(Michael and Ivy relaxing on the deck during lunch this weekend.)

This weekend was a busy one. The weather was beautiful, really really beautiful. No housework was done but that was the intention because it was all about the yard. Last week our landlord put in a fence, which we are truly thankful for. Now we can actually get stuff done without chasing down Damian ever 30 seconds.

Saturday we hit the Home Depot and Northwest Seed & Pet for gardening supplies. Lumber, PVC, and nylon trellis for the raised beds, a new pot for our Yule tree, as well as some organic fertilizer, and pea and bean inoculant. After which Michael (and Damian!) disassemble my old raised beds and salvaged some of the parts (brackets and screws.) I mostly took pictures and chatted with the neighbor. Hey, if I hadn’t spoken with the neighbor, I would not have learned he had a tiller and he would not have offered to till where our new raised beds were going!

On Sunday we were up nice and early and out in the yard. We raked and weeded, our neighbor came over and tilled, I baked 4 dozen gingersnaps (a dozen of which went to the neighbor.) Damian played in the freshly turned dirt, filling his wagon with weeds, sticks and grass (no complaints there.) Though I often hear that yearly tilling is damaging, I don’t think doing it once to deepen the soil under the beds is a bad idea (it also made getting all the weeds out all kinds of easy…) We are going to sow new grass around the beds.

I also took some time to ponder a side project. Michael snapped this photo of me while I was brainstorming. I want to turn these two dead stumps into a bench. I want to stain and finish that 2×10 I’m holding for the seat and fill the area behind it with flowers. I am thinking maybe a tepee of morning glories and moonflowers. Maybe some zinnias too? I want to more of less obscure the chain link. Any suggestions? I also need a nice garden quotation. I want to wood burn it on the bench. Open to suggestions on that front too!

Aside from the bench brainstorm, we built a trellis for last Autumn’s raised bed as well as most of a new raised bed before day’s end. We have yet to install the pvc bases in it for the hoops and it’s trellis, as well as Damian’s 4×4 bed. Still, I am supremely happy with what we accomplished. With the completion of this first trellis, I will be able to plant snap peas this week!

I could spend every weekend this way. Well almost, I have one small tweak. A barbecue would have been perfect yesterday, but we were out of burgers… Oh well, there is always next weekend!

If today be sunny and bright, Winter again will show its might.
If today be cloudy and gray, Winter soon will pass away.

Today is Oimelc, or at least it is for those of us who celebrate it on the full moon closest to February 1st. One of the many traditional activities on this day is weather prediction (hence the rhyme) and let me tell you, today was neither sunny or bright! Come on Spring!

This morning was time for cooking. I made marinara sauce, meatballs and croutons for dinner (spaghetti and meatballs with Caesar salad.) Damian spent most of his time crashing his tonka firetruck into block towers he was building on the kitchen floor. In between all that I did some Spring cleaning, nursed my baby girl and flipping through my new books.

Speaking of that little girl, Ivy turned two months old today. Michael came home early from work since she had an appointment with her pediatrician (the hemangioma specialist isn’t till Monday.) Her weight and height are both in the 95 percentiles!

Damian received his Oimelc gift from us today, a tambourine! Though he is too young to help me with our Oimelc ritual with candles, he is not too young to ring some “chimes”. I am loving watching him laughing with total joy while banging away!

Damian also helped me make marshmallows for our hot cocoa and a movie party tomorrow. We also made chocolate mint shortbreads. While I pretend not to notice I think it is cute when little hands sneak warm a cookie off the cooling rack.

If you want to read more about Oimelc and our family traditions I’ll send you here but I really just wanted to wish you all a blessed Oimelc and share a few piece of mine with you. I hope you had a lovely day and cloudy too if you can’t wait till Spring!

This is my second day in my challenge to take a photo everyday of 2010 (only 363 more to go!) I do not intend on posting them all here, but they are in a set on flickr.

Yesterday I saw my first rainbow of the year though by the time I grabbed my camera, it was already fading. Either way it seemed to carry a unique kind of blessing with it; I cannot think of a more beautiful herald for the new year then a rainbow.

As I said the other day, I don’t do resolutions but rather like the idea I have seen floating around the blogosphere of picking a word to be my inspiration or mantra for the year (or until I feel I have developed some mastery of its concepts.) 2010 will be my year to simplify my life. A home with young children can be chaotic and I need to find ways to find the eye of the storm. To live simply and in the moment.

And what could be a more simple joy then watching Damian play with one of my best friends on New Years day?

Our holiday decorations are simple and mostly handmade. All of our stockings were made by my mother-in-law. Michael’s is the one his mother made him as a child, Damian received his one his first Christmas and Ivy and I both received ones this year (they are lovely, check them out.) Elsewhere in the house we have a quilted banner hanging with angels, also from Michael’s family. I have a few Wintery cookie tins and candle holders scattered around too.

Our tree is a small live dwarf Alberta spruce that stays on our altar for a few weeks before going back outside. We have to watch for spidermites so I mist it a few times a week and crack the window beside it daily so it doesn’t get too warm for it. We decorate it with a handful of small ornaments, little painted wooden figurines and small beaded baubles, a crocheted mouse (Damian’s first ornament) and my one of my great-grandma’s little bells (Ivy’s first ornament,) a wood bead garland and a short string of big colored led lights. Santa/Odin stands beside our tree decked out in a fur and greenery with birds perched on him. We have a few glass ornaments that are too large for the tree (from when we had a large fake one) so we hang them from the ceiling above the tree, I think they make a great “topper.” They catch the light and this time of year is all about welcoming the return of the light for us.

I admit I love outdoor decorations more then indoor ones, so we have a couple strings of white ones on our porch and a wreath I made on the front door. Over the years I would like to pick up more lights, maybe the icicle ones if I can find led ones to line our roof with. On Christmas Eve we usually go around our neighborhood and look at all the decked out yards, but we will see how that goes with a newborn this year. Tonight after Michael gets home, we will delivery the last cookie plates to our neighbors and watch our favorite Christmas movies during our “finger food feast”. I am making all our favorite finger foods (and a ham) because nothing says holidays like eating too much (or something like that… Hey, it’s tradition!)

I love our Solstice traditions and for us today is the last day of Saturnalia and tomorrow is the first day of Brumalia, but it is also Christmas. We choose to honor Christmas in a secular way because of our family traditions. I love mixing Michael and my family traditions with our new ones as a family. And lets face it, this time of year is so much more fun with a young family. I can’t wait to see Damian unwrap his gifts tomorrow.

… staying up into the wee hours of the night humming Three Little Birds to your three week old with an upset tummy.

-

Don’t worry about a thing,
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin’: “Don’t worry about a thing,
‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right!”

Rise up this mornin’,
Smiled with the risin’ sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin’ sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin’, (”This is my message to you-ou-ou:”)

Don’t worry about a thing…

-

I don’t know about you but I think it is a pretty good lullaby for this longest night of the year. As tired as I am, this still feels like a precious time for Ivy and I. Our first Solstice eve together.

Last Sunday we met up with our friend Andrea at Hays Park so she could do our family photos (as well as a few prenatal photos of me.)

I don’t know what it is about us but we always seem to end up doing pictures outside on one of the hottest or one of the coldest days of the year. A couple years ago we did summer photos and it was 104°F that afternoon. While Sunday was far from as cold as it can get here, it was a day after this season’s first snow and below freezing.

Other then that, photos went well for the most part. Last time we did them Damian was not yet walking nor so independent, so since we were at the park most of the photos were taken around the playground. I like them better this way though, slides make for lots of toddler smiles.

After awhile though Damian’s lack of a morning nap and the snow soaking through his layers made him into a rather cranky little guy, so we went home to warm up, have some cocoa and a sleep. I love how the photos turned out (I have more in a set on flickr) many thanks to Andrea for doing this for us!

This past Saturday my friend Andrea held a Blessingway for me. It was so much fun to get together with my women friends and celebrate this pregnancy. Andrea took all these lovely photos of the occasion and there are more in a set on my flickr account.

After indulging in lots of delicious fruit (quite possibly one of the shortest ways to my heart,) opening a few lovely gifts and chatting it up, my friends did a belly cast on me. I don’t think I stopped laughing the entire time, with maybe a couple squeals from cold water running down my side (which was quickly rewarmed and the bowl placed on a heating pad.) Michael and Damian watched. Michael was as vastly amused as I was which was a comfort to Damian who was rather perplexed by what was going on.

I am undecided what I am going to paint on it and probably will not get to it until Ivy arrives either way. I am thinking maybe some design with lunar moths as they have been so prevalent in my dreams during this pregnancy (as have coyotes and shooting stars for that matter.) I have a feeling the birth will inspire me as to the design.

It was an exceptionally wonderful day and am reminded once again of how very blessed I am to have the friends that I do. I love you all.

Happy Halloween and Blessed Samhain everyone! This is our first year in this neighborhood so I am not sure how many trick-or-treaters we will get but I am looking forward to seeing them all. Now to go finish Damian’s costume, we’re getting down to the wire.

(I wrote about Samhain last year here for the curious.)

I thought that recaping our trip to the Harvest Festival this weekend would be a nice post for today, the Autumn Equinox. If you would like to read more about what this day means to me and how we celebrate it as a family I posted extensively about it last year.

This past Sunday we went out to Beck’s Harvest House in Greenbluff, as is our tradition, to pick apples as well as buy fresh pressed cider and some wine. This year we threw a pumpkin into the mix, for Damian’s benefit. (It is in his blog here.)

Last year Damian was only 3 1/2 months old and slept threw most of the trip. This year he is 15 1/2 months old and is walking, running, pointing and babbling. (They grow up fast don’t they?) He did not sleep a wink for the entire trip, though he rode around in his wagon for most of the time eating apples. Of course he had to pick some too, which proved a little tricker then he initially thought. Yanking them off the tree was no hard, but keeping his balance after the yank was! He face planted into the ground right after this photo was taken:


He might have managed to stay upright if he hadn’t of tried to grab the apple beside it also. Not that tipping over bothered him. He scrabbled back up quite triumphantly holding both apples! We picked galas, valstars, liberties and a few other varieties who’s names I never remember. We filled a bushel for ourselves (30lbs of apples!) and some for Shannon and Rachel too. Peter and Andrea came but they just helped us pick and frolic through the orchard of course. Actually Andrea had my camera for about half the time we were out there so I am not sure who took what photo anymore!

Just because you hide behind the camera my dear doesn’t mean that the camera’s owner (me!) does nab it back a few times to get a photo of you though. You’re beautiful. (Andrea is planning my blessingway for this pregnancy for the record, making her even more dear to my heart!)

This is my favorite photo of the day. Granted, I might be bias but I think these are most handsome guys in the world.

Other then picking apples and Damian’s pumpkin we also had lunch while we were there. A dozen pumpkin donuts, a caramel apple and a cinnamon bun count as lunch right? We thought so. We also browsed the country store and picked up 4 gallons of fresh cider (three of which are in the freezer) and a bottle of wine. Maybe we will still have the wine by Winter Solstice. Assuming Ivy has arrived by then, I’ll even be able to have some! (She better have, her due date is December 2nd!) I think she will be born on November 27th, but that is just me.

This past year has gone so fast, even the festival this year seemed to fly by. Thanks to all our friends who came out with us (and we missed all you who couldn’t make it this year.) This time next year Damian will be over 2 years old and Ivy over 6 months. Whew, that makes me appreciate the three seasons and seven sabbats that will come between now and then!

Anyhow now to go start peeling and slicing a bushel of apples and start on dinner. Blessed Autumn Equinox everyone! (More photos from the day can be found on our flickr page.)

This year I was the official pumpkin picker of the family, so while we were at the Harvest Festival I (gleefully) accepted my duty and set about choosing the perfect one that will grace our porch this Samhain.

Each pumpkin must be careful considered you know. Color, size, rollability and, of course, taste are all very important. I was undecided between two for the longest time but eventually I found one to be slightly easier to tip over then the other.

I promptly confirmed my choice with Daddy.

Since, you know, he is big and strong and has the wallet and stuff…

I tried to pick more pumpkins later but they were for “display only” what is the point of that!? I still enjoyed browsing their selection though!

Tomorrow we are carrying on our Autumn Equinox tradition of going out to Beck’s Harvest House in Greenbluff to pick apples. Initially we were going to go today but with high winds and a 40% of rain in forecast we postpone for tomorrow, banking on the weatherman’s promise of a perfect Autumn day.

