflict.
Daily Meal: Vegan

Invocation to the Green Man of the Blackthorn Tree

Hail, Green Man of the Autumn!
Blackthorn tree of the hedges,
Whose thorns dissuade cattle
And intruders from trespassing,
Tree of the walking staff
Whose name is Strife
And whose job is Boundary,
You teach us that sometimes
Guardianship can lead to battle,
And that not everything can be held
Peacefully, be it land or goals
Or objects or rules or values.
Sometimes there will be strife
By the very nature of the universe,
Which encompasses both equally
And sees conflict as the necessary
Adjustment that points out our blindnesses.
Tree of thorns, hulking and sullen,
You will not stand to be mistreated
Or taken advantage; your nature
Does not lend itself to yielding.
We hail you, sacred blackthorn tree,
Green Man of the Autumn,
On this the day of your bloodshed.

(Let one who has been chosen to do the work of the ritual arm themselves with a staff, and guard the altar. Each approaches the altar, and is swung at; they take up a staff and meet the blow with it. After this they are allowed to approach and plant 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 Moon for October 1

Calendar of the Moon

1 Gort/Puanepsion

Day of the Ivy

Color: Sky blue
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a sky-blue cloth set a pot of ivy, a single sky-blue candle, a pot of soil, seeds of some rare medicinal herb, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offerings: Plant seeds. Do a spiral walking meditation.
Daily Meal: Vegan

Invocation to the Green Man of the Ivy

Hail, Green Man of the Autumn!
Ivy that twines up stone walls,
Who can hold up a house or tear it down,
Spiral dancer whose twisting
Echoes the material we are made of,
Wreath of the Maenads,
Kin to the red-caps in the faery rings,
You remind us that there is a price
For your twining sister’s intoxication.
Mute swan who outstretched wings
Are your elegant speech to the sky,
Ivy-girl of the final harvest,
You bind the last sheaf of wheat,
As mute testament to the failure
Of those whose work has not
Matched the speed of the turning year.
We bow our heads in supplication
Before you, ivy that winds us
And our dead in their sleeping places.
We hail you, sacred ivy,
Green Man of the Autumn,
On this the day of your binding.

(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. Then all join hands and move in a silent spiral dance to the sound of slow drumming. Ring bell and dismiss.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for September 30

Calendar of the Sun

Aequinoctium Autumnale

Colors: Brown and Orange
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of brown and orange, patterned with autumn leaves, place a basket of fallen leaves, barrels of straw, shovels, spades, a bowl of rainwater, and seeds for cover crops.
Offerings: Turn under and mulch the used land.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian.

Aequinoctium Autumnale Invocation

Earth, we have eaten of your bounty!
You have fed us, and we are content.
We have worked you hard, and you have responded
With generosity and fruitfulness.
Now, as the year draws on, and the Sun
Shortens its days and counts the moons
Until its chilly death and incandescent rebirth,
We gift you as you have gifted us,
We care for you as you have cared for us,
We give back that we may continue to take,
Year after year, cycle after cycle.
Do not think, O Mother, that we are merely selfish,
And would only rape you of your bounty.
Our hands shall toil that you may have,
If only in this one small place,
Richness to take back for yourself.
For we know the hard secrets of the cycle,
And we will someday give ourselves
Back to your quiet embrace.

Chant:
Leaves falling
To our hands
Autumn calling
Cover all the land

(All take up the buckets of leaves and straw, and the spades, and go out to the garden. Some will turn over the soil, and others shall follow with cover crop seeds and rainwater, or with mulch to cover the ground. This shall be done throughout the Aequinoctium Autumnale days until all the ground from this year’s crops are covered.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for September 27

Calendar of the Sun

Aequinoctium Autumnale

Colors: Brown and Orange
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of brown and orange, patterned with autumn leaves, place a basket of fallen leaves, barrels of straw, shovels, spades, a bowl of rainwater, and seeds for cover crops.
Offerings: Turn under and mulch the used land.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian.

Aequinoctium Autumnale Invocation

Earth, we have eaten of your bounty!
You have fed us, and we are content.
We have worked you hard, and you have responded
With generosity and fruitfulness.
Now, as the year draws on, and the Sun
Shortens its days and counts the moons
Until its chilly death and incandescent rebirth,
We gift you as you have gifted us,
We care for you as you have cared for us,
We give back that we may continue to take,
Year after year, cycle after cycle.
Do not think, O Mother, that we are merely selfish,
And would only rape you of your bounty.
Our hands shall toil that you may have,
If only in this one small place,
Richness to take back for yourself.
For we know the hard secrets of the cycle,
And we will someday give ourselves
Back to your quiet embrace.

