Question Two...Oh Myth! Myth? Yeth?

I know we are heading for the end of September and maybe some pagan bloggers have given up (or finished) the 44 Questions but I will persevere...and besides, it helps me to think of something outside of myself to write about...onto Question 2:

Tell a Myth or Story from Folklore


In a previous post I wrote of my love for fairy tales so this question is an easy one for me.  I am going to re-tell an excellent story that reads like long lost folklore but it is a modern creation.  Meghan B. Collins wrote it in 1982  and it is featured in the book "Don't Bet on the Prince: Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North America and England".

The Green Woman


Once upon a time there lived a woman on the edge of a little village.  People knew her as a Healer and she had a wonderful garden where she picked the best herbs and ingredients for her brews.  Her cottage was at the edge of the forest so she could easily find mushrooms and mosses, too.  Her knowledge was passed down to her from her grandmother and mother and everyone in the village respected her and her ways.

One day the Governor's Wife came by and requested a secret appointment with the Healer, which she obliged.  The Wife told the Healer that the Governor is old and was getting antsy about the fact that she hadn't gotten pregnant yet.  "Ah" thought the Healer "I know how to help her".  So she asked the Wife many questions about her love life and cycle and made a tea while she talked.  She gave the Wife instructions to drink the tea each day before bed and she should be pregnant by the next cycle of the moon.

A month later the Wife came back, still not pregnant.  So the Healer brewed a stronger tea and told the Wife that it would be best for the Governor to come so she can brew something for him.  "I'll just take whatever you give me to him and make him drink it." She said "He doesn't know that I am coming to you."  Annoyed but still willing to help, the Healer obliged again and told her that this should work by the next cycle of the moon.

A month later the Wife came back again, still not pregnant.  The Healer is not sure what to do at this point.  She doesn't want to tell her that her husband may be sterile.  So she waits for the Wife to speak.  The Wife tells her that this is the last time she is coming here.  If she is not pregnant by next month she is going to accuse the Healer of Witchcraft which will save her place as the Governor's Wife but destroy the Healer's life.  The Healer is a clever woman.  Instead of fighting a fight that she knows she cannot win she asks the Wife to come back in 3 days for a new special brew with the freshest herbs she can find.  The Wife agrees.

Three days later the Wife comes in and the Healer gives her the new brew.  Outside the Healer's hut is one of her helpers, a strong, handsome man with a kind face.  He is turning over the dirt and planting more seedlings.  The Wife is surprised by this but does her business quickly with the Healer and leaves, but not before really looking over the Gardener.  The Healer waits for the Wife to leave.  After the Wife is gone for a good time she turns to the Gardener and gives him a brew to drink.  She then says "Go to The Wife and call on her.  She will let you in and nature should take its course."

And we should conclude that the Healer was spared from trial...:)

So you see...it takes knowledge and cleverness to make a wish come true...

Have a great day!
DM

Mabon

Blessed Mabon!  Blessed Equinox!  Blessed Fall!

This is my favorite time of year...the time of changing.  I am blessed to have a birthday by equinox, to me it means that I usher in the Fall.  Since I am lucky to live in Massachusetts I get to see the beauty of the leaves changing right before my eyes.  I see the fields around me turn to hay.  There are plenty of orchards for me to go to and pick apples.  Apples are a great symbol of Mabon.  They are ripe and fresh to pick and enjoy but you have to plant the seeds now if you want to grow an apple tree.

Mabon is all about balance...the light vs. the dark.  Summer sun and fun outside turns to Fall dark and planning inside.  Everyone starts planning fall and winter holidays now, whether they are Halloween costumes or who's hosting Thanksgiving or how to make your budget work with winter gift giving.  School is back in session and for those of us who have kids in school in the Northeast its all about making sure that they have the sneakers, sweaters, gloves, coats, boots, hats, umbrellas, snowshoes, sleds, mittens, flares, etc.  The planning may have started in August but we are really starting to get everything together by September (or at least I am...).

The Chaos of Summer leads to the Quiet of the Fall.  In the beginning of the month there is the run around of  getting things ready and registering kids for different activities.  Schedules are a MESS and you are trying to balance all of it without losing your mind.  The other side of that coin is the wonderful peace that you get when you don't have your child around you constantly (Again at least that is what happens to me...toddler moms and homeschool moms what is September like for you?).

Patti Wigington @ about.com has wonderful advice for Mabon:
"Meditate on the things you wish to change.  Focus on eliminating the bad and strengthening the good around you.  Put toxic relationships and habits into the past, where they belong.  Welcome new positive relationships and habits into your life.  Let the baggage go, and take heart in knowing that for every dark night of the soul there will be a sunrise the next morning."