Some of you might remember that I purchased an Autumn-themed board book for Damian as a Lughnasadh gift. I am really happy to report that he loves it, the pictures are so vivid and detailed that they completely captivate him. I would recommend it to anyone thinking about purchasing a similar gift with one word of caution, there are no words in it, only paintings. I personally prefer that as I can make up a different tale each time we go through it, but I realize that that is not for everyone.

Building on the idea of gifting him with something seasonal for each sabbat I recently purchased him Autumn Equinox gift, which I wanted to reflect our yearly trip to the orchards. I found lots of beautiful ideas but ultimately Michael helped me chose a Holztiger wooden apple tree (which I think is exceptionally well crafted.) Though Autumn Equinox will not technically arrive until Tuesday, we gave it to him today as we will be apple picking tomorrow.

I know that most children only associate Christmas or their birthday with special traditions and/or presents but since our family celebrates the Wheel of the Year I like the idea of doing something special with my children at the beginning and height of each of the seasons (what we refer to as sabbats of which we have eight.) I do not intend for each sabbat to be heralded with a gift, ultimately I would love it to become more of some kind of craft where we can talk about the meaning of the sabbat while we create something special together as well as our traditional activities (such as apple picking.) However that idea will largely depend on Damian being able to say more then 20 words and no longer attempting to eat craft supplies! So a board book or a small gift is the most developmentally appropriate at the moment.

Holztiger toys are geared more towards imaginary play which Damian is still a little young for, however I have no doubt he will grow into that phase (as it is natural.) For now though, he is more then pleased with his new toy even if his current use of it is running around the house waving it around like a club and occasionally stopping beside me to show me one of the bright red apples painted on it. Last year he was only 3 1/2 months old for the Harvest Festival and slept through most of it but I am sure that will not be the case with him this year. I can’t wait to see what he thinks of the big red apples hanging off the trees!

This weekend I harvested the rest of my purple haze carrots (which were fantastic and gone very quickly) and yesterday I picked my first handful of empress beans (an stringless heirloom snap bean.)

I actually could have started picking my beans last week but I am saving the seeds from that plant in the hopes of having even earlier beans next year. Did you know that beans have perfect flowers? They self-pollinate so you can grow many varieties in your garden without worrying too much about them cross-pollinating. That said nothing is infallible and they do suggest you seperate varieties of white bean by the length of your garden.

I know I have said this many times but living in sync with seasons is very important to me on a spiritual level. That is the main reason I garden. A garden is very visible representation of the passage of time. Beyond that, who can seriously resist fresh garden produce? It just tastes so much better. I think that is why my spiritual self and mundane self are so inseparable.

I ran across a new ezine this morning called Living in Season and I love it so far because it really seems to mesh all those aspects together. I am always so happy to come across people with the same aspirations and dedication as I in those areas. Anyhow it looks really promising and I just wanted to share in case you too have the same dreams (or if you are already living the dream for that matter.)

I love living in the Inland Northwest. I love living in a place that has amazing seasons changes and where I can feel the wheel of the year in action. I love the general timing of these changes here and how just when I begin to tire of one, the wheel turns. Admittedly Spring has taken the most adaptation on my part. There can be thunder, hail and snow all at once and then five minutes later the sun emerges so full of energy that the temperature jumps 15°F in 10 minutes, only for there to be a hard frost that night.

The gardener in me cringes somewhat at spring in Spokane but the dirty worshipping witch in me dances in the rain, laughs into the wind and basks in the radiant sun (all in the space of an hour mind you.) Soon enough summer will be here and the gardener will be appeased with zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans and more though.

This weekend we will be camping with friends, assuming all of the Stewart household are healthy (Damian just healed from a head cold and so far Michael and I seem to have been mostly spared.) The forecast for Utopialaughastan* is expected to be 80°F and sunny so hopefully that will banish any remaining vestiges of illness on our part. With fingers crossed for good health, I can’t wait!

The last harvest was brought in and winter is past. The Sun god having spent his energies providing the light and warmth needed for crops to flourish hung low over the southern sky. The God was spent and soon died. Mother Earth also labored hard under the sun and needed rest as can be told by the withered grasses and fallen leaves. Gaia curls up in slumber and awaits the day her consort will again return to her while protecting the seeds of life deep within her self. At Yule the new Sun God was born young and strong he was yet too distant to warm the Earth but watches Gaia slumber from afar. The Sun grew and became strong learning of the beauty of the Earth and those lovely creatures upon her. Though tempted by other’s beauty he yearns to be close to Gaia, to reunite with her. Growing ever stronger he circles closer gently warming her till she begins to awaken. Beneath the growing warmth of the Sun Gaia gently pushes the first new plants through the melting snows. Having grown to maturity the Sun encircles Gaia, warming the Earth and fully awakening her. They dance about one another while his passion burns…

This is part of the narration during the Beltane ritual that we attended this past Saturday at Sal and Rusty’s home in Medical Lake. Sal and Rusty reenacted the Sun enticing the Earth to bloom into summer. It was a beautiful rite full of love and a healthy dose of humor at some points! I was very honored to attend and be a part of it (I called water and set up the associated quarter altar.)

Beltane is an ancient Celtic festival celebrated around May 1st that marks the beginning of the pastoral summer season. For our modern day celebration of the rebirth of the warmer weather about 40 or 50 people showed up, which is a fantastic turn out for our area. Beyond the ritual (which included a labyrinth walk and spiral dance) we erected and wove a maypole, built a belfire and of course a huge groaning board feast, drumming, music, divination and as well as the usual camaraderie. Later people jumped the belfire too, in the rain, which was fun to watch.

The Inland Northwest felt as though we had to enjoy all her wonderful aspects throughout the day so we started of with bright warm wonderful sun, then some wild wind, then rain and more rain and finally a bit of clearing before the day was done, followed by more rain.

I don’t think the weather dampened anyone’s spirits though. If anything the success of this ritual makes me look even more forward to the Pagan Campout on summer solstice, though I don’t think I will play such an active role in it. It takes two to take care of a toddling Damian and I know I left Michael hanging a few times. Sometimes it is nice to just sit back and enjoy.

(The grounding labyrinth, walked before the ritual. If you would like to read more about Beltane, I blogged about it a couple years ago. I also have more photos from the day up here.)

I hope everyone had a blessed Beltane full of love, wonder, joy and peace.

If I was keeping up a pattern here I would have a very long relatively informative post about the Vernal Equinox and my beliefs in the place of this photo. Truth is, I haven’t even gotten beyond the outline form in the past few weeks with moving and all. And I don’t have one ounce of shame regarding that fact, it will just have to wait until things settle down (and be posted next year.)

I took this photo of Damian and me in our backyard today. I was taking photos of the yard I can plan gardening work (what better way to celebrate the coming of Spring?) I have started working on two raised beds recently too. I’ll post pictures and descriptions about that later, but right now I need to go weave two loaves of challah bread and finish a curried chicken salad.

If today be sunny and bright, Winter again will show its might.
If today be cloudy and gray, Winter soon will pass away.

In northern climates, the first days of February look nothing like Spring, but if you look closely you can see the small but sturdy signs of changing seasons begin to appear. Maybe it rains more often then it snows, or the days are noticeably longer, maybe the wind’s bite is a little less harsh, or the sun a little warmer. Whatever the sign is, it hints that Spring is just around the corner.

Oimelc falls on February 1st, approximately half way between Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox. It literally means “ewe’s milk”, and refers to the ewes are nursing their newly born lambs, another indication of the coming of Spring. It is sometimes called Imbolc, Brighid, Lupercalia (not celebrated until the 13th) or Candlemas (though this refers to a Catholic holiday.) It is sometimes also celebrated on the full moon nearest to February first, we do this in our family.

As with many of the Pagan sabbats, Oimelc’s history is firmly rooted in Celtic tradition, though it also borrows some Roman and Christian ideas. Lupercalia was an ancient, possibly pre-Roman, festival where all evil spirits were driven out of the city and spirits of health and fertility were invited in. Old hearth fire were extinguished and new ones lit, old candles were also replaced and blessed. Many of Lupercalia’s customs were integrated into Catholicism when the Roman Empire converted, minus the orgies of course.

In Celtic culture, this was a time of weather divination, usually done by observing the hibernation patterns of snakes, many believe that this custom evolved into the secular Groundhog Day. The snake was a creature revered for its sacred wisdom. The snake was one of the many animals associated with the goddess Brighid, to whom this day is also given to, Là Fhéill Bhrìghde. She was such a deeply ingrained symbol to the Celtic tribes, the Christian missionaries chose to make her a saint rather then try to remove her from importance.

Brighid was the keeper of the sacred flame and guardian of home and hearth, though she is said to have had two sisters, Brighid the Physician and Brighid the Smith. Most people see these three women as aspects of the same goddess, one of poetry, healing, and smithcraft.

In Scottish legend is the said that one the eve of Oimelc, the Cailleach (Old Woman Winter) takes a journey to a sacred well on a magical island. As dawn breaks, she drinks from it and is transformed into Bride (another spelling of Brighid), the beautiful maiden who’s white wand turns the bare earth green again. Again, many people see the Cailleach and Bride and Brighid as one and the same, often referring to her as a triple goddess, at once maiden, mother and crone.

All these celebrations have led to very diverse Oimelc celebration among modern Pagans. This is a time many will reevaluate personal relationships and habits to decide what needs to be discarded in their lives. Renewal of old pledges or commitments to new ones are done at this time as well. This emotional purging is often accompanied by physical purging, either by beginning Spring cleaning or decluttering altars and other spiritual supplies. Many Pagans make or purchase their candles for the year around this time and consecrate them on Oimelc.

On a personal level, I rarely do much on Oimelc. It has taken me a long time to be able to connect with this sabbat though it is easier now that I have children, it has always felt like more of a home and hearth day to me then anything else. As I have become acclimated to life in the Inland Northwest I have started to see the unique beauty in this time of year too, rather then only seeing a series of cloudy long dark days.

To me, Oimelc represents a hidden transformation. I feel the coming of Spring in my heart more then see it in the land. The increasing daylight lightens my mood and renews my energy so that I can work on projects that have probably taken a back burner during the drearier days Winter. I begin planning my garden on Oimelc and meditate on what I would like to see grow in my life and in my community. If we listen closely we can hear the land whispering of the changing seasons. The Vernal Equinox is only seven weeks away and Oimelc celebrates the anticipation of Spring.

Oimelc: in our home

(Collecting reeds with our friend Sal to make Brighid’s Crosses.)

Activities:

• Bell ringing purification procession
• Burning Winter Solstice greens
• Candle making and consecrating
• Ritual: initiations, dedications
• Spring cleaning
• Visiting a spring or well
• Writing or read poetry

Crafts:

• Bread Making
• Brighid’s Wheel
• Candle Making
• Knitting and Weaving

Decorations:

• Candles
• Cauldron
• Colors: red, white
• Hibernating animals
• Seasonal plants and foods
• Suns
• Woolen items

Oimelc: feast

We went over to some friends this year for Imbolc, so I just made bread and dip to share. Otherwise I would have made red (tomato) and white raviolis with cheese filling, and granitas from fruit I froze last summer. Maybe next year!

–

BREAD: focaccia
This year I added 1/4 cup chopped dried tomatoes that I packed in oil this summer. I also infused some of the oil with basil and oregano and used that as well.

–

BREAD DIP: Sun-dried Tomato and Basil

• 8 sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp dried basil (2 tbsp fresh if you have it)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne

Put everything into a blender and pulse till smooth. Let sit for 6 hours or overnight.

I hope you all have a most blessed and joyful Oimelc, Winter is drawing to a close and the wheel turns to the warmth of Spring.

The soul has wings that bring it forth into the wonder we know as Life, it comes to us from the Sommerlands, from Heaven, from the Unknown. In this state of Life, it can laugh, cry, awaken, mourn, create, frustrate, hope… love. Maybe sometimes the soul isn’t always ready for these wonders, it can be pretty overwhelming to be born, (or reborn) but when does choose to come forth into our marvelous, tumultuous, inspiring little world it is a truly amazing experience. I know this because I have given birth and I knew the moment I looked into Damian’s eyes that his radiant soul knew it too. Who knew one tiny blue speck in the vastness of the universe could harbor such amazing potential?