Chant:
Leaves falling
To our hands
Autumn calling
Cover all the land

(All take up the buckets of leaves and straw, and the spades, and go out to the garden. Some will turn over the soil, and others shall follow with cover crop seeds and rainwater, or with mulch to cover the ground. This shall be done throughout the Aequinoctium Autumnale days until all the ground from this year’s crops are covered.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Moon for July 15

Calendar of the Moon

15 Duir/Skirophorion

Day of the Heather

Color: Dark gold
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a dark gold cloth set a vase of heather, a single golden candle, a pot of soil, seeds, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offerings: Plant seeds. Tend bees.
Daily Meal: Vegan, with honey.

Invocation to the Green Man of the Heather

Hail, Green Man of the Summer!
Heather of the rolling fields,
Much beloved by the loyal
Disciples of that golden queen
Whose job makes sweetness,
Your flowers wave like the ocean
Making meadow into sea.
Cybele’s joy, she whose throne
Was surrounded by her not-males,
Who ruled the summer months
With lioness’s passion,
Red blossoms that cause heat
And white ones that brush it aside,
You teach us about attraction
And the joys of pursuit.
We hail you, sacred heather,
Green Man of the Summer,
On this the day of your true gold.

Chant:
Field into sea
Sea into honey
Honey into life
Life into earth
Earth into field….

(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 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]

Organic Farming vs. Industrial Agriculture: Which Method Wins?

Organic Farming vs. Industrial Agriculture: Which Method  Wins?

Since 1981, the Rodale Institute has been doing side-by-side trials of  organically-grown and conventionally-grown corn and soybeans to see how organic  farming really stacks up against industrial agriculture and GMOs. What they are  finding might surprise you.

You can check out the entire report here (pdf), but these  are a few of the key points:

  • During times of drought, organic farming outperforms conventional methods by  31 percent.
  • Organic farming yields are about the same as conventional yields under  normal weather conditions.
  • Organic farming uses 45 percent less energy than conventional.

Researchers think that the higher yields during drought are due to improved  soil quality from organic farming, which makes the soil better at holding on to  water. The organic soil retained 15 to 20 percent more water than soil on the  conventional land.

The other area where organics outperformed conventional plants was in weed  tolerance. Because organic farming principles include biodiversity and crop  rotation, the organic crops were naturally more weed resistant. That’s in stark  contrast to industrial farming, where pesticide overuse is breeding superweeds.

Of course, there are big bucks in conventional agriculture, especially the  expensive proprietary seeds and the fertilizers that go with them. It’s no  surprise then that the pro-GMO lobby is hard at work trying to convince us that  GMOs are the key to feeding our world’s exploding population. One argument that  I see a lot from the pro-GMO crowd is that if you’re anti-GMO you’re anti  science. Thirty years of side-by-side trials strikes me as some pretty solid  science.

What do you guys think? Do you think that organic farming can feed  the world?

 

Calendar of the Sun for July 12

Calendar of the Sun

Solstitium

Colors: Green and gold
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of green and gold set flowers and herbs in pots, a bowl of rainwater, a large pitcher of manure tea, and several empty baskets.
Offerings: Water and fertilizer, to be added to the garden.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian.

Solstitium Invocation

Earth, you begin to give forth your bounty!
Like the maiden blossoming into the mother,
Like the youth growing into the father,
You yield your children up to us
For our sustenance and health,
As we are also your children.
We will not waste your gifts!
We will nurture what you bring forth
With the labor of our hands,
That those gifts shall be sustained
Year after year, and that you shall
Never be exhausted.
We will not be ungrateful, O Earth whose life is ours,
But we will give back as much as we take,
For this is the way of balance.

Chant:
Life harnessed
Call the sun to us
Sacred harvest
You are one with us

(Two who have been chosen to do the work of the ritual take up the rainwater and the manure tea, and carry them out to the garden, where they are ceremonially poured around the roots of the herbs and vegetables. All others follow with the empty baskets, and harvest some thing from the garden, whether a token or a main part of the next meal. After this, each should do some part of the work of further watering, or fertilizing, or mulching, to give back to the earth as much as is taken away.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for June 14

Media Ver

Color: Green
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a green cloth set growing herbs and flowers in pots, a pitcher of rainwater, small dishes of late-sowed seeds such as lettuce (as many as there are people), a flower wreath, and a single green candle.
Offerings: Seeds to be planted in the garden.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian

Media Ver Invocation

Earth, you have awakened to our touch!
The winds have stirred you,
The rain has nourished you,
The sun has opened your eyes.
Your million mouths open
On the unfolded leaves of every tree.
We glory in your abundance,
In the dance of your youth,
And we dance for your brilliant life
And your new season.
Yet now is the time when the real work begins.
If we would keep what we have sown,
We must not stop here,
But we must labor for the sustenance
Of our creation, as it has always been.
For the first growth is a miracle from the Gods,
But the second growth is the miracle unseen,
From the labor of our hands,
Which is also sacred.

