Blessed Beltane

Beltane, for me at this time, has been difficult and filled with family obligations.  My hubby and I are trying to break out of some bad habits that have hindered progress on the house and yard and we are trying to not let it drown us.

As for circles, it hasn't happened the way I wanted it to.  I really wanted to go and meet some new pagans but my sisters needed time too - so I chose to see my sisters and we did an impromptu circle/sharing time on the beach...and then we went to a Japanese hibachi restaurant for dinner and that was our Beltane fire.  It was a wonderful afternoon (plus SAKE!)

The next day we had the Maypole at my church but we opened it up to kids...no circle...no sacred time...and the energy of children (even tho I love it) is not the energy I wanted for the circle.  The ribbons were braided and wishes were made but it wasn't the same as a full circle of sharing energy and love.

Allison Leigh Lilly wrote about Beltane and how to have it sex-free.  To me this article is a reminder that it is about the moments of life and that every holiday has a deeper and different meaning.  Its not always about the sex or the grand circles and bonfires...sometimes its about putting your feet in the ocean and handing a ribbon to a toddler...

Enjoy!!

Blessed Beltane and Happy Spring!
DM

The Gods...they are a-changing...

Its funny.  I have been thinking of this more and more.  The Gods of old are around but they have changed from what they were in ancient times.  They have come a long way to help guide us.  I am not talking about Athena on a cell phone but more of interpreting all sides of the Gods for our day and age.

Let me give you an example:  I have been honoring Hera, as my personal Goddess lately.  She is queen of the family.  We always see her in the old stories as a shrew of a wife, angry at Zeus' transgressions...but we have never really heard about how she interacts with her children (except Hephaestus and, really, every mother has been annoyed that their kids didn't turn out to be what they wanted...it doesn't mean they don't love them).  We also haven't really heard about what she was like BEFORE Zeus "took" her.  We only ever hear that she is mad, angry, jealous.  Well, you would be pretty pissed off if anything anyone knew of you was just the story of how you got married!

I see Hera is a compassionate Goddess.  She is Earth.  She loves the sea and sky.  She knows the darkness of death and rebirth.  She is wisdom and she is a feminist.  I think that this is why she is so angry.  She knows that her stories were co-opted by Zeus and the men of that age.  She is Athena's mother (sprung out of Zeus' head...really?)  She is sister to Aphrodite (or maybe Hera is another side of the sexiness).  She is Mother.  She knows where things come from and she tries to be good to her children.  She gets lost in her work...and she is frustrated easily.  This is one Goddess who isn't afraid to show that she is pissy.

The Hera you see in Disney's Heracles isn't a bitchy woman who makes her stepson do chores to appease her.  The Hera you see is a loving mother of her son (a son who was stolen from her and she is in mourning for most of the movie).  At the end of the movie tells him how proud she is of what he has done (you don't hear any of the Greek stories telling you that!)

The point I am trying to make is that The Gods are not set in stone.  They are guides that can be reborn to help us now.  Jason Mankey writes about this and the new conclusions that he has found about Pan in Raise the Horns here.

What new interpretations of the Gods do you have?
DM

Prayers

Our Mother whose body is the Earth,

Blessed are you,

And blessed are all the fruits of your womb.

You give us this day our daily bread,

And we share it with others.

Our Mother whose body is the Earth,

We love you with all our hearts,

And our neighbors as ourselves.

By Carol Christ

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"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, 

places to play in and pray in, 

where nature may heal and 

give strength to body and soul."

                       By John Muir

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I salute the moon whenever I see him, like a lover being recognized with an airy kiss. He shines down brightly, like hope from heaven.

I lie out beneath a vast blanket of stars and feel grateful to have ever been born. Being alive feels so good it hurts.

I pour libations – effervescent, sanguine, and enthusiastic. I set apart who and what I love and remember them forever.

I greet the dead throughout the day and hold close the living always. I revel in the bonds of camaraderie.

The gods and spirits watch me, some curious, others playful, all loving in their own ways. All stupefyingly beautiful.

I run and sing, laugh and dance, make music and art, and fuck like my life depends on it – it does. Love makes the heart sing.

I don’t have a church, or an dogma, or a stately forbearance or respectability. I’m just one man who loves to be alive.

I don’t want to be dead, but I wouldn’t mind it – I don’t want to live forever. I just want to live right now, for as long as that lasts.

I guess that makes me human. So if people ask what religion is he, tell them that my religion is life well lived – through love and ecstatic joy.

- David's Creed, Found on Rogue Priest

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Amazing Grace! How sweet the Earth

That formed a Witch like me

I once was burned, now I survive

Was hanged, but now I sing.

Twas grace that drew down the moon to me

And grace that raised the sea

The magick of the people's will

Will set our Mother free!

Amazing Grace! How sweet the Earth

That formed a Witch like me

I once was burned, but now I thrive

Was hanged but now I sing.

Amazing Grace, Rewritten By Margot Adler

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What are your prayers? Please share them here (and if anyone knows David, please contact me so he may receive full credit for his work)

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What is February 1st?

Some call it Imbolc...Some call it Candlemas...Some call it Groundhog Day...

Imbolc is a funny sort of holiday on the wheel and its getting a bit of attention on the interwebs this week.  Here is a great article from Jason Mankey on what Imbolc means to him.

