Imbolc Blessings!

Happy Imbolc to everyone!

Yes, I know it was Thursday and it is now Saturday. But I had to work and the Goddess will always forgive.

I did do some stuff on Thursday. My broom, Endora, got some fresh ribbons and I used her to sweep the negativity right out my front door. I set out a bowl of cream for Brigid and a yellow candle. I also hung up a nice wind sock. I even made a little besom to hang by the door to welcome Brigid.

I left a white cloth out overnight so that Brigid could come by and bless it. I am saving it for a day I need Brigid’s help. I also made fresh, homemade butter.

Tonight we celebrated.

This morning I put out fresh buttermilk for Brigid, as well as some bread. (I made the buttermilk myself. It was left over from my butter making on Thursday.) I gave the house another good sweeping. I also put out some fresh spring flowers.

I made a variety of gifts to honor Brigid and for my friends and family to take home for this special day. I made bird seed bells to hang in the trees. I made a milk bath sachet to give to people and I made a Celtic Cream warming potion that was so good. I also made a potato cheese soup and bread pudding.

We lit white candles to honor Brigid. Once everyone’s candle had been lit by Brigid’s flame, we snuffed them and cooled them so they could be taken home to bless the homes of my friends and family.

And finally, one of our group was having a birthday and so we honored her with cake and gifts. You only turn 17 once. So happy birthday to you. We hope to see you and your mom at one of our services again soon.

All and all it was a pretty awesome Imbolc. Thank you Brigid for honoring us. I am already looking forward to this celebration next year. I have great ideas for crafts and new decorations I want to get.

Blessed be!

On A Cold Night

Sometimes your best laid plans don’t always pan out. Sometimes what the Gods deliver is better than your plan.

Tonight we honor the full moon. This one is called the Cold Moon or the Long Night’s Moon. Both of those names are apt as for the fact that they happen around the winter solstice and the coldest and darkest time of the year.

Today I went to Disneyland and honored the God and Goddess by spending the time with my family. We walked around and had a great time as always. (FYI… I read somewhere that Walt Disney was Pagan. His family came from Ireland, so perhaps Celtic.) In the park they had booths set up to try holiday foods of other cultures. We tried a curry dish from India, a lamb dish from the Middle East and kugel from the Jewish booth. (The curry was my favorite.)

Since I knew we had planned to go to Disneyland today, I had planned to have an esbat last night by myself.

Planned to.

But then…

Some very nice person made a coconut cake for a friend. And that friend was having a bad day and the cake sure lifted her. Then she called me and asked if I wanted to share in this cake. And I told her since she is sharing her cake with me; I will share my dinner with her. (It was tacos and pozole.)

So instead of an esbat service for one, I held an impromptu, informal service for several. We ate a fabulous meal. I taught a younger witch (13) about runes. She and I did a candle spell together for good luck. She told me about her first deck of tarot cards. She admired things on my alter and I gave her stuff to set up her own at home. (Much like mine and her mother.) I gave her a candle and some incense and an incense holder. I even lent her a book to study and gave her a new blank book to write in.

Before I go on… let me tell you about that blank book.

Earlier this month I received a box of items from a subscription service I subscribe to. Inside the box was this blank book. It has a design on it from the new movie “Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them”. (Yes, I am a huge Harry Potter nut.) When I pulled it out of the box, my husband asked me what I was going to do with yet another blank book. I immediately told him I was going to give it to the before mentioned 13 year old. I told him she would need it. For what purpose and when, I did not know, but she would need it.

And she did. Last night. The God and Goddess know what they are doing.

Anyway, she and I read runes and talked. Then we enjoyed an informal communion. We used the coconut cake as it was already a blessing.

After they left, her mother sent me this picture of the alter she went home and set up.

I love it.

See…

I wrote this post for these reasons…

1. Being Pagan is a perfectly normal part of life.
2. The God and Goddess know what is best for us.
3. Magick is everywhere, you just have to look for it.
Blessed be.

Book Review: The Magical Year

The Magical Year by Danu Forest

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really liked this book. It is definitely very Celtic and if you are not a Celtic pagan you might be put off by the over all Celtic vibe. But if you can get passed it, you can find a ton of useful information in this book.

This book goes over each of the main seasonal celebrations over a Pagan year. Each section gives you a basic over view of the celebration as well as ideas ideas for marking the occasion. Kitchen Witchery is included for each section as well as craft ideas and activities.

I personally used one of the Samhain recipes. I made the stew (with beef) for our Samhain celebration and it came out very good. It claimed to feed 6 and that is about right. Too bad there were 14 of us.

I also have made notes to use several of the ideas for celebrations in the future. I plan on coming back to this book a lot.

Finally, the meditations and visualizations are really great and can be used if you are leading a group. I plan to use them in the future.




View all my reviews

The Witching Hour

A Blessed Samhain to all my witches.

Did you just say that SAM HANE? Don’t do it! It is pronounced sah-win, or sow-in or sah-ween.