Life, as we known it, begins and ends, what comes before or after is a mystery to most. I know the soul exists, the evidence is in my dreams, Damian’s soul came to me on wings. I accept that come people don’t agree, some people see my evidence as simple faith but my faith makes all things possible. I definitely believe in the divine, maybe not a single omnipotent being, but I believe that there are sacred forces out there that are worthy of my respect.

To me Life is most certainly only one side of a coin, the Mystery is the other. Death (and Birth) I suppose is that thin edge connecting the two. It is a turning point, a veil, obscuring the great beyond. Many of us feel apprehension as we look at Death (and as we wait for a Birth too.) Why, do we fear the Mystery? To people of faith, we might feel an understanding of the Mystery, but even we see the transition as daunting and sometimes terrifying, both to watch and experience.

Everything must eventually die. From the body the soul takes flight once more back into the Mystery, into the embracing, welcoming and joyous light of the divine. For some, the ancestors who have not yet returned to Life will be there to greet them under the golden apple trees of the Sommerlands, for others all their loved ones in Heaven as well as God will be there with open arms. I know those I love and who have crossed over look back at us and smile. They send their love and check in from time to time.

Birth is a celebration, the midwifing a beautiful soul into our world. It is a mysterious and wondrous transition. Death is also mysterious but should it be celebrated? Sometimes the dieing are fortunate enough to be comforted, to be midwifed back into the Mystery, surrounded by those who love them. We hold varying degrees of rituals and celebrations for those who pass on. I do think some kind of farewell is necessary, if only to bring comfort to our own souls.

I had a dream last night, and echo of one I had when I was a few months pregnant, when I condor brought me Damian’s soul. I watched the condor as it lead a shinning flying soul into the starlit sky and the light of that soul grew as it rose, a blazing lantern at first, then a radiant sun, then an all colorful shifting blue and gold light, the aura that which faded into a streaking shooting star passing over the horizon of our Wild Old Mama Earth.

I knew I had to share the dream when I woke up, so here we are at the end of my post. I am a bit lacking for some form of eloquent conclusion so I will share I little Eskimo legend I heard once that seems strangely fitting with that dream.

On the darkest nights, near the stairway from Earth to the Sky (the constellation we know as Orion,) the ancestors come out to dance. The stars are the lights around their dance floor and they are the Gulla, the aura. They are letting us know that they are happy.

Breath.
Breath love into the palms of your hands
and place your flaming palms over your heart.
Let this warmth melt your fears like wax before a fire
and watch the delicious softening reveal the wildflower of your heart.
We must live with Hearts Wide Open.
Hearts Wildly Open.

    – Kali Heydel

Brightly burns our fire tonight.
Magic dances with candlelight.

Hold my hand and join in song.
Raise the Sun King bright and strong!

Dark is giving way to light.
Brightly burns the fire tonight.

Winter Solstice is the shortest day and longest night of the year. It falls around December 21st of each year. It is a festival day in many cultures often calling for bright lights and fires, freshly cut evergreens, feasting with loved ones and singing and dancing. These festivities serve to rekindle the human spirit in the heart of winter.

In many modern Pagan traditions, Winter Solstice, is a celebration of the rebirth of the sun. Many still hold vigils awaiting the dawn, heralding the sun as the God reborn from the sacred womb of the Goddess. In other traditions a great battle is waged between the Oak King and Holly King where the Oak King triumphs returning to the world to longer warmer days.

It is a near certainty that Winter Solstice was of significant importance to ancient people, especially Proto-Celtic tribes. The evidence of this is obvious in the layouts of the stone monuments of New Grange in Ireland and Stonehenge in Britain. Each of these sites was carefully built to line up with the solstice sunrise. It can be suggested that the marking of midwinter was important for ancient communities because the people needed an approximate idea of how long their stored provisions had to last.

The most common alternate name for Winter Solstice is Yule a term originating from ancient Norse and Germanic tribes. It began as a celebration marking a 60 day time beginning at the lunar midwinter, but by the late Viking Age, it had become a great solstitial midwinter festival that amalgamated the traditions of various midwinter celebrations across Europe. On the the eve of Yule a huge log was lit in honor Thor, god of thunder, and feasting would continue until it burned out, which could be up to twelve days! A portion of the log was saved to be used in the lighting of the next year’s log.

Winter Solstice, as with many sabbats, has been incorporated into other religious celebrations. Most notably, it shares it’s place in the wheel of the year with the Christian religious observance of Christmas, which celebrates the birth of Jesus. Many of the traditions common throughout the Christian season correlate to ancient Pagan traditions. There is nothing wrong with this mixing of traditions of course, if anything it reflects how interrelated belief systems can be. Many of the most prevalent traditions celebrated by modern western culture today are echoes of ancient practices.

Santa is an example of a mix of new and old. Many parallels can be seen between Santa and the Germanic god Odin. There are legends that tell of Odin leading a hunting party through the sky on the solstice. He rode upon an eight-legged horse named Sleipnir who could leap great distances, which can be compared to Santa’s reindeer flying through the night. On the eve of the solstice, children would place their boots by the chimney filled with offerings for Sliepnir (carrots, straw or sugar.) In thanks Odin would leave them candy and small gifts.

The tradition of leaving out boots on Yule survived the Christianization of Germanic culture and Odin’s deeds might have become mixed with the legend of Saint Nicholas. Over time These men became Santa and those boots by the chimney became the stockings hanging from the mantle. I have heard that the Goddess Freya rose through the sky in a chariot pulled by stags and gave gifts for the 12 days after the solstice, but I have not been able to find too much information about this. If it is true though, it explains the sleigh with reindeer!

Since a large part of my spiritual practice involves honoring the ancestors I like to take a few moments on the solstice to remember what it must have been like for them. Winter was the season of death, a time for the earth to rest, renewing itself for the birth of Spring. Being in tune with the rhythms of the land, our ancestors would have known that despite the darkness, soon the light would return to the earth, bringing with it life. I can see why the Winter Solstice was so important. It welcomed back the much needed Sun.

To me, Winter Solstice heralds the returning sun as an eternal spirit and light brining. The returning sun reminds us to love our life passionately and to to reawakening our goals that may have been dampened by the long nights. It is a reminder that we too can be light bringers.

Winter Solstice calls us to come together on this longest night and bring with us light in the form of love, peace and joy. This is a light that we can share with each other and send out into the world. The choices that we make every day, as humans, as multi-faceted beings of this universe, should come from open minds and hearts. With this kind of devotion to the betterment of ourselves and each other, I believe we can accomplish anything.

Winter Solstice: in our home

(This is from a page in my BoS where I list family activities, crafts, home and altar decorations and other miscellaneous ideas.)

Activities:

• Cookie Plates for Friends
• Dawn Vigil Ritual
• Decorating Tree
• Gift Exchange
• Holiday Light Drive

Crafts:

• Bread Making
• Cookies
• Gingerbread Houses
• Natural Ornaments
• Paper Snowflakes (flat and 3D)
• Pomanders
• Popcorn garlands

Decorations:

• Bells
• Evergreen
• Lights
• Mistletoe
• Seasonal flowers and foods
• Stockings
• Suns
• Winter Solstice Candles
• Yule Tree

Winter Solstice: the feast

We have a larger gathering at our home every year. Sometimes we have a group ritual, sometimes not, but we always have much fun and laughter. I always make a pot roast, but this year I also made the Layered Vegetarian Casserole that I make at Autumn Equinox for our vegetarian friends. I always try to focus on making my meals as local as possible, as to best honor Old Wild Mama Earth. Sometimes I make more side dishes, sometimes our guests bring them to add to the table. (My friend Andrea helped me with quite a lot of tips, as well as a gravy lesson in this kitchen with year. Thank you!) This year’s meal prayer is a bit of a combination of several wonderful ones I have come across recently.

Tonight is the night of the Solstice,
the longest night of the year.
The Wheel turns and the days will brighten
Bringing renewed life to the Earth.

May hands will work for peace and justice,
May hands will work to heal the land.

For the food that stays our hunger,
For the rest that brings us ease,
For friends and memories that linger,
We give our thanks for these.

BREAD: Snowflake Pretzels

–

DRINKS

• Egg Nog: I buy this.
• Mulled Cider: To make this, I pour a gallon or two of cider in a big enamel pot on the morning of our gathering. I sprinkle in a healthy amount of spices (I use a mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves) and set the pot on the stove, cover it and and turn the stove on low and just leave it. It makes the house smell sooooo nice all day. You can also add cranberry juice to change things up a bit or make it in the crockpot.
• Wine: We buy ours locally in Greenbluff, we can also get hard cider this time of year. This year we got a white wine infused with cranberry and spices.

–

MAIN DISH: Pot Roast

• 5lb chuck roast (this fed about 9 people with a little leftover)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Italian Seasoning (I make my own mix.)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp pepper (I love pepper.)
• 1 cup apple cider
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp cornstarch

Heat a cast iron skilled on medium high. Mix together oil, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Rub all over chuck roast. Sear the roast on all sides. Put in 5-6 quart crockpot. (You could put potatoes, carrots or onions under it if you like, I prefer to roast them seperately.) Pour cider and Worcestershire sauce in.

Cover crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 5 to 6 hours, until beef is tender. (My current crockpot seems to get warmer and cook faster then my last one, so give yourself some extra time.)

To make gravy: Put some of the broth from the crockpot to a small saucepan over medium heat. In another small bowl whisk together cornstarch with a little broth to get out the lumps. Add to saucepan and whisk until mixture begins to thicken. (I think I remembered how to do that properly…)

Serves 8-10.

–

SIDE DISH: Maple Yams
(Yams are not local, they are the tuber of a tropical vine. Did you know they can grow 7 feet long?! But, well, I adore yams…)

• 5 sweet potatoes (I used yams, not local, but I adore yams…)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 or 3 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 400F.

Poke some holes in the yams and place them in a shallow roast pan (or lipped cookie sheet.) Roast them until they are very soft (and hour or two.) Yams tend to get really stick when they cook, so line your pan with aluminium foil, it makes cleanup way easier.

When your yams are cool enough to handle you can just peel the skins off with your hands. Put in a dish with butter and maple syrup. Mash together (with a potato masher, or fork, or hands, or mixer, or whatever makes you happy.)

Serves 8-10.

–

DESSERT: Pumpkin Roll
You can totally do this with homemade pumpkin puree.

It is winter.
It is night.

We await the sun.
We await the light.

In this darkness.
In this night.

We await the warmth.
We await the light.

And the Sun, he rises.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

When I was a teenager, I was rather desperately trying to find faith. Faith in what, I didn’t know, but faith of some kind. It was not a desire that I frequently (if ever) discussed with most of my family or friends, I didn’t think they would understand. I don’t know why I am thinking about it today, probably because I heard Amazing Grace on the radio and that song always stirs a deep well of spiritual emotions in me.

When I was younger we visited Mexico and I stayed with my Uncle Philip for a week or two. He is a minister so we attended his church. They sang and danced and some of the people in his church were “touched” by God. They collapsed on the floor and it looked like they were having seizures. I was completely terrified. I did not understand why God had to induce medical problems like that to make people feel his presence. It seemed cruel and wrong. I felt really out of place because I felt nothing, not so much as a twitch or inkling of another tongue. So I just stood there until my brother came over and we left and went for a walk I think.

I am not saying that the people in that church were wrong in there practice, they have a right to it. But I am saying that I was not emotionally prepared to be thrown into an environment like that without any notice. The masses I have been to in Catholic churches in France were… a lot different. I don’t blame anyone for the experience of course, but it certainly influenced my views of God.

When we lived in Spain (age 14 to 18), I remember the longing for guidance being particularly intense. I often went on walks down to one of the churches in Sitges and just sat in the pews, sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for more then an hour. A man (I’m pretty sure he was a priest) came over and tried to talk with me a couple times and I passed myself off as a tourist. I was too scared to talk to him. If I spoke better Spanish, I told myself, I would go to confession. I don’t know what I would have said though. Instead of confession I spoke to God instead, telling him all the things that were on my mind, and then I waited. I don’t know what I was wait for, guidance I suppose. Though I think at the time I might have needed really bold statement to notice, an angel or white light and voice. I think I wanted him to appear, not speak to me through a messenger.

I only went to this church once on a Sunday and it was too much for me. I felt so very out of place. I was not very much for public displays of emotion, so when I was there on Sunday, surrounded by all those people of strong Christian faith, I felt like a fraud.

