Blessed Ostara

May this Spring fill your heart with the growing love of the goddess and the horned one. May the seeds of your intentions and your gardens be blessed with strength and fertility. May you frolic in the sunshine that is now overtaking the darkness. Let us celebrate and be joyful! Blessed be. Naho. Namaste. OM Shanti!

Imbolc

A blessed Imbolc to all! I visited my home range of mountains, the Rockies in CO, this week. I skiied atop their peaks, drove among the valleys, and soaked in hot springs deep within the heart of the mountain. 

What I can share from this experience is the abiding wisdom of the mountains: 

Seek your center. Tend the flame that lives deep within. Stay connected to the Earth. Trust yourself and your ability to maintain your equilibrium. Trust the mountain and let go. Go slowly, but with confidence. Abide.

May the returning light bless you with the strength and drive to fulfill your self-dedications for this turning of the Great Wheel. May we come through the winter whole and healthy, ready to plant the seeds of spring. 

May we tend the flame for all beings everywhere, that we may bring a new way of coexistence into being. May all beings be filled with compassion. May we be at peace. Naho. Blessed be. Namaste. OM shanti!

Harvesting Sorrow and Hope

Lughnasadh and Lammas are festivals of the first harvest, the grain harvest. Metaphorically, it's also a first harvesting of the seeds planted at Ostara, of the magical work we have done all year.

Looking back through my year, the theme has been letting go of things that no longer serve me. I decluttered, organized and donated a lot of possessions. I let go of family relationships that were not positive. I let go of consulting work and a nonprofit that wanted too much free work. I let go of a friendship that went sour. I took a hiatus from my beloved coven. I let go of a longtime romantic relationship.

I have nurtured projects and relationships that do serve me. I have done a lot of work with my ancestors, spirit guides and allies. I have grown my Meetup group to 44 members. I began to write public blogs. I have gotten clearer about my brand. I have been caring for myself diligently. I have worked toward my legal name change. I have been ordained and recommitted to my priestessry. I have taught more than ever before, and had a fantastic time doing it. I have been attending Church of the Earth events and have discovered that I really like their community. I have reconnected with friends and chosen family.

Some of my harvest is sorrow. I loved the place I lived with my partner. We were surrounded by farm fields, near my favorite patch of woods, had lovely kitties, garden, fruit trees, etc. The relationship was longstanding, and that always brings a sense of security and continuity to one's life. It has been a painful transition away from that.

But some of my harvest is full of hope. I am alone again, and free. The relationship was not a positive one, from an objective perspective. Now I can once again do anything I like. I can see my friends to my heart's content. I can spend the day in study. I can priestess to my community as I wish. I can travel. I can dream.

I still don't know what's around the corner. I'm still looking for work and for a real home. But I have faith that I have cultivated the garden of my life well this year. The harvest will be rich in its own time.

So mote it be!

I leave you with a blessing:

May the blessings of the first harvest fill you and yours with joy and abundance. May your larder be full of grains that you never hunger and may your cellar be full of mead and wine that you never thirst. May this harvest season bring forth all that you desire from the abundance of our mother Goddess.

Have a blessed Lammas and Lughnasadh!