My Blessing to you is this:
Light a candle and eat an apple slowly, taking your time to savor it.  Happiness in life needs moments like this.  They need the solitude and the quiet, the moment for you.  Don't eat the apple in front of a screen or while talking.  Go outside and sit and just be.  When you are invited out, GO.  Enjoy your time with friends or your children and do something fun.  Make an apple pie or mull some cider.  Welcome Fall and turn over a new leaf.

Blessed Be,
DM

Question (Lucky) Thirteen

Question 13 (in the list of 44 questions that some Pagan Blogs are answering this month) is:

What are some of the Books that influenced you?


The Spiral Dance by Starhawk
This is the book that first introduced me to Paganism.  It is very feminist but fair.  A very good read from a historical point of view and for explaining each of the different elements.

Wicca: A guide for the solitary practitioner by Scott Cunningham
This book showed me how to put everything I learned in Spiral Dance together.  It included simple spells, simple rituals and helps you to understand that Wicca is a place in your heart.  Scott Cunningham was a very gentle soul and it came across in his writing.

A Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches Handbook by Janet and Stewart Farrar
This reads like a textbook - which is its intent.  It can be very critical of society and of Christianity.  For all of this it is essential to have this book in your library.  It explains every precept of Wicca and gives historical references.  It has wonderful rituals and pictures laid out to show you how to set up an altar or how to make a robe.  It gives all the words for specific chants and magickal workings.  It explains all sorts of beliefs like reincarnation, the Summerlands and the Law of Three.

The Witches' Goddess and The Witches' God by Janet and Stewart Farrar
These 2 books are also essential for your library as they have a quick summary of almost every myth imaginable.  They do a great job of introducing you to The Gods and they leave enough of an opening for you to explore on your own.

Have a beautiful day!
DM

Question One...

Last week I wrote that a few Pagan Blogs are having a 44 question/answer challenge that I would try to do. Its more like a prompt and I answered question 35 last week.  I think I am going to be all traditional today and answer question one:

What is your Witchy Background?


As a child I really loved Fairy Tales...

Now don't dismiss that. I didn't love the fairy tales for the princess or the prince or the witch .  I loved the stories.  I was starved for stories and I would read and re-read fairy tales to pass the time.  The visions that I had in my head as I read them was definitely the stuff of dreams.  They opened my mind to new possibilities and solving problems in a way I hadn't thought of before.

When we started studying Ancient History in 6th grade I was fascinated with the Gods and the civilization of Sumer, Egypt, and Greece.  I never liked the Romans.  I thought they killed off alot of creativity in conquering Greece and they just glorified war and men.  I enjoyed reading the Bible and I was very excited to find out that Jesus was REAL.  A wonderful, peace-loving and magical man had walked the earth.  To me, that meant that the other stories I read could've been real too.

I went to Catholic School for 12 years.  They did a good job of showing me that the stories weren't real and that they never were.  I did have a few great English teachers who taught me about metaphors and how the lessons in the stories were real.  And that they all boiled down to the one lesson that I have taken to heart all these years "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".

I didn't discover Wicca until I was in college.  I had 2 beautiful women point me in right direction.  One of them was a manager at a bookstore that I worked at.  We were talking about history and God and she asked me "Why can't God be a woman?".  The other was my roommate at the time (and she would be my Maid of Honor at my wedding) bought me The Spiral Dance from Starhawk and told me that I needed to read it.  I really opened up to Wicca when I read about Karma and the one rule "Harm None but do as you will".

I did alot of soul searching (and had many sleepless nights thanks to Catholic Guilt).  One of the things that I always loved about Catholics was the devotion to Mary.  So I prayed to Her to help me figure out my path.  In praying I found that She is Goddess.  Simple as that.  The fairy tale stories came to life for me then.  I recognized the archetypes of the Gods and Goddesses, of Heroes and Villains, of Fools and Witches.  I vowed that I would be a part of this place.  Why?  Because it keeps magic alive in the world (and it makes me happy).  Didn't Jesus say to come to Him like a child?  Isn't a child fascinated by the magic of the world?  Who is to say that we shouldn't approach everyday with the love and fascination of a child and discover our inner God/dess?

In my travels of trying to find like minds I came upon a beautiful little witch shop.  They held open circles in the back, in a little backyard grotto, every Monday.  That is where my physical training to be a Priestess happened.  My true training started long ago in loving fairy tales.