Sometimes I skipped school and would just wander around until I found a church. I would sit in a pew staring at the altar or building architecture and talking to God. I would be there usually until someone came up and tried to start a conversation with me. That always scared me off. Eventually I figured out that God wasn’t going to answer me, not in the way I wanted at least, and Christianity wasn’t right for me. So I stopped going to churches and started going to parks.

I have been aware of and involved with various forms of Paganism since I was about 14. When I wasn’t sitting in a pew I was reading about Paganism. I tried to talk to the Goddess in church a couple times but I was worried God was going to hear me giving up on him. The Christian God has always has the stern father archetype in my mind.

Anyhow, when I gave up on church I started going to parks and it was in one I found faith. I remember exactly how it happened. I had skipped school that day, my friend was going to come with me but she bailed last minute so I was alone. I wandered to a park near my school. I found a secluded bench surrounded by flowers and weeping trees. I laid there, closed my eyes and asked for a sign. When I opened my eyes and saw the sun filtering through the leaves above me. It was at that exact moment I found faith. It was a feeling that is really hard to describe (unless you have been there I guess.)

I didn’t cry or collapse or anything, I just knew that I was in the presence of something amazing. I felt as though Mother Earth had risen up and hugged me and Father Sky wrapped me a cocoon of light. I didn’t feel guilty or like a fraud, I felt unconditionally loved and welcomed. They weren’t there as angels or priests but they were there in person, not so much as gods but more as eternal but kindred spirits embodied in the trees, flowers, sun and sky. They were tangible and real, and they saved me.

One could say I have been a devoted “Pagan” ever since, though I don’t follow the God and Goddess, I walk with them. We are all Eternal Spirits. They are much older and more knowledgeable then I of course but not detached omnipotent beings. When I speak to them I feel them immediately and viscerally. They are real to me.

A lot more happened between that day and now that has shaped my faith but I will save it for another post.

I had a dream the other night that Damian (my son) was surrounded by different colored lights. I have had similar dreams in the past but this one was particularly vivid, so I thought I would draw it.

I don’t know much about auras but it kind of reminds me of aura drawings I have seen. I thought I would post it because I like how it looks and thought someone might have some thoughts on interpreting it.

(Helaris posted and interesting interpretation of this here, on my deviantart.)

I am launching my first podcast today!

It is a Pagan podcast focused on the sabbats, beliefs, religious tolerance and current events.

Today’s podcast is about Samhain of course! I talk about some traditions, reflect on my grandpa Jack and share one of my poems. It is 13 minutes long.

Click here to visit Paganites.com and listen to the Samhain podcast.

Let me know if you listen and what you think.

The Festival of Samhain was an ancient Celtic festival, falling on October 31st. A day which also marks Catholic All-Souls-Day and the secular Halloween, both strongly colored by the Celtic festival. Unlike most of the other sabbats, Samhain is not dictated by astrological events and therefor always falls on October 31st. Beltane is it’s counterpart laying directly opposite to Samhain in the Wheel of the year.

Samhain marks the end of the planted harvest and the beginning of the meat harvest. In days long past this time was vital, with the first snows nearing it was time to cull the herds and preserve their meat for Winter; without which the communities survival would be in question. Our ancestors knew this and so lived in harmony and with intuitive knowledge of the weather and changing seasons.

The Celtic year was split into two parts, and Samhain marks the start of the dark half, or Winter, which will transition into summer at Beltane. Now is the time for Old Wild Mother Earth to slip into a deep slumber, there she will gather strength till the Spring planting. This rest period is important, if not vital, not only for Her but also as a lesson to us. We must all take a break from time to time, as to regain our energy. With our renewed energy, the fruits of our labor will be even better.

Historically Samhain was an important festival celebrated for three days in the royal court in Tara (in modern day Ireland.) All hearth fires were extinguished and a ritual fire was started on the Hill of Tara, signaling people to gathered on hilltops all across Ireland and light community bonfires. Sometimes two bonfires were lit and people and livestock passed between then in a purification and protection rite. At the end of the Samhain celebrations a burning ember was taken home by each family to relight their own hearth fires. This was a common flame binding together the entire community.

Beyond being associated with the harvest, Samhain was a sacred time to the Celts. In their lore, on Samhain eve the veil between the worlds grows especially thin. This was a particularly powerful time for the spirits of the dead could interact with the living. Because of this many forms of divination were often done on this night and of course a variety of rituals were done to appease or welcome one’s ancestors. Burial cairns were often opened in villages and torches were used to light the path out so the dead could safely navigate their way into the world of the living. Candles are set in the windows to guide spirits safely to the house. The dumb supper was another common tradition, this is when an extra place is set at the table in honor of one’s ancestors and more recent deceased loved ones. Sometimes apples were buried in the Earth to nourish those who have died but chosen not to rise.

The origin of the Jack-O-Lantern comes from these days long past as well (though back then it was a turnip) it was a light to guide the beloved dead, the scary face was later added to frighten off any spirits will bad intentions. Masks and costumes were also used to hide identities from these malevolent spirits. Of course in the modern day these are harmless traditions times incorporated into Halloween, having mostly lost their meaning to non-Pagans.

In my own path, I celebrate both Halloween and Samhain. Halloween being about fun and family and Samhain having a more somber, but equally family oriented feel. Tonight the veil between the worlds lifts, and the spirits will walk amongst us once again. Be they family, friends or foes, they come into our realm to share whatever weighs on their souls. In my West window a candle burns brightly, guiding my beloved ancestors as they travel. Perhaps they will come in and take a seat at our table, as I have set a place for them, so that they may join us as we share stories, both tall and small, about them.

Honoring the ancestors is an important facet in my personal beliefs and something I do all year around. Samhain however always feels especially significant for paying those respects and sharing their stories, perhaps because I know that there are so many others out their sending their respects to the own beloved dead on this night.

On this eve give thanks to the lessons that the past year has revealed to me and honor its teachings in its death. On the dawn the wheel will turn once again and the new year will rise. May the good come to pass and the bad be cast aside. So mote it be.

Samhain: in our home

(This is from a page in my BoS where I list family activities, crafts, home and altar decorations and other miscellaneous ideas.)

Activities:

• Ancestors Ritual
• Divination
• Make Dreamboards
• Nature Hike
• Picking Pumpkins
• Trick or Treat

Crafts:

• Carving Pumpkins
• Bread Making
• Mask/Costume Making
• Pine Cone Bird Feeders
• Samhain Candles

Decorations:

• Acorns, Maple Keys, Pinecones
• Autumn Leaves
• Burial Cairns
• Gourds, Pumpkins, Squash
• Scythe, Bolline
• Seasonal flowers and foods

Samhain: feast

We are having a potluck this year and our vegetarian friends will be coming, hence the meatless meal. I alway try to focus on making my meals as local as possible, as to best honor Old Wild Mama Earth.

We stand now on the eve of the New Year,
I give thanks to the lessons this year has revealed to me and honor its teachings.
On the dawn the wheel will turn once again and the new year will rise.
The Spirits of the Ancestors are here, shinning, and we send our love to them.
Dark are the days ahead but bright are the fires in our souls.
In this coming year may the good come to pass and the bad be cast aside.
May our home be guarded against the cold and our pantries sustain us.
So mote it be.

BREAD: Sweet Potato Biscuits
(I’m using yams this year because I want the biscuits to be orange.)

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 cup sweet potato, mashed
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tbsp maple syrup

Cook and mash sweet potatoes. Chill.

Preheat oven to 400F. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt. Cut in cold butter until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Stir in sweet potatoes, milk and maple syrup. Pat into 9″ square and cut into 16 squares.

Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Cook on wire rack.

–

MAIN DISH: Smashed Potato Soup

• 3 1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons roasted garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4-1/2 cups chicken broth (vegetable broth today)
• 1/2 cup sour cream (you can use whipping cream or half and half too)
• 4 oz shredded pepperjack (or cheddar)
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions

In a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker, combine potatoes, sweet pepper, garlic, and black pepper. Pour broth in. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.

Mash potatoes slightly with a potato masher. Stir in sour cream, cheese, and the 1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions.

Serves 8.

–

DESSERT: Aunt Ruth’s Pumpkin Pie
I found this recipe on my Aunt Ruth ’s cooking blog from last year. If you don’t know how to make pumpkin filling from scratch, go here.

I hope you all have a most blessed and joyful Samhain (or Halloween!) Autumn is drawing to a close, so enjoy these last days before the wheel turns to the white softness of Winter.

The Hunter’s Moon, also known as the Blood Moon, is the first full moon after the Harvest Moon (the full moon nearest to autumn equinox.) Both the Harvest and the Hunter’s Moon rises near dusk allowing for prolonged light. Night was once a time to slow down, with only the flickering of candlelit and hearth fires to illuminate a home, beyond that laid only the twinkle of stars. When the moon was full, it was easier to work (or party…) late.

We are nearing Samhain, a time when herds were traditionally culled and their meat preserved for the Winter ahead. Once Samhain was celebrated by the light of this full moon. The three days of this moon are also feast days among some Native American tribes. This is the last breath before the plunge into the chill of Winter. (There is an interesting reenactment of the Feast of the Hunters’ Moon near Lafayette, Indiana each year.)

This moon slipped by nearly unnoticed to me. Had I not have been standing by the window with Damian in arms, I would not have noticed it. I saw him staring with total fixation at something and when I looked up the Hunter’s Moon shone bright in the sky. I stepped outside with him and he kept his eyes unwavering on the moon. Since I didn’t have shoes on and the patio was freezing, I just said a small blessing prayer and came back inside. I laid Damian and my pentacle in the moonlit for the night.

This might be the last time I see the full moon for a few months, our Winter nights tend towards the overcast. I don’t mind, this period of rest is needed for the Earth and as a lesson to us. We must all rest from time to time, as to gather strength. With this renewed strength the fruits of our labor will be even better.

(Photo from Night Sky Info.)

The cool down of Autumn have finally arrived and so has the peak of the harvest season. Fat pumpkins lay in fields, apple branches bend low with heavy yield and the Earth’s bounty overflows the garden and farm. This harvest begs to be enjoyed, but also preserved. Winter’s icy days draw near.

Technically speaking an equinox is a day when the Sun will spend an equal amount of time above and below the horizon. This happens twice a year, in Autumn and Spring. Autumn Equinox is the tipping point into the dark half of the year. Today we are also entering into the sunsign of Libra, her scales are a perfect echo of the light/dark balance of this equinox. Historically speaking, nearly every culture has some form of harvest festival, many celebrated still today.

Megalithic people of ancient Britain and Ireland obviously placed some kind of importance on both the solstices and equinoxes. Otherwise they would not have build stone structures like Stonehenge and Loughcrew Cairn to determine their dates. Their methods of celebrating these days has been long lost to history though.

The ancient Celts constructed a wickerman around this time of the year as well. It was ritually burned to represent the plant spirits returning to the earth to rest until Spring. An incarnation of this ancient idea has been reborn in recent years in the Burning Man Project, a yearly festival celebrated in the Autumn in Nevada. A giant wickerman is constructed and burned at the height of the week long festival.

The Mayans constructed a sacred pyramid called Chichen Itza, which acted in a similar way to the stone structures of the Megalithic people of Britain and Ireland. On the day of the Autumn Equinox a “serpent of light” descends the pyramid until it joins this a huge stone rattlesnake head at its base. (This serpent is actually seven isosceles triangles that are formed from the sunlight hitting the pyramid stairs.)

The Chumash, a Native American tribe from Southern California, celebrate the Autumn Equinox in a ceremony that takes place after the harvest is picked, processed and stored. After this day the spiritual thoughts of the tribe become focused on unity in the face of Winter.

Teutonic tribes called the period from the Autumn Equinox until approximately October 15th “Winter Finding.” October 15th was Winter Night and their new years. Besoms were constructed to symbolize the man/woman duality. A Harvest Lord was made from straw and burned, his ashes scattered over the fields. A Harvest Queen was woven from the last sheaf of wheat of the harvest. It was dressed in Spring colors and hung from a pole (it also was sometimes called the Kern Baby.)

In Neopaganism, many different rituals are preformed on this day, often echoing ancient traditions. Most of these rites are based on the balance found in nature as well as within ourselves. Some refer the Autumn Equinox as the Witches Thanksgiving as it is a celebration of the harvest and a time to give thanks for the bounty that the Earth has provided.. Wiccans, the most common variety of Neopagans, celebrate the Autumn Equinox as Mabon. The day honors the Sacrificial King who dies and passes into the harvest to be reborn through the Goddess come Springtime.

