Blessed Beltane

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!

Samhain Festivities

Our Clan celebrates Samhain on its astronomical date, this year 11/7, which is the true mid-point between Mabon and Yule.

For us, Halloween night was the beginning of a week long festival that culminates in a Samhain ritual. That night, we created a Samhain altar for our ancestors.

Each day, we light a candle in the window to guide the spirits. Each day, we perform a seasonal task, like creating a seasonal cornucopia or visiting the graveyard. 

I took a hike to remember my beloved dead, and I invited them to join me there. Grief had struck me pretty heavily, and I'm happy to say that after that hike, it receded to normal levels. Our tools work!

A most blessed Samhain to all! May you walk with the ancestors in this harvest of souls. Blessed be! Naho!

Samhain-tide Hiking

The Pagan Experience - Wk 4- October 26: Any writing for the letter R or a topic of your choice– I am keeping this familiar format on week 4 for those who have joined me from the Pagan Blog Project!

Last Friday, on All Hallow's Eve, I went out for a little stroll after work. It was spontaneous, a whim, a deep calling of the soul. Such days as that one...one is not granted with so many in a lifetime. The weather was so perfect, golden and crystalline, a pause in time out of time. A gentle breeze blew off the lake, ruffling the jeweled leaves. I saw no one, spoke not a word save with my heart and breathed in all the beauty of fall.

It was warm enough to get in the water, so I did. I rolled up my pants and waded across the clay-sand, gravelled bottom through crystal clear water. With my feet grounded in Earth and Water, I offered a song on my flute to the waters, to the sky, to the sun, to the waning autumn.

Here and now, at the end of the growing season, the dying time is nigh, and the light begins to fade. Pachamama is putting on a show to teach us to blaze, blaze brightly at the night and face death in all our glory, dressed to the nines. We let go, we let go, we heal, we commune with our beloved dead and we rest.

Last Friday, it was a day to be with the forest and with the waters. A day to be silent, a day to listen without speaking. To soak in the harvest wisdom of the brilliant leaves. To sense the eternal reflected in the shell of Grandmother Turtle. These creatures have abided through the millennia, not evolving, only...perfecting. Existing.

Wabi-sabi, imperfectly perfect. Too beautiful to crop, so I put  a heart on it.

Out on the land, we must go at these seasonal changes. It's imperative to taste the air, to fill one's lungs deeply with the pure breeze. Allow your mind to grow quiet, your ego to rest. No need for individuality now, sink into the life of the forest. Observe the changes in the plant and animal life, each to their particular cycle in the endless dance of life. Now the Earth shows its beauty in a final outpouring of life as death draws near for many. The Earth and much of its life will rest, going deep within during the darkness. Do you see it? Do you feel it?

I had no recollection of the length of the hike, but stubbornly pressed on until it looped back to the parking lot, some 5 miles or more later. At one point, I walked up on some does, only a short bowshot away. Turtles were still out on logs, and wings of many kinds were on the winds. No need to look up, wing-shadows dappled from the tree trunks. I am watched over from above.

I am truly blessed.

Thirteen Days of Samhain: Day 8

On the eighth day of Samhain, the Goddess gave to me:

Eight Sabbat Dances

I am a witch who honors the eight great Sabbats – the big solar festivals that divide up our year in accordance with the seasons. It is a comfort and a joy to honor the turning of the great wheel of the year. Year by year, my Sabbat celebrations add layers of depth and meaning to my path. I firmly believe that marking the passage of time, investing it with meaning and living in tune with the rhythms of the seasons is a major part of living a healthy life.

Thirteen Days of Samhain: Introduction

Welcome to my Thirteen Days of Samhain series! This year, I’m posting my series here as part of the Samhain’s Sirens project. Samhain's Sirens is a gift to the Pagan community. During the month of October, we post giveaways, articles, recipes, crafts, music and more all to celebrate our favorite holiday and season.

The Thirteen Days of Samhain is my way of extending Samhain from one ritual to a season of celebration. It all started a few years ago, as an inside joke amongst my coven. What would happen if I wrote a song about Samhain to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”?

This, my friends, is what happened. Starting tomorrow, look here on my blog to find a line of the song, plus information about this sacred time of year and our beloved Pagan faith. For thirteen days, we will count down to our sacred soul harvest, Samhain.