Chant:
Green growing
Green Man knowing
Path of striving
Way of opening

(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. Weeding should also be done at this time, and the care for plants that have already broken the surface.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for June 12

Media Ver

Color: Green
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a green cloth set growing herbs and flowers in pots, a pitcher of rainwater, small dishes of late-sowed seeds such as lettuce (as many as there are people), a flower wreath, and a single green candle.
Offerings: Seeds to be planted in the garden.
Daily Meal: Vegetarian

Media Ver Invocation

Earth, you have awakened to our touch!
The winds have stirred you,
The rain has nourished you,
The sun has opened your eyes.
Your million mouths open
On the unfolded leaves of every tree.
We glory in your abundance,
In the dance of your youth,
And we dance for your brilliant life
And your new season.
Yet now is the time when the real work begins.
If we would keep what we have sown,
We must not stop here,
But we must labor for the sustenance
Of our creation, as it has always been.
For the first growth is a miracle from the Gods,
But the second growth is the miracle unseen,
From the labor of our hands,
Which is also sacred.

Chant:
Green growing
Green Man knowing
Path of striving
Way of opening

(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. Weeding should also be done at this time, and the care for plants that have already broken the surface.)

 

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for Sunday, May 6th

Calendar of the Sun

Ancestor Day

Color: Black and grey
Element: Earth
Altar: Spread a black cloth, and lay it with photographs, paintings, and other depictions of our ancestors. Add also symbols of their old tools, and statues of ancestral deities, a bowl of seeds for the future garden, pots of soil, a pitcher of water, and many candles of black and white and grey.
Offerings: Things they would have liked to eat, drink, smoke, or smell. Tend a cemetery and clean up the graves.
Daily Meal: Food from an earlier era, using authentic recipes.

Invocation to the Ancestors

Our ancestors got up at dawn,
Slaved in the dirt,
Sweated in the sun,
Chilled in the cold,
Numbed in the snow,
Scattering each seed with a prayer:
Pray that there be enough,
That no one starve this winter.
Pray that no bird nor beast
Steal the food I have struggled for.
And most of all,
Pray that each seed I save
Of this harvest
Shall next year
Bring forth a hundred more.
We live today
Because they worked
Because they sowed
Because they harvested
Because they prayed.

Chant:
Those who came before
We are your children
Those who came before
We honor your names

(Each person takes seeds from the bowl and plants them in the pots of soil, speaking the name of one of their ancestors as they do so, as in: “In honor of _______.” The pots are watered, and the candles put out one by one.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Moon for Tuesday, May 1

Calendar of the Moon
1 Saille/Mounukhion

Day of the Willow Tree

Color: Yellow
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon a yellow cloth set a vase of willow branches collected earlier and forced to bud, a single yellow candle, a pot of soil, seeds, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offerings: Plant seeds. Stoke fires.
Daily Meal: Vegan

Invocation to the Green Man of the Willow Tree

Hail, Green Man of the Spring!
Willow tree of the silver moon,
Bending with the wind,
You teach us that flexibility
Is a great virtue
As we fall before the hurricane
Of our circumstances.
Mountain of the Nine Muses,
Tree of river and dew,
Tree whose gentle roots
Penetrate all things without trouble,
Cage of the sacrificial king
Whose fire burns every year,
Bending, twisting, making charms,
Persistent one, deadly one,
Beautiful one, magical one,
Hawk on the cliff whose cold eyes
See and swoop upon the prey.
We hail you, sacred willow tree,
Green Man of the Spring,
On this the time of your springing forth.

Chant:
We turn and spin
Come out and in
We twist all time
In this green sign

(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 10th

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]

Celtic Astrology – March 18 – April 14 is the Month of the Alder, The Trailblazer

Celtic Meaning of the Alder Tree

The Celtic meaning of the Alder deals with giving and nurturing among the sacred Ogham for many reasons.

Namely, its root system provides rich nutrients to the soil, more so than other trees. The alder can successfully restore poor soil conditions back to healthy Ph levels.

