Blessed Beltane

A Blessed Beltane

Calloo, callay, what a wondrous day! Beltane is here, and it's one of my very favorite holidays of all! There are many fine blogs and websites with extensive information about this important Sabbat, should you care to learn more. This post is not a dissertation on the nature of this day.

Today, I just want to share my joy with you. I am grateful to be alive on this day, the dawn of summer. I am so fortunate to live on a homestead out in the country. We have been working hard to nourish and honor the spirits of our land, to bring our steading back to life.

Today, we begin to enjoy the fruits of the season. The farmer next door has ripe strawberries for us to pick. In our yard, everything is in bloom: roses, lobelia, keeria, iris, water iris, clematis, marigold, azalea and more besides, unidentified blooms that delight the eye. In the garden, vegetables are thriving. We also have kittens to love, little bundles of joy and promise. Our handmade boats now rest under a brand-new shelter. In the mundane world, my new name is legal. Best of all, my Clan will gather this Sunday for high ritual and merriment. I have been given so many blessings, and I am grateful.

I hope that all of you celebrate in the way most suited to your spirits. Enjoy this blessed Beltane - get out there and celebrate! Dance, make love, bask in beauty, feast and make merry - BELTANE IS HERE!

May you know the love of the Gods
May you enjoy the fruits of the season
May your garden grow lush
May you feel the warm sun on your face
May you have love and lust in your life
A most blessed Beltane to all!

Blessed be!

Happy Beltane!

Spring Maiden Invocation

by Blayze

From the bower of the green earth we call thee

Maiden of the spring stars,

Virgin moon and reflected sun,

The power of growth is within thee.

Virgin queen we call forth thy dance

Upon the green hills and fields,

Flowers bloom beneath thy feet

And thy crown is woven of blossoms, wild and free.

Thou art the cauldron of rebirth whose waters

Quench the thirst that lies between winter and summer,

Shimmering between night and day.

Maiden we call to thee,

Let the saps rise and the buds unfurl.

Maiden of spring we invoke thee!

I Dream of Gardening

It's almost March, and plans are in motion to make our home garden better than ever.  Last year, we had a lovely garden planted. Our improvement for that season was to add a thick layer of hardwood mulch. It was doing a great job of keeping out weeds, and we were all set to have a bountiful vegetable harvest.

Then the deer came. We live in the country, so this is not an unusual occurrence. But for some reason, perhaps our large tribe of outdoor cats, the deer had left our vegetables alone before last season. This time, they came through like a mower and ate nearly the whole garden right to the ground. I wonder if it had to do with the fact that very few soybeans were planted in the fields near us. It was mostly cotton and tobacco.

So this year, we're going to have the entire garden fenced off and maybe even electrified. Discussion about this made me get a little quiet. I love the deer, and even though I'm a hunter...hmm. My partner chortled about this, of course. Last weekend, my partner drove fenceposts and laid out a raised bed. He's thinking of installing a permanent trellis for climbing plants along one side, too.

I am so excited! While he's working on that, I'm going to clean out the raised bed along the back side of our house. Traditionally, we have planted lettuce, tomatoes and herbs there. I have recently learned that crop rotation is important even in small areas, so I plan to switch up everything except the perennials. I'm even going to move the tomatoes to the main garden. That will give me more space for basil! Last year, I had 4-6 plants. This year, I hope to have 8 plants. I want enough to use fresh, to make large batches of pesto AND to dry.

Pictured above is Sweet Woodruff, aka Gallium Odoratum aka the secret ingredient in May Wine. Last year, I grew some in a large planter. It's a perennial, and I'm hoping that the cold winter hasn't completely killed it. *crossing fingers* Because as my coven mates know, I am that kind of witch. The kind that shows up to Beltane with dew gathered at dawn and homemade May Wine. Oh yeah, baby!

It's almost garden time, garden time, whee!