In my practice, I personify the Earth as Mother and Sun as Father. Now is the time for Father Sun to pass into darkness so that Mother Earth might rest as she nurtures the spirit of Spring within her. Without Winter’s rest many plants could not come forth in the Spring. Autumn Equinox is a time to come together as a community and give thanks for the harvest as well as find peace within ourselves to face the coming darker days. It is a time of year when the goals that summer’s fun kept me from, return to the forefront of my mind. Balances is a powerful force which I invite into my life so that all my workings might come from a place of wholeness and love. Balance is needed in all things from the spiritual to the mundane as it keeps us from the pointlessness excess and the dullness of laziness.

Autumn Equinox: in our home

(This is from a page in my BoS where I list family activities, crafts, home and altar decorations and other miscellaneous ideas.)

Activities:

• Acorn Gathering for Winter Solstice ornaments
• Harvest Festival in Greenbluff
• Thanksgiving Ritual

Crafts:

• Apple Dolls
• Autumn Leaves Stained Glass
• Besom Making
• Bread Making
• Pine Cone Bird Feeders
• Harvesting and Preserving: canning, dehydrating, freezing
• Equinox Candles

Decorations:

• Acorns, Maple Keys, Pinecones
• Autumn Leaves
• Burial Cairns
• Cornucopias
• Dried Herbs
• Indian Corn Bundles
• Scythe, Bolline
• Seasonal flowers and foods

Autumn Equinox: feast

This is a a time when the Earth’s bounty is at her peak, why not make the table groan with your favorite seasonal dishes? Since we go to the apple festival each year fresh apple cider and local wines fill out goblets and we raise them for a blessing a toast.

Eternal Spirits we welcome you into our home on this day of balance.
You who are the wind, water, fire and earth at the soul of our world.

The Autumn Equinox is here and we give thee thanks for the harvest,
and its bounty that nourishes us, sustains us and inspires us.

We give thee thanks for the times we spend together in love and peace,
and all those who have fought so that we may enjoy this freedom.

We give thee thanks for this good green Earth and the kinship of our friends and family,
and for all we have overlooked or taken for granted in our life.

We give thanks for the blessings you whisper into our lives each and every day.
Eternal Spirits we welcome you to our table. Blessed be.

(You can go around the table now and have everyone share what they are thankful for.)

–

BREAD: Roasted Potato and Onion Bread
This must be started the night before your feast. It is well worth the effort though!

–

MAIN DISH: Layered Vegetarian Crockpot
Layer in crockpot:

• 6 potatoes, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 1 cup corn
• 1 cup peas

Any vegetable mixture really works. I didn’t have a zucchini today so I used green beans. If you have a garden, even better! Wander around and see what’s fresh.

Pour over top:

• 2 cans tomato sauce
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• Salt & Pepper

Cook 8 to 12 hours.

• Spread 1 cup shredded cheese over top and serve once melted.

–

DESSERT: Apple Pie
I think everyone has their preferred family recipe for this one, mine seems to change from year to year as I seek to find one that is truly special. Since we did not go apple picking this weekend (Michael was sick) we will be going next Sunday. So the apple pie is on the backburner so to speak, until then. If anyone has a tried and true apple pie recipe that they don’t mind me sharing through my blog if we like it, I would be more then willing to try it! (The crust cannot contain shortening, I am allergic to cottonseed oil.)

I hope you all have a most blessed and joyful Autumn Equinox, Mabon, Harvest Home, or whatever you celebrate. And if you celebrate none, I still hope you get outside rain or shine (rain for us this year!) and enjoy the beauty of Autumn.

(Clipart courtesy FCIT.)

Imagine this picture, only in the dark, after a long drive down a rocky dirt road with a six-year-old scared that the bears would get her in the back of the van. That would be us on Friday night, driving to South Skookum Campground. Apparently the ranger I have talked to earlier in the day had been wrong about it being open. It closed on Labor Day, which was the weekend before!

Skookum is one of those wonderful secluded campgrounds, you know, the ones without phone reception? Which is awesome, except when you are stuck out there late at night with no way to tell the people who are coming up the next day that it is closed. However, we are a stubborn resourceful group of Pagans, so with a little bit of exploring by lantern light, we were delighted to find the host site was only 200 yards down the road and that someone had left the outhouse unlocked (double score!)

So we hoofed the basics down there (tents, sleeping bags and diapers,) pitched the tents and settled in for the night. Sal played his Native American flute for a time, a beautiful sound to drift off to sleep with. I did wake up three times during the night. A couple of the times were for Damian’s usual nursing and changing^[1] and once was to the sound of coyotes in the distance and something scamper past my tent (possibly a chupacabra or a baby sasquatch…)

The view coming out of our tents in the morning completely made up for Friday night’s misadventures though:

It even made up for the campground water pump not having it’s handle (I suppose they remove it for the season?) So no potable water other then what we had – not much (whoops!) We intend on buying a manual water filter, maybe a gravity filter, before we camp next; packing water in is way too heavy.

Friday night had gotten down to around 40F so we were bundled up pretty well for a couple of hours, until the sun broke over the trees. I think Damian and Shannon (in the photo to the left) win the most-layers-of-clothing award. Summer baby and So-Cal girl get along well!

Eventually we all were up. Some of us trekked down to the vehicles to retrieve the rest of our supplies and the others got the breakfast fire going. Hashbrowns needed to be rehydrated for catastrophe^[2] which brought around the question of our water supply, if Peter and Andrea didn’t show up with water we would have to drive to Usk to get some. (Luckily they brought a water filter hand pump – Andrea works for Mountain Gear, she is always prepared…)

After breakfast I thought I would trek down to the van to get the few extra things we needed, so I put Damian in the sling and wandered down to the road. It was very peaceful, I grabbed what I needed from the van and headed back. When I was a few yards from the van I saw something in the bushes right beside me so I turned and screamed. Yup, I’ll admit it, I screamed bloody murder. There was a big cat head looking right at me! As soon as the scream escaped my lips, the kitty vanished. I got back in the van for a few while I calmed down. I figured someone would have heard me and come with the bear spray. I waited, and waited, and waited some more. No one came. (They heard me back at camp but thought I was Rachelle, the six-year-old. Great, I sound like a six-year-old.)

Eventually I made it back, all by myself, unmauled. We figured out it was a chupacabra lynx and that is was probably long gone with my shrieking. Damian slept through the whole ordeal of course.

Shortly after the lynx incident Andrea and Peter arrived (with the aforementioned water filter,) we had some pbjs and all went on a hike around the lake.

The trail is an exceptionally beautiful one, full of ferns (I adore ferns!), unusual flowers and mushrooms; as well as tons of birds I could not even begin to identify. There are plenty of places to stop along it and enjoy the view across the lake. The windstorms this Spring did a number on some of the older trees but most of the big ones had been cleared from the path (thankfully since it is hard to duck under a fallen tree with a baby in a sling.) Since Andrea and I love photography we were the stragglers of the group, stopping to take a picture of everything (hopefully I will have some of her photos too eventually.) I had to hurry up at one point though because Damian and I were being sucked dry by mini-winged-chupacabras… I mean mosquitoes. (Yes the chupacabra thing could be seen as an unhealthy obsession odd interest. Dyslexic cryptozoologists untie?)

When we got back to camp we moved our tent (since we had set it up on lumpy ground the night before – imagine that it was hard to see in the dark!) and then sat around and chatted for awhile. As the sun began to set we started our dinner fire. We had so much food! Everyone brought extra to share, my jerky stew and cornbread, some Chinese food, olives, grapes, and many types of cheese. We also made cobbler with peaches, pears and fresh blackberries. Yummy!

After dinner Rachelle went to bed and chatting resumed and the wine came out, apparently we are all quite fond of the stuff so we had three bottles, two reds and a white. Sal played his flute for us. I tried to take a video of him playing it but the sound did not come through that well. The fire crackled while he played and coyotes howled in the distance creating a very surreal scene. It was so amazing having the entire campground to ourselves.

I wanted to stay up into the wee hours talking but alas, motherhood has turned me into an early sleeper. Damian fell asleep in my lap and I was nodding off shortly after so I headed off to bed with my munchkin. The next morning I heard that I missed and excellent debate about will power and guns, dang it! At least I was the best rested of the group (except maybe for Rachelle.)

Sunday morning was gorgeous once again, by the time I wandered out of my tent the sun had already crested over the trees. None of us had watches (our phones didn’t work so they were off and packed away) but it might have been around 9am. I tucked Damian in with Michael and I have to say there were some adorableness awards to be won by my guys. When Damian saw the blue sky and trees outside the tent he got the biggest grin ever. Of course as soon as I touch a camera it vanished but his eyes were still full of amazement and wonder.

Andrea is her pure wonderfulness packed orange juice and champagne, so mimosas for everyone! (After breastfeeding of course.) We laid out on the dock soaking up the rays, watching the waterbugs and shooting the breeze.

Eventually we got around to kindling the breakfast fire and having way to much food once again (better then too little!) Oatmeal, bacon, eggs, sausage, my pancakes and cinnamon rolls. Everything seems to taste better when cooked over a campfire and in good company. We took a long time to eat, maybe because our trip was coming to a close. Eventually though we all started going through the motions and breaking down camp and packing stuff up. We certainly took our time at that too, I don’t think any of us really wanted to leave. At least, we didn’t want to pack all that stuff back up the path to the cars!

Michael’s glasses disappeared at some point and I returned to look for them (nearly certain of not finding them) when I had a rather magical moment. I asked the powers that be to please show me where they were an a dragonfly came from the lake and landed on them. How awesome is that? Old Wild Mama Earth never ceases to amaze me.

The drive home was uneventful and beautiful. After we dropped Shannon and Rachelle off, we came home, ordered pizza, took baths, watched Smallville and remembered how wonderful it is to lay in one’s own bed! I adore camping but it is nice to relax at home afterwards too.

That pretty much wraps out up our trip, it has taken me a week to type this so hopefully it gave you a little glance into our vacationing style. Here is a short video to wrap things up:

1. It should be noted that Damian does not like cold cloth diapers on his booty! I stuck a few in my sleeping bag to keep them warm after traumatizing him with a freezing diaper on his sensitive areas at 3am.)

2. Catastrophe is something Michael makes, it is hashbrowns, eggs, sausage (or bacon) and cheese all scrambled together. With ketchup or sour cream if that is your thing.

Today was the first morning it truly felt like Autumn. The air had that beautiful cold crisp quality and when I went outside to get the paper I noticed the edges of the leaves of the maple were just starting to turn. The morning sky has that surreal blue hue that only seem to happen this time of year.

We usually have one more warm spell before we get our first freeze but it will not be this week. Last night’s low was 40°F (about 4°C.) I am glad my sleeping bag is rated down to 30°F for this weekend’s camping trip. With highs expected in the mid-seventies it is going to be perfect. Our group size has also increased, Sal and Rusty are coming with us! I have everything ready except the cinnamon rolls and cornbread, which I will be making today. I may make the cornbread while we are camping as I cook it in cast iron. I have never tried that before though.

In a few weeks the Apple Festival will be here, time for our little framily will head out to Harvest House in Greenbluff to celebrate the Autumn Equinox. We do it every year and it is always fun. Thinking about the harvest, we reminded our California friend the other day that it is time for her to cut back her tomatoes so that what she has will ripen. I have three huge zucchini from her garden waiting on the counter, the fresh green beans, peppers and corn are long gone.

Autumn is certainly on our doorsteps, while I love the sunny vitality of summer, the cool down always is a welcome guest.

I wanted to share this ritual that I wrote because baby blessings for Pagans are very hard to find online (or in reference books for that matter.)

Date: August 16th, 2008
Moon: Full in Aquarius
Ritual Type: Family

We call upon the Elemental Spirits of Air, Fire, Water and Earth, to welcome our child on this eve. From breeze to storm, from spark to flame, from stream to ocean, from field to mountain, you bring power to our circle.

We call upon our Beloved Ancestors, blood of our blood, to welcome our child on this eve. A sacred cord connects us back to before time was time, we are honored by your presence.

We call upon the Eternal Spirit of Woman, the Great Mother, and ask that you bless our child on this eve. Sacred nurturer, may your power flows through us in this rite.

We call upon the Eternal Spirit of Man, the Great Father, and ask that you bless our child on this eve. Sacred protector, may your power flows through us in this rite.