Hence…

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I hope you all celebrated and had a great night. I know I did.

But before I regale you with tales of my night, let’s talk about, just what is Samhain?

Is it the night you finally get to ride that broomstick?

Nope.

Are zombies coming?

Only if you are playing Plants vs. Zombies. Then yes, Zombies, they are coming.

Samhain is a cross quarter festival on the Wheel of the Year celebrated by Wiccans and Celtic witches as well as some other neo-pagan groups. And super awesome witches like me. It falls approximately half way between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice and is the last harvest festival of the year. Some people call it “The Pagan New Year”. Not for me though. New Year’s Day is still January 1. But it does mark the beginning of winter.

So many of our current Halloween traditions come from these long ago pagan Samhain celebrations; from costumes and going door to door for treats to apple bobbing and carving pumpkins. All can be traced back to Samhain. There is so much I could write on the subject.

This is one of the “Spirit Days” when the veil between this world and the other realm is the thinnest; a time when spirits and fairies cross over and visit. This is a time of remembrance. People visit cemeteries and set up ancestral alters leaving favorite items or other offerings to those who have gone ahead. We share stories of them, maybe even set a place for them at dinner.

Most Samhain celebrations include communal bonfires. They serve to bring together the community. Ages ago, our ancestors would put out all the fires in the villages and relight them from the communal fire to bring unity.

This year we carved pumpkins. We set them on the porch to welcome our ancestors home. I made a nice beef stew and butternut squash ravioli. (I got the stew recipe from a pagan book titled “The Magical Year”.) We set up an alter with seasonal fruits and veggies. We added sage and incense and candles. Also added were items special to those we have lost.

One member of our group was the fire tender and started the fire at sunset and kept it going until the sun came back up. We burned sage and cleansed our souls. We wrote down out affirmations for the year and put them in the fire.

It was a great night.

Until we meet again…

Blessed be.

Love Conquers All

Happy Beltane all you lovers out there! I hope you enjoyed this fine Sunday enjoying the outdoors and stopped to smell the roses at least once.

Unfortunately, I did not get a chance today. I was at work and when I came home, I found that some kind person had smashed the back window of my car. Therefore, I spent the evening waiting for police to come and take a report. Let this be a lesson to those people… Always remember the rule of three…

So what is Beltane you ask?

Beltane is another name for the Gaelic May Day festival. Most commonly, it is held on 1 May, or about halfway between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. Beltane is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature, and it is associated with important events in Irish mythology. It marked the beginning of summer and was when cattle were driven out to the summer pastures. Rituals were performed to protect the cattle, crops and people, and to encourage growth. Special bonfires were kindled, and their flames, smoke and ashes were deemed to have protective powers. The people and their cattle would walk around the bonfire or between two bonfires, and sometimes leap over the flames or embers. All household fires would be doused and then re-lit from the Beltane bonfire. These gatherings would be accompanied by a feast, and some of the food and drink would be offered to the spirits. Doors, windows, byres and the cattle themselves would be decorated with yellow May flowers, perhaps because they evoked fire. In parts of Ireland, people would make a May Bush: a thorn bush decorated with flowers, ribbons and bright shells. Holy wells were also visited, while Beltane dew was thought to bring beauty and maintain youthfulness. Many of these customs were part of May Day or Midsummer festivals in other parts of Great Britain and Europe.

Beltane celebrations had largely died out by the mid-20th century, although some of its customs continued and in some places, it has been revived as a cultural event. Since the late 20th century, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed Beltane, or something based on it, as a religious holiday. Neopagans in the Southern Hemisphere often celebrate Beltane at the other end of the year (around 1 November).

There is so much history and ritual to this holiday and it is one of my favorites. This is just the generic Wikipedia version.

In addition, since I have not had too much time today, here I offer you some great websites where information was already written. Enjoy them.


Wikipedia- Beltane
Beltane
Beltane- ThoughtCo.
Beltane- Circle Sanctuary


Tomorrow I will go out and smell the roses myself. I promise.

The Wearin’ O’ The Green

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Yeah, I am Irish. I have the red hair and freckles to prove it.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on the anniversary of the death of Saint Patrick, widely recognized as the patron saint of Ireland. It is celebrated by Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox churches to mark the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is said he traveled around Ireland and used the 3 leaf shamrock to explain to Holy Trinity to pagans. It is also said he drove the “snakes” from Ireland; “Snakes” being the heathen Irish pagans.

HA HA HA HA HA HA!

He missed!

While Christianity is quite wide spread, it certainly isn’t the end all of religious preference. In the chapel I work in we accommodate no less than 18 religious preferences.

Anyway…

St. Patrick’s Day is more about celebrating Ireland than anything else. And drinking. Irish whisky and a nice Guinness. And eating Irish food. Bring on the corned beef. The potatoes. (Lent restrictions are lifted during St. Patrick’s Day.)

So put on your best green and show your Irish pride, you Snakes. 