Primarily a wetlands and swamp tree, the alder’s root system is often submerged in watery areas. As such, the Celts observed their roots serving as intricate shelter systems to fish, specifically trout and salmon. Further, the alder’s leaves easily decompose in the water providing rich nutrients to all manner of water creatures.

These acts of generosity and shelter against harsh conditions can be translated in our own lives. By simply standing firm in our own positive environment, we can affect those around us in positive ways. By emitting our signals of tranquility, and peace, we are enhancing the lives of others just be sheer association.

Although it is primarily associated with the element of water, the alder gracefully crosses into the realm of air and fire as well. For example, ancient legend indicates the wood of the young alder is traditionally used for crafting whistles, pan flutes and recorders. This establishes the alder’s claim to the air element.

Within the realm of fire, the alder’s coloring transmutes into a fiery orange after it is cut, indicating to the Celts that the alder secretly harbors sacred flame within its flesh. To prove the point, the alder (although a poor firewood) makes a pristine grade of charcoal, and was perfect for steadily hot conditions utilized to forge fine Celtic weaponry.

In this respect the alder reminds us that we have hidden powers within us that if tapped, provide magnificent resources that allow us to live out our highest ideals.

Whats-Your-Sign.com

Spring Garden Maintenance

Spring Garden Maintenance

Springtime Tasks

By Amy Jeanroy, About.com Guide

When spring is approaching, it is time to start organizing your garden. Make a list of herbs that you want to plant, and compare the time needed to harvest them to the length of your growing season. If you do not have a long enough growing season, try starting your herbs with plants instead of seeds. This will decrease the time needed until harvest by weeks. Lay out your herb garden on paper before planting anything. This way you will be able to organize planting based on how much sunlight an area receives and how much drainage the soil has in that area and plant accordingly.

Important Spring Garden Planning

Spring is the time to start planting your garden with the full summer growth of the plants in mind. Be sure to read the final growth height and spacing of the plants and make sure there is optimal room for their full potential. Your spring garden may look sparse when first planted, but you will be glad you were conservative during the summer months as the herbs fill out.

My Garden Notebook In Spring

Your garden notebook will become much more interesting now. You will write down all the herbs you planted and if you used seeds or plants to start with. Write down if your perennial herbs from the past year have come back. Mark the days you plant and any changes from your original garden plan. I also write down where I get my plants from. In spring, it seems that I can find new, out of the way places for purchasing a few herbs. If I don’t write these tidbits down, they are gone for the next year. You may think you can remember, but the season is just beginning. Write it down!

Spring gardening is also the time to amend (prepare and enrich) the soil so the plants have the most nutrients available right from the start. Traditionally, spring gets the most natural moisture and you can take advantage of that by including enough organic matter in the soil to help hold moisture for the long, dry days ahead.

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.

Calendar of the Sun for Tuesday, March 13th

Calendar of the Sun
13 Hrethemonath

Day of Oath to the Earth

Color: Green
Element: Earth
Altar: On a green cloth lay branches, flowers, stones, twigs, figures of animals and birds, a special pot of good soil, and a small globe.
Offerings: Clean up or protect a natural environment.
Daily Meal: Vegan.

(Each person present stands forth and takes this oath to the Earth:)

By seeds of all beginnings, I make this oath.
By roots of all depths, I swear to protect the purity of your soil.
By stem and trunk that reaches for the sky, I swear to respect your cycle of growth.
By bud that grows, I swear to respect all those who live in that cycle.
By leaf that catches the rain, I swear to protect the air we breathe.
By flower that opens to the dawn, I swear to always see your beauty.
By fruit that gives forth sweetness, I swear to remember where my nourishment comes from.
By seed within the fruit that grows the tree anew,
I swear to try again and again to fulfill this oath,
As many times as the Gods shall decree.
By life and death, by Lord and Lady, by hand and eye, by heart and spirit,
This I do swear here before the Fates
And mark my soul forever with this promise.
As all green things grow, so shall you live and survive,
And your memory be carried forever beneath the feet
Of a thousand generations to come.

Chant:
The Earth is our mother,
We must take care of her,
The Earth is our mother,
We must take care of her.
Hey and a ho and a ho la la
Hey and a ho and a ho la la

(After each person has taken the oath, all place their hands over the pot of soil and concentrate on charging it. Let it remain before the altar until Hesperis the following day, at which time it shall be planted with seeds of a rare and special healing herb, to be kept in the house and cared for and cherished.)

Pagan Book of Hours

The Breviary of the Asphodel Tradition