Eternal Spirits, we bring before you this being of light, our son, for whom we have chosen the name of Damian Michael Stewart. We give thee thanks for sending Damian into our lives, he is our greatest joy and has grown our hearts a hundredfold. May we always be aware of his origins in your world, as ours are, so that we may reflect back to him the knowledge of the Great Mystery.

Damian, we light this candle [the rose one on the right side of the altar] as a reflection of the light that shines within you. Though its flame may be extinguished, know that your spirit within our lives never will. May your life be a divine work of art upon which all the blessings of the Universe are bestowed. Damian, you are our beloved. We swear to live our life to the highest virtues we know because it is upon this foundation that you will grow and flourish.

Eternal Spirits, we ask that you send Damian a guardian spirit to guide and protect him as he grows his light, until such a time when he can call upon his own guides. May this guardian guide him on the path that is most true for his soul and may the power of the elements ease his travels.

Spirits of Air we ask that you guide Damian as he soars through the skies of imagination.
Spirits of Fire we ask that you guide Damian as he faces all the challenges that await him.
Spirits of Water we ask that you guide Damian as he swims in the ocean of intuition.
Spirits of Earth we ask that you guide Damian as he climbs the tree of knowledge.

So mote it be.

Elemental Spirits, you are the breath, the inspiration, the soul and the body of our world. We thank you for your presence on this eve.

Beloved Ancestors, blood of our blood, your wisdom shines upon us. We thank you for your presence on this eve.

Eternal Spirits of Man and Woman, sacred beings of love and balance, we thank you for your blessings and your power on this eve.

Our circle is open but never broken.

So mote it be.

Baby Blessing by Jaspenelle Stewart is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

Each morning I do a small ritual which is made up of a short prayer to the Sun, a series of affirmations, and sometimes another prayer. (Yes, I am a creature of habit!) I touched on prayer the other day in my post about Jesus but I have been wanting to elaborate on it.

According to Wikipedia:

Prayer is the act of attempting to communicate with a deity or spirit. Purposes for this may include worshipping, requesting guidance, requesting assistance, confessing sins, as an act of reparation or to express one’s thoughts and emotions. [...] Secularly, the term can also be used as an alternative to “hope”. [...] Most major religions in the world involve prayer in one way or another.

Many of the items included in that description are things I do regularly. Requesting guidance, requesting assistance, and expressing one’s thoughts and emotions. The prayers I send out for other people are also my way of sending hope to them. So yes, I most definitely pray.

Prayer is not a term generally thrown around within the Pagan community. This is, in my opinion, because of mainstream religion. Most of the Pagans I know were once Christian and when they left that faith most of them distanced themselves from all its practices. Prayer is often one of the first things to go, which is really a bit odd when you think about it since prayer was around long before Jesus walked. To an extent, I understand the desire (however unhealthy) to bury ones past. After all, many Pagans had traumatic experiences within their former churches which are what ultimately drove them to seek beliefs that were better suited for their soul. I do think that prayer is a term Pagans have every right to reclaim though.

In my practice, prayer is not the exclusive territory of the gods. Many, if not most, of my prayers are focused towards spirits (elemental or otherwise) or my ancestors. I don’t think it matters what spirit is prayed to (if you want to send your thoughts to the Flying Spaghetti Monster, go ahead) all I think matters is that we take time to send our gratitude, hopes and wishes out into the Universe. I pray because it helps me live my life with reverence, grounds me, brings me comfort and order my thoughts.

Ultimately, prayer is an intensely personal experience and one I don’t think we should be afraid of. It is a opportunity to say exactly how you feel without repercussions, it feels good to get stuff like that off your chest, no matter how silly or serious. No matter what is said it can stay between you, the god or spirit of your choosing and the all-knowing fence post. (And of course anyone else you are comfortable sharing with.) As for me, my prayer this morning went something like this:

Blessed Mother Earth, I ask for your help on this day.
I ask that you send your Spirits of Peace to my dear friend,
She has great trials ahead of her in her fight with breast cancer.
Let her remember that it is the heart that makes the woman, not the body.
Let her remember your unconditional love, let it give her strength,
So that she may grow from this and find some joy in these hard times.
Blessed be.

I must take a moment to admire my friend, in spite of her diagnosis and the looming fear of surgery, her faith is strong and she is at peace with where ever this disease will lead her. I do not know if I could be as strong. As hard as it is for me to admit, I sometimes find myself angry with the powers that be for the trials I find myself in (and those that I love.) It is hard to remember that it is these trials and how we carry ourselves through them are what define us. That is a topic for a future blog post though.

Do you pray?

Though Lughnasadh was a few days ago, I just finished writing my Book of Shadows page about this sabbat. I thought I would share. Let me know what you think and if you see any glaring typos. Dyslexia and proofreading do not always mesh well…

Lughnasadh: the grain harvest

The blistering first days of August are here, the parched earth does not give us much indication of cooling, but crisp Autumn mornings will soon be on our doorstep. Summer vegetables are at their peak and fill the garden and marketplace, corn and grain are being reaped and pumpkins and apples are beginning to ripen on the farms. In spite of the heat this is also a the time to begin laying down the Winter stores.

Lughnasadh is the first of three harvest sabbats in the Wheel of the Year. It is either celebrated around August 1st or the nearest full moon to it. Lughnasadh has a very convoluted history, Which is something I am certain Lugh would find immensely amusing.

Lughnasadh literally means “assembly of Lugh”. It is an Iris festival that traditionally took place at the start of the grain harvest, around August 1st. In Celtic legend, Lugh decreed that a commemorative feast be held on this day in the honor of his foster mother, the Fir Bolg queen, Tailtiu. She died clearing a forest for her people to plant grain. The legend states that she was buried beneath the hill of Tailte, which is where the first feast of Lughnasadh was held. As time passed, traditions surrounding Lughnasadh began to solidify into events and ceremonial activities designed to celebrate Tailtiu’s sacrifice as well as the bounty of the harvest.

In early Ireland, it was considered bad luck to harvest your grain any time before Lughnasadh, since that meant that the previous year’s harvest had run out early, which was a serious failing in agricultural communities. Grain has been a vital crop since the dawn of civilization as it is one of the foods that can easily be stored through the harshness of Winter. This has caused grain to become strongly associated with the cycle of death and rebirth in many ancient cultures. It is important to note that the grain referred to in old texts was most likely wheat, not corn. Corn is a crop of the Americas and did not exist in Ireland at the time Lughnasadh was founded.

Lugh is tied to the bountiful harvest as well, though not in the role of Sun God, as many Neopagans believe. This is a error that appeared in the Victorian era and is still perpetuated by many authors today, who confuse him with John Barleycorn. Lugh was actually a god of many talents, patron to craftsman and bards, who was honored for his cleverness and quick wit. He was fond of games of physical prowess as well as skill, particularly horse racing. Lugh had an affinity with storms as well, and it was considered a good omen for it to be stormy on Lughnasadh. It is Lugh who broke Summer’s hold over the land, heralding the start of the harvest. Lugh is further tied to the harvest through some of his triumph in battles with the land-spirits, in which the harvest was released for the use of Mankind.

Modern day Lughnasadh has a healthy dose of the Christianized “Lammas” mixed into it. This makes the celebration even more strongly oriented around the grain harvest. Lammas is celebrated on the first Sunday of August and is a day when everyone brought loaves of bread to church to be blessed. These loaves were baked from the first grain of the season.

In Wicca, the main figure of Lughnasadh is the Sacrificial King, sometimes called John Barleycorn. He embodies the wheat fields and is reaped/sacrificed so that we can survive the Winter. He is a powerful representation of the life and death cycle as he is reborn again come Spring when the fields are sewn again.

In our modern world, it is easy to forget the importance of the harvest. If we needed a loaf of bread, we can buy a prepackaged one from the store. If it runs out, we can easily go get another one. When our ancestors lived, the grain harvest was crucial. Whether the harvest succeeded or failed was the difference between life and death for many families. By celebrating Lughnasadh as a harvest festival, we honor our ancestors’ hard work. Lughnasadh is a time to reflect on the things we could or could not live without as well as the abundance in our lives.

To me, community is at the heart of all the sabbats and my whole belief system revolves around stewardship of the Earth. Though we live in a world where so many foods are at our finger tips, the sabbats wonderful time to share and appreciate the local harvest. What better way to celebrate the turning of the wheel then to celebrate what Mother Earth gives us freely from our area? Lughnasadh is an ideal time to gather with friends and work together to preserve the bounty that was nurtured throughout the Summer. It also makes for quick work so we can get back out into the Summer sun! I think Lugh would appreciate the crafting of fine preserves as well as the rush to get back outside to celebrate with some games!

Lughnasadh: in our home

(This is from a page in my BoS where I list family activities, crafts, home and altar decorations and other miscellaneous ideas.)

Activities:

• Bardic Contest: Lugh is the patron of bards, have a storytelling contest
• Board Games: chess, checkers, nine man morris
• House Blessing Ritual (done every sabbat)
• Trip to Greenbluff or Farmers Market: to appreciate Mother Earth’s bounty
• Races: hobby horse, sack, or three-legged races are amusing alternatives to the more traditional but impractical horse races.
• Riddle Contests: to honor Lugh’s cleverness
• Other Games: badminton, boche ball, horseshoes, frisbee

Crafts:

• Bread Making
• Corn Crafts: cornhusk chains, corn dollies
• Felt Suns
• Harvesting and Preserving Food: canning, dehydrating, freezing
• Lughnasadh Candles
• Seed Necklaces: made with dried beans and indian corn

Decorations:

• The crafts listed above
• Burial Cairns
• Scythe, bolline
• Seasonal flowers and foods
• Suns

Lughnasadh: feast

Feast Blessing:
(modified from one is Scott Cunningham’s “Wicca, a guide for the solitary practitioner”)

Now is the Time of the First Harvest,
When the bounties of Nature give of themselves so that we may survive.
Eternal Spirits of the ripening fields,
Grant us the understanding of sacrifice as you fall beneath the sickle.
We pass now into the wanning year, its darkness brings deepening wisdom.

We gather here to welcome the First Harvest,
Mixing its energies with our own so that we may continue our journey.
Eternal Spirits, we offer our thanks for your guidance,
And renew our pledge to continue our stewardship of the Earth.

May the nodding grain loose its seed and bury in the Mother’s breast,
Ensuring rebirth in the warmth of next Spring.

Click here for Lughnasadh Feast menu.

Lughnasadh: wheat field guided meditation

(I wrote in 2007 for a Lughnasadh group ritual.)

Everyone get in a comfortable meditation pose and gently close your eyes.

Begin breathing slow and relaxed breaths from your belly up. Feel yourself becoming wonderfully relaxed. All tension and stress is falling away, like drifting autumn leaves.

Feel your feet relax, then your legs, thighs, buttocks. All your lower body, perfectly relaxed. Relax your abdomen, your chest, let you heart release its worries for this time. Relax, warm and relaxed. Now flex and relax your hands, then your arms and shoulders. Tension flowing out of you, all relaxed. All tension leaving your neck, your face, your thoughts, warm and relaxed. All physical and mental tension is draining away. Feel at ease with your surroundings, calm and at peace.

Take a moment now to enjoy this wonderful feeling of completely relaxed, surrounded by peace.

Imagine you are in a lush golden wheat field, the first harvest is ripe, ready to be reaped. It is late afternoon and the Lughnasadh sun baths you with warm gentle rays. You are at peace here, the wheat, the sun, the earth, they all welcome you to this place.

The Sun sends His solar energy down to the grain, bringing life. Feel the healing solar energy flow into you. As this warm and invigorating energy fills you feel it touch your face and neck; arms, chest and heart; flowing through your stomach, legs and feet and out into the earth.

The Earth sends Her own energy through you, peaceful and loving. This energy penetrates your every cell and rises through you, out your crown chakra – at the top of your head. Your whole body is a golden waterfall, you are a conduit, being cleanses as running water cleanses. You are at peace.

Bathe in this light for a few moments… Know that in experiencing this golden light pouring into you, you allow the loving, healing forces of the universe into you, to help you be whole, physically, mentally and emotionally. Feel the beauty, the peacefulness, and the health that is in you, and know that at all times you can be at one with yourself, the sun, the earth and all the universe.

Now slowly, gently, as you begin to return to the here and now, you realize you really are feeling rested, renewed, re-energized, ready to meet the challenges presented by any day… In a few moments I am going to count from one to five.