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What I find interesting about this (and some of the other articles I have seen on Patheos) is that we are coming to the conclusion that Imbolc is a personal holiday.  The sabbats all have a solid meaning but when it comes to "Spring Cleaning" isn't it really just about what YOU need?   Yes, you can craft a circle on just about any subject but your coven isn't going to clean out your closet for you.  Only you can see the dust-mites and skeletons in there.  Brigid may not be your personal Goddess (She is the patron of Imbolc - if you follow the Celtic Calendar) but you still need to make goals for the year.  February is a good time for that...to light a candle and to clean or prep.  Just because you aren't melting snow and having cheese doesn't mean that you can't have an Imbolc Circle...or maybe you need a break from the circles (for me personally that is this time as well as Lammas...when I take time to reflect and see where I am going and what I hope to work on this coming year).

Religion is about choices.  You can choose to have faith or not.  The Gods will still be there...waiting.  Which also means you can choose to have your circles your way...or not.  It doesn't make you less "witchy", it actually makes circles all the more special when you get to them.

Have a wonderful Imbolc (or not!)
Peace,
DM

How Yule got its Name by Andras Corban Arthen

THE FIRST SONG

A tale of how Yule got its name

© 1994, Andras Corban Arthen

This is the story of the very first song; it is a true story, as all stories are, if you believe in them. This story begins a long, long time ago, when the Earth and Sun gave birth to the first beings-the very first plants, and animals, and people. It was springtime, and the Sun shone warm and bright from his high perch above, and Earth, proud mother that she was, held and fed her newborns and relished them with tenderness and love. It was a time of joy, it was a time of great delight.

The Moon waxed and waned time and again in the night sky, and the children of the Earth grew well and strong through summertime. They played and danced, and Earth and Sun watched over them.

Then autumn came, and the Earth began to sleep much longer every day. She grew tired and pale, she could no longer feed her children, and had no strength to grow new life. High above, the Sun grew distant, and took longer to return each morn. The nights grew longer, and cold winds blew where none had blown before.

And then, one day, Earth went to sleep and never did wake up. She wrapped herself in a blanket of snow, and rested her tired head on pillows of dried leaves, and she did not wake up, Her children could do nothing to rouse her from her slumber. They prodded her, they called to her, but she would not awaken. In the sky, the Sun was nowhere to be seen, and the children of the Earth felt fear, and also felt despair. This was the longest night that they had ever known.

"What shall become of us?", they pondered. "Earth Mother sleeps, and Father Sun is oh so far away that we can barely see him in the sky. He is much too far to hear our call. What shall we do?"

So they brought their questions and their fears to the Moon, the sister of the Sun, for they knew not where else to turn. She closed her eyes, and took a slow, deep breath, and looked within herself, and awoke thoughts that had never been awakened until then.

She opened her soft eyes, then said, "When hope is lost, the best way to get it back is with a song. Climb you the tallest trees, the biggest hills, the highest mountains, and yule a song to reach the Sun". (Now, yule is a word from one of the most ancient tongues. It is related to words like yell or yodel, and it means to call out in a song).

But the first beings had never heard a song, so once again they sought the Moon's advice. "How shall we yule?", they asked. "How shall we sing a song?"

"Take the best of what you have", she said, "the best of what you are. Take what you love, take what you cherish most. Take your joys, your dreams, your fondest hopes, and weave them all together in a sound."

And so they did. The climbed atop the tallest trees, the mountains and the hills. They stood on all the places that would bring them closest to the Sun. They shut their eyes, and thought and felt the best of thoughts and feelings, and dreamt the finest dreams. And, as they did, their voices rang and made a bridge of song across the sky, to reach the distant Sun.

He heard, and turned, and smiled, and wrapped himself in all his light and warmth, and sped to where the yuling voices called. As he drew near, the sleeping Earth did stir, and dreamed a dream of spring. The wheel of life made its first round, and hope and joy prevailed. And ever since, that time of year has been called Yule, in honor of the song.

But the first song did not end. It had such power, such eldritch allure, that the first beings kept singing it throughout. And then the second beings bom of the Earth took up the song, as did the third. And so it ever since has gone, through seasons and through years, until this very day.

At times the song is very soft, and scarcely can be heard above the din and clatter of our lives. But when Yule comes, it rises and it swells in memory of that night when the Sun heard, and light and life were spared.

And so do we, upon this longest night, gather with those we love and who love us, and stand upon the body of slumbering Earth, and light the log with last year's coal, and lift our voices soaring to the Sun, and join the song that first was sung so very long ago.

We sing our thanks to those who went before, and sing our fondest wish to those who come behind. We bask in the returning light of reawakened hope, and welcome Yule.

Meditations by Victoria E. Safford

The Moment of Magic

Now is the moment of magic,

when the whole, round earth turns again toward the sun,

      and here's a blessing: 
the days will be longer and brighter now, 
even before the winter settles in to chill us.

Now is the moment of magic, 
when people beaten down and broken, 
with nothing left but misery and candles and their own clear voices, 
kindle tiny lights and whisper secret music,

      and here's a blessing: 
the dark universe is suddenly illuminated by the lights of the menorah, 
suddenly ablaze with the lights of the kinara, 
and the whole world is glad and loud with winter singing.

Now is the moment of magic, 
when an eastern star beckons the ignorant toward an unknown goal,

      and here's a blessing: 
they find nothing in the end but an ordinary baby, 
born at midnight, born in poverty, and the baby's cry, like bells ringing, 
makes people wonder as they wander through their lives, 
what human love might really look like, 
sound like, 
feel like.

Now is the moment of magic,

      and here's a blessing: 
we already possess all the gifts we need; 
we've already received our presents: 
ears to hear music, 
eyes to behold lights, 
hands to build true peace on earth 
and to hold each other tight in love.

fear

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.