Upon the number three, your eyes will open, and on the count of five, you will once again be wide awake, feeling fine and in perfect health.

One, two, three, your eyes are now opening. Four, five, you are now wide awake, feeling wonderful and in perfect health.

It is perhaps because I follow a Pagan path, but most people are surprised when I tell them I follow many of Jesus’s teachings quite strongly. It is also the main reason I stay away from strictly organized religion, most Christians take issue that I don’t believe Jesus was the Son Of God in the traditional sense. I care more about his teachings then family tree. Jesus also had is own issues with organized religion, I think he would be horrified to see the things that have been done in his name.

To me “God” is simply a universal energy (Great Mystery/Manitou/Qi) that connects us all, from which we create facets that form our individual deities (Yahweh, Aphrodite, Isis, Three Pure Ones, Olorun, Ninhursag etc. Spaghedeity?) to help us better understand our present situation. In that light, I think we are all part of “God”.

Anyhow, about Jesus. To me he was a great spiritual teacher, like Buddha, and when you strip away all the dogma that now surrounds him (and who knows what that was lost in translation) Jesus’s teachings are mostly very basic and immensely powerful concepts.

Jesus taught love. There is no commandment greater than this. He taught this concept through compassion towards others, healing the sick, washing his disciples feet, stopping the stoning of a woman etc. Our actions speak louder the words and compassion is an amazing force I try to live my life by. It is certainly not always easy, especially when it comes to loving your enemy. I try to remember that my enemies can be my greatest teachers though. (This teaching is what drives a huge wedge between me and some Christians who spew hatred towards people who don’t follow their exact flavor of Christianity.)

Jesus taught forgiveness. Beyond requesting forgiveness from God (which I don’t do) Jesus said we must first learn to forgive those who have wronged us, “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.” This is another exercise in compassion, it can be hard to keep forgiving someone, and sometimes we must determine if they are truly sorry for their actions or if it ourself imposing our own beliefs on them. It is hard to be the judge of such things… which leads to the next point.

Jesus taught us not to be hypocrites. We have all done bad things (”sinned” if you prefer) and it is hypocritical to take an eye for an eye. Our love and compassion should be our guide on how we treat others, not man-made rules. I try to always live what I believe, leading by example? Ultimately I believe we win people over by love, not force (which is probably why threats of damnation and hell never work on me.) We should live and love not “for show” but because we truly want to live by that virtue.

Jesus taught prayer. Yes I pray, though I may not call them that and they are also not directed towards any deity. For me a prayer is simply a silent or vocal acknowledgment of gratitude. It is easier to me to remain in a place of wholeness and love if I take time to remember the things I am thankful for. Whether I am saying a blessing over dinner or taking time each day to list things that bring me joy, I see them all as prayers.

Jesus taught generosity. There is one story in the New Testament, where Jesus and his disciples are watching people donate to a temple. An old woman gives a couple coins, which is nothing next to other donations, but it is everything she had. Jesus says she is the most charitable of them all. When you give with love and expect nothing in return you open yourself to receive a multitude of gifts. I know this to be true in my life through experience, when I give, even in difficult times, new and unexpected ways to flourish open to me. Jesus never said that it is bad thing to be wealthy, but it is a bad thing to become blinded by the need for possessions. When you cannot part with your wealth to share even a little compassion, you become a slave to it.

My beliefs are pretty much a mishmash of everything I have read, which is probably why the Pagan path is so appealing to me. We have no doctrine and are free to make our own and adapt it as we learn and grow. My main spiritual focus has always been around being a steward of the Earth, whom I refer to a Mother Earth, and intrinsic part of that is the practice of compassion because if we show compassion for all things it is easier to nurture healing and growth (in my opinion at least.) Jesus’s teachings certainly are filled with compassion, hence they are solidly integrated with my personal beliefs.

I didn’t realize such a diverse crowd read my blog, thanks for all you comments on my last post!

Blessed Lughnasadh!

Lughnasadh is going to be quite different for us this year since we now have Damian! His grandpa Tolman will be here to visit. I want to make an effort to celebrate all the sabbats with Damian but this one might wait till next weekend. I like that cross-quarter days are flexible like that! Heck my solstices and equinoxes kind of are too.

This year I am going to share my seasonal feast recipes with you. All my recipes are all very loose and leave a lot of room for personal taste. I rarely follow instructions except if I am making bread… even then I tend to switch to whole wheat.

Speaking of whole wheat, Lughnasadh celebrates the grain harvest so how about we start with a bread recipe:

BREAD: Baguette

• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup bread flour
• 3 cups whole wheat flour

- In a large bowl combine honey and warm water, stir in yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes, until foamy.
- Add salt. Add flours 1 cup at a time until dough starts to come together. Turn out onto a floured surface and kneed in the rest of the flour until smooth (about 10 minutes.)
- Place dough in an oiled and turn to coat the surface. Cover and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours.
- Punch down and form into long slender loaf (approx 21 inches long and 3 inches wide.) Place diagonally on a lightly greased large baking sheet and let rise uncovered for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- After loaf has risen make 3-6 diagonal slashes on it with sharp knife and lightly brush top with cool water. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. Cool on wire rack. (If you can wait long enough for it to cool, warm baguette smothered in fresh butter or preserves, yum!)

APPETIZER: Bruschetta
There is about a dozen different ways to make this, but this is the way I grew up with, more or less. The ingredients are very flexible and can (and should!) be done to taste.

• 6 tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 2 to 4 cloves garlic, minced (I use a garlic press)
• a handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 baguette (homemade)
• Olive oil

- Toss together tomatoes, garlic and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside to allow flavors to meld.
- Slice baguette into 1-inch pieces and toast. Drizzle with olive oil. (Alternately you can cut the garlic cloves in half and rub them against the toast before drizzling.)
- Top with tomato mixture and serve.

MAIN DISH: Grilled Chicken Salad

• 4 grilled chicken breasts, sliced
• Homemade raspberry vinaigrette
• 1 head lettuce, torn up – I like red leaf or romaine
• 2 cups spinach, torn up
• 2 cucumbers, seeded and diced
• 1 cup corn
• 2 or 3 or 4 tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 cup mozzarella, cubed or shredded

- Make vinaigrette. Mine uses about 8 tbsp olive oil, 3 tbsp raspberry vinegar, 1 to 2 tbsp local honey, 1 tsp dry mustard, 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice, 2 cloves garlic, salt and pepper. Still all that in a jar and shake. Viola vinaigrette. (I make my own raspberry vinegar but I have seen it in some stores, you could use any fruit vinegar, or apple cider vinegar, or balsamic for that matter.)
- Marinate chicken breasts in some vinaigrette for 30 minutes to and hour. Or you can be inpatient like me and stick some vinaigrette and the chicken in a ziplock and hit with with a rolling pin a few times until it flattens. Force marination.
- Grill chicken and slice. I like it left warm but you could certainly chill if that is your thing.
- In a large bowl toss together your chicken and your other ingredients with more vinaigrette. (Alternately, you could layer it lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, corn, tomatoes, cheese.)

DESSERT: Grilled Peaches

• Peaches, 1 per person
• 2 tsp brown sugar per peach
• Melted butter, enough to brush your peaches with
• Vanilla ice cream

- Cut peaches along the seam all the way around and twist off the pit. Brush cut sides with butter.
- Cook, cut side down, on a hot grill until fruit has grill marks, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Brush tops with butter, turn over, and move to indirect heat. Put 1 tsp of sugar in each peach where the pit was.
- Cover grill and cook until sugar is melted and fruit is tender, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Serve hot with vanilla ice cream.

If you celebrate Lughnasadh what do you intend of filling your family’s bellies with? Even if you don’t what are you having for dinner? Some local foods too I hope!

I was working on putting all the information I have on Lughnasadh together in an understandable order when I ran across this feast blessing. I have always rather liked it but I have no clue what the original source was. Does anyone recognize it?

Now is the Time of the First Harvest,
When the bounties of Nature give of themselves
So that we may survive
O God of the ripening fields, Lord of the Grain,
Grant me the understanding of Sacrifice
As you prepare to deliver yourself
Under the sickle of the Goddess

And journey to the lands of Eternal Summer
O Goddess of the Dark Moon,
Teach me the secrets of rebirth
as the Sun loses its strength and the nights grow cold.

I partake of the First Harvest,
Mixing its energies with mine
That I may continue my quest
For the starry wisdom of Perfection
O Lady of the Moon and Lord of the Sun,
before Whom the Stars halt their courses,
I offer my thanks
For the continuing Fertility of the Earth.
May the nodding grain loose its seeds
To be buried in the Mother’s breast
Ensuring Rebirth in the Warmth of next Spring.

[EDIT: A commenter informed me that it originally appeared in "Wicca, A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner" by Scott Cunningham.]

My dad will be arriving in Spokane to visit on Lughnasadh, hopefully we won’t scare him too much, hehe.

Some people have asked me if I will be raising Damian in my spiritual path, the answer is yes and no. I have no desire to hide my spirituality with him or exclude him from the traditions Michael and I have formed (such as celebrating the sabbats.) I think family traditions are important and give a child memories to look back on later in life, much the way I fondly look back on Christmas and Easter now.

This will be his first Lughnasadh and he will be present for our celebration of course. As he grows I will explain as much of our beliefs to him as I feel he is ready to absorb. I also intend on teaching him other belief systems as well, and ultimately the choice if what he wishes to practice is his. There is no such thing as too much knowledge. When he is older, if he chooses to continue to follow my path, so be it, if he is called to another, so be it.

(My craft workspace, in the corner of the nursery.)

I seem to have developed a fixation for scrapbooking lately, or more particularly scrapbooking my Book of Shadows (for my non-Pagan readers that is a book that I keep all my spiritual research, essays and notes in, it is not a book for me, but a D-ring binder.)

I have always loved scrapbooking but it was a hobby I swore I would never get into because of the apparent staggering cost scrapbooking can reach. I was in Joanns today and some papers sell for $5 a piece! (Considering I only had $7 to spend, that paper was out of the question, no matter how glorious it was.) Not to mention the cost of all the cool types of stamps, scissors, punches, stickers, embellishments galore which, well, are enough to make this crafter drool and frugally cringe at the same time.

Luckily I have superhuman powers of restraint (or I am just an anally frugal b…witch) and only spent $6.59. I bought a #2 x-acto knife (using a 40% off coupon), a 3/4″ stencil brush, and a 4-pack of stencil blanks (these are plastic sheets you use to make your own stencils.) Now I can make some border stencils for my Book of Shadows pages! Yay, scrapbooking!

But, wait! What about my aforementioned promise to myself about not scrapbooking?!

That promise apparently broke itself without my conscious knowledge a few weeks ago, all because I I decided that I needed to organize my craft supply closet. (This might seem like an odd way to find a new hobby, but trust me, it is not was weird as it sounds, at least, not in my world.) While organizing, I found some leftover fabric from my apron as well as a bag of glass stones. Somehow that discovery ended up distracting me for a couple hours as I made a gloriously orange and blue cover for my Book of Shadows binder. (In my defense, the plain plastic cover was abhorrent to my crafty-sense, when I saw the fabric I “knew” in my mind what it must be used for, I had not choice but to obey said crafty-sense.) The next day upon admiring my bright new orange and blue Book of Shadows, I settled down and flipped it open and nearly screamed in crafter terror.

All the pages in it were so… plain…

Random typed up bits, some handwritten stuff, some torn out pages from magazines and newspapers, all stuffed in sheet protectors in no particular order. Unlike the cover, the guts of my binder did not reflect who I was (yes I am trying to justify the scrapbooking urge here.) I riffled through the pages in despair looking for something that could redeem me when I found a page with an Ojibway poem that I had decorated. I put that in the front of the binder. Beyond that though, there was nothing, just blah pages, so uninspiring I could hardly read them. (Can you tell that I am one of those people who like picture books?)

Instead of wallowing in self-despair (at least after pulling myself out of a couple good hours of it) I decided I rewrite the page about Bealtaine. I got some of the pretty paper from my craft closet (yes, I did end up finishing organizing it) and embellish it with a balsamroot arrowleaf flower I created out of some other pretty paper. That page went in second. I was on a mission now, no doubt sent to me straight from the Goddess.

Poking through My “bits and ends” drawer I then found stickers! These led me to redoing a couple more pages. Scrounging in the drawer some more I found some flower borders I had designed and transfered them to some more pretty paper and redid some gardening pages. Then I found myself up late at night in bed designing a Celtic knot border and redoing the Apple page. Then I…

You can see where this is going right? I found myself unwittingly scrapbooking. It didn’t occur to me till yesterday that is was in fact what I was doing, which made me pause and consider my vow before discarding it. The reason for my vow to not scrapbook was now moot as I have discovered, quite by accident, that it was not a high cost hobby when you do it all yourself (and having an expansive bits and ends drawer helps.) In fact, the way I was approaching it required no money down (until I took my $7 to Joanns today at least. And I can deal with the occasional purchase.)

Ultimately doing it almost all myself is infinitely more rewarding anyhow. I like scrapbooking, it is something completely for me and not dictated by customer deadlines.

(Click the image for a bigger picture – 1024×768.)

This is how my birthing necklace looks so far (if I receive more beads, it will grow in length of course.) I really like how it has turned out too. I know not all the donated beads are red, but some people have difficulty following directions (I love you grandma and mom.) I find I really don’t mind though, the beads they sent were justified with special meanings which, in this case, were more important than color.

As always, Windigo had to get his adorable little face in my craft picture too. I usually crop him out but I thought he looked exceptional cute here.

In ancient times, Beltane was a festival celebrated on May 1st by the Celts. It marked the beginning of the pastoral summer season, when livestock were driven out into their summer grazing lands.

Beltane is known as a cross-quarter day as it marks the solar midpoint between the vernal equinox and summer solstice. It is possible that it was celebrated on the full moon nearest to this midpoint as the Celtic year was based on both the lunar and solar cycles.

One of the most significant activities preformed at this time by the ancient Celts was the building of bonfires on the eve of Beltane on top of sacred hills. Those who built these fires would drive the village cattle between them as to purify the herd and bring luck to the community. People would also pass between the fires to purify themselves. Household hearth flames were doused and then lit again from the bonfires.

May Boughs (usually made of hawthorn, which blooms in the British Isles at this time of year) were made at Beltane and hung on the doors and windows of houses. The morning of Beltane often saw pilgrimages to sacred wells where rituals to their spirits were preformed and healing water was drawn.

Maypoles were also erected at this time. These were slender trees that were cut down on the eve of Beltane, their branches were removed and the resulting pole was decorated and erected in the village square, some villages also had permanent Maypoles. Maypole ribbon dances (two circles of people holding ribbons interweaving around the pole) were a common sight on Beltane.

Today, Beltane is still observed by many Neopagans. These celebrations can vary considerably despite the shared name due to the many forms of Neopaganism.

Celtic Reconstructionists celebrate Lá Bealtaine when the local hawthorn trees come into bloom, or on the full moon that falls closest to the cross-quarter day. The traditional bonfire rites are observed as well as pilgrimages to sacred wells.

Wiccans celebrate Beltane as one of their eight sabbats. Their holiday more closely resembles a Germanic festival (celebrated at the same time of year) as it is more strongly linked with fertility then the Celtic one. Many people also consider the maypole to have originated among Germanic tribes. (However, both the Celtic and Germanic cultures became very much mingled over time due to longterm Roman dominance over the area.)

In my personal practice, my main focus is honoring the Earth and the changing seasons. Spokane’s climate is certainly transitioning into summer at this time of year, so the celebration of Beltane seems fitting. As it is an important day to many local Pagans, it touches me on a community level as it is a time we can all come together and celebrate the Earth. On Saturday I will be going out to a bonfire celebration in Medical Lake. (I can’t wait!)

As far as collective modern symbolically goes, this festival celebrates the sacred unity between between lovers and pleasures. As I write this, I am 8 months pregnant with my first child, perhaps this makes this larger connectivity more apparent to me then then ever. I was a maiden at past Beltanes, ready to dance the Maypole, but now I am at the cusp of being a mother, preparing to guide a new generation through the same stages I have passed though. I have noticed that this transition phase is certainly its own trial by fire and I find myself renewed by it.

I took this photo at Fishtrap Lake a couple years ago around Beltane, Arrowleaf Balsamroot is one of my favorite local wildflowers. As I said earlier, honoring the Earth is among the highest of my personal values so I thought I would include a list of all the native wildflowers that are blooming around Spokane at this time of year. I have spotted some so far and I hope to be able to see them before Summer Solstice.

• Arrowleaf Balsamroot (Balsamorhize sagittata)
• Calypso orchid (Calypso bulbosa)
• Dogtooth Violet (Erythronium grandiflorum)
• Fairybells (Disporum trachycarpum)
• Grass-Widow (Sisyrinchium inflatum)
• Heartleaf Arnica (Arnica cordifolia)
• Nuttall’s Larkspur (Delphinium nuttallianum)
• Sagebrush Buttercup (Ranunculus glaberrimus)
• Shooting Star (Dodecatheon pulchellum)
• Trillium (Trillium ovatum)
• Western Springbeauty (Claytonia lanceolata)
• Wild Hyacinth (Brodiaea douglasii)
• Yellow Skunk Cabbage (Lysichitum americanum)
• Yellowbell (Fritillaria pudica)

I hope you all have time to spend with Nature today and have a beautiful and blessed Beltane.

This is my Autumn Equinox “altar”. Since almost everything is packed for next weeks move, this represents pretty much everything that is still left out.

Pumpkins, squash, apples, white wine, huckleberry tea, canning jars, a dehydrator, a pressure canner, a food strainer and an apple peeler corner slicer. It also shows you want I will be doing for the rest of the day, canning and drying apples.

And it shows what I did yesterday, apple picking!

We are making a tradition (currently in it’s second year) of going out as near to the equinox as possible to Beck’s Harvest House with friends and picking apples as well as enjoying the Fall Festival they have out there.

(Some pictures from in the orchard, click the thumbnails for larger pictures of course.)

Apple picking is so fun with a big group of people. Last year I only picked dozen apples, but this year I got two bushels of Red McIntosh and Gold Delicious (for apple sauce) and a few Jonagold (for pie.) Our friends Lily, Mikcos, Nathan, Sal, Rusty, Peter, Stacy and her wife (I can’t remember her name) all came with us and we filled our little cart with apples. The man at the orchard said that we had picked the most apples of anyone that day, hehe. As we picked we shared a big jug of fresh apple cider and good times. I have to say of all the ways to celebrate a sabbat, this is my favorite, with friends and having a great time. Puns did fly! So did a few apples…

I love the Harvest House orchard because they let you taste every apple you are thinking of buying right off the tree. I like Red McIntosh best, as far as just eating an apple off the tree, they are tart and crunchy with a little hint of sweetness. I am using half McIntosh and half Gold Delicious in my apple sauce today.

We also went on a hayride, so I got the opportunity to get good pictures of everyone (except Mikcos, who managed to dodge the camera somehow) and Stacy’s wife, who had to stay behind because they brought their dog, Grace, who wasn’t allowed on the ride.

Some time during the day we ended up in the gift shop and did some wine tasting. I bought a bottle of sweet white wine infused with herbs, as well as a box of huckleberry tea. They also sell a lot of little crafts, preserves, pastas, local honey, baked goods and, of course, fruit. Plums and pears are also in season.

When we all parted ways at the end of the day, I think everyone was in great spirits. I know had a great time. Peter had carpooled with us so he came with us as we dropped by my mother-in-law’s home to borrow her apple peeler corer slicer and food stainer (now I can have a bit of an easier job processing my apples today.) When Michael and I return Kim’s apple peeler gadget and strainer, we might have to stop by Harvest House again and pick up some local honey and more apple fresh cider.

This is my favorite time of the year, nature is tucking in and turning down the lights for the winter to come but she is showing us one last huzzah for the year decked out with all her finery and abundance. I have more photos here and one especially for Autumn Zephyr, who commented on grey skies and smoldering clouds the other day.

Blessed Autumn Equinox!

~~~

Oh and of course no adventure can pass without at least a little mishap. Maybe it was the country roads, or the pothole-ridden streets of Spokane but we managed to knock the muffler off the car. When we stopped to investigate the mysterious dragging sound I found it hanging by one rubber loop, so I pulled it off and we tossed it in the trunk. We will get it put back on when Michael gets off work this afternoon.

Sitting here drinking some mint tea, I am thinking I possibly should put something deep and insightful for my first spiritually oriented post in this blog, but I just want to talk about sage, the herb sage, and my recent trip to collect wild sage brush. So here we go…

The Sage Daytrip
This past Saturday (the 25th) Michael and I set out to Grande Coulee, WA. Giving our friend Eala a ride we followed Lily, Mikcos, and Nathan’s car up there.

The 2 hour trip there gave Michael and I the chance to get to know Eala better. She is a solitary witch when it comes to her practice, though she hasn’t always been so. I am glad she was able to come along, I feel the each such trip bonds our group more. She gifted me with a small quartz crystal which I recently put into the tip of Michael’s wand. In case I have never mentioned it, Michael and I met Lily, Mikcos, and Nathan at the Pagan campout last June. Nathan is Lily’s 10-year old son and Mikcos is Lily’s second husband.

When we got to Grande Coulee the energy of the area was really amazing. The area is very much like a desert and there was sagebrush everywhere (I have some pictures from the daytrip here.) The area is a look-out over the Grande Coulee dam (we were also the only ones there at that time) and near the edge there is a pavillion where we did a little ritual.

Lily has been sage picking up there before and she gave an offered the last of the sage she had previously picked. She also cleansed each of us with the smoke, wafting it with a bird wing. I never use to put much credence into personal cleansing like that, but I have found I always feel much better after I am saged or I sage the apartment. I also find when I use frankincense I feel much the same effects.

After the small ritual we went where we were called, Lily, Mikcos and Nathan down a pathway towards the dam and Michael, Eala and myself down a slop in the other direction. I was very clearly able to tell which plant had parts to offer which was nice. Eala went her own way after a minute. Michael and I collected some sage on our way to a spot we were both drawn with two sagebrush plants side by side. One had a recently broken off branch which we took and the other had a lot of new growth. After we collected enough, we return to the pavillion. I didn’t have a problem keeping to my promise with Gaia not to take more then 1/3 of a plant since the sagebrush was so widespread and the individual plants were very nearly trees. While waiting for the others to return, by this time there was a school bus of Japanese exchange students in the area learning about the dam. I just spent my time soaking up the energy of the area, the weather was beautiful too.

Eventually Mikcos, Eala, and then Lily and Nathan returned and we bid farewell to the area. From my vantage point near a cliff edge, I saw a flock of crows circling far below which unnerved me a little but the crows had been watching us for most of the way. I see crows as one of my family’s guardian spirits and they show up in numbers to let me know when to be careful (almost always associated with a car trip.) We then left the area. As we were driving up the road a coyote ran across the road in front of the car (we didn’t hit it) it was such a beautiful animal. We went to a nearby park and ate some lunch, the trip home was rather uneventful but I definitly feel I go the energy I have needed for awhile from the area.

Sage (Salvia officinalis)
Sage is, in the New Age sense, used for purification of the self, ritual objects and a space (like your home.) This is done through smudging, which is wafting the smoke of the burning herb around a person/place/object. Sage smudging has been done by the Native Americans for a long time for cleansing and sending prayers to the heavens. It was sometimes mixed with Cedar, Sweetgrass, Lavender and Copal; something I wish to try when I aquire all those herbs.

Medicinally, sage has several uses, as an anti-hydrotic (something that reduced prespiration), a anti-spasmodic, an astringent, an anti-depressant, to decrease lacation and relief menstral cramps.

To make a useful tea out of sage, steep 1 tsp of leaves in 1/2 cup of water for 30 minutes, then drink it 1 tablespoon at a time. The tea can be used to treat prespiration, depression and to decrease lactation (if you have stopped breast feeding.) It can be garged to relieve a sore throat.

A tincture or infused oil can be made out of it to treat mentral cramps and 15 to 30 drops can be taken at a time as needed though no more then 4 times a day.

CAUTION: Extended or excessive use of sage can cause symptoms of poisoning and should be avoided completely during pregnacy. Over use of pure sage oil can cause convulsions. It is a potent and useful herb but deserves upmost respect.

Sage leaves are most potent when picked before the plant flowers. The sage we picked is actually Sagebrush, which is not related to Common Sage (Salvia officinalis) but has many similar uses (like for smudging and it can be consumed. Sagebrush’s scientific name is Artemisia tridentata.