The First Harvest

The Pagan Experience - WK 1- August 3: Harvesting! In any spiritual pursuit there are times of planting and seeding and times of harvesting what has gone to fruition. How do you recognize what is ready to be cut down? How do you discern what needs to remain for more ripening? How do you move through your harvest in a productive way?

Lughnasadh is here! May the blessings of the Corn King shine upon you and fill your larder with abundance. This is the first of the three harvest festivals on the great wheel of the year. Lughnasadh, or Lammas, is the grain harvest. Mabon is the fruit harvest, and Samhain is the animal & soul harvest.

Where I live, all sorts of things are ready to harvest. My tomatoes are spitting out a gallon of fruit at a time. The beans are going crazy too, and the okra is just beginning to come in. My peppers are almost done, except for the jalapeños, which have gotten their second wind. We had a mystery plant that turned out to be pumpkin, and we have several small pumpkins in the garden. It seems strange to see them ripe in July, but then, it has been a strange year.

It's been a hot, hot summer, and it continues to be so. Because of our long, hot growing season, we are actually coming to the end of the first and second plantings (or in my case, one lazy, late planting). It's now just about time to clear out the garden and start over with late summer and fall crops. I think I may replant zucchini on one hill, and add butternut squash on the other hill.

The commercial farms in the neighborhood have tall tobacco plants and cotton bolls beginning to form.

The soybeans are in full swing too. All three of these cash crops will not be ready to harvest for a long time yet. Corn and watermelons are in the markets, and I have a powerful craving for corn at the moment.

In a spiritual sense, this too is a time of harvest. At Yule, we dreamed and envisioned the year to come.
We cleaned away the cobwebs of the unnecessary at Imbolc. We planted the seeds of our work for the year at Ostara. We watered the seeds at Beltane. At Litha, we celebrated the abundance of the land and of our path. Now it is Lughnasadh, and harvest season begins.

So these questions, suggested by our lovely facilitator for The Pagan Experience...they are interesting for me. This year, I was bound and determined to have a luxuriant basil crop. I'm quite fond of pesto, and my plan was to make a giant batch and put it in the freezer. It's not farfetched; I've done this before. I use the tiniest canning jars, cover the pesto with a layer of olive oil, and then enjoy meals that SCREAM summer throughout the winter.

Mother Nature had other ideas, as it turns out. I did indeed grow a luxuriant crop of basil, but it was a real struggle to keep it alive. Along with the extreme heat, the rain has come in a few giant bursts, rather than an even spread through the summer months. Meanwhile, my work schedule has gotten more and more full.

I let the basil go too long. I didn't recognize when it was time to harvest. It was looking so big and beautiful a month ago, and now it's in full flower and the leaves are dying. This is a powerful lesson about flow for me. When one grasps for more and more, rather than taking in the harvest when it is at its peak, it's easy to lose out entirely. I was upset that it flowered too soon - an early heat wave caused many things to flower before their "normal" time. I'll still get some pesto, but it will be a much smaller batch.

For me, the lesson this year is trusting that my needs and desires will be met. There's no need to worry. I need to take the leaps of faith and take in the harvest knowing that I have enough. I am enough. If I need something else later, something more, that too will come. Perhaps more importantly, I need to remember that perfection is not the goal. Recognize the perfectly imperfect for the blessing it is, and go with it.

This Lughnasadh, I am truly blessed. My life and path are beautiful, messy, abundant and growing all the time. I am stepping into my power more and more. My Clan is flourishing. The year-wheel's turning has been eventful, and truly, all things are just as they should be. I am grateful! Sing it with me:

Hoof and Horn


© Ian Corrigan



Hoof and horn, hoof and horn


All that dies shall be reborn


Corn and grain, corn and grain


All that falls shall rise again.

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!

Ritual

The Pagan Experience - Wk 2- Apr. 13 – Ritual - What is your definition of the word “ritual”? What are your rituals- mundane and spiritual? How do they inform each other? Is ritual a necessary component to spiritual practice?


Ritual is defined by the dictionary as "a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order." In a broader sense, a ritual can be any series of actions that are performed regularly.

The word ritual also implies a certain level of meaningfulness or reverence, even when used in the broader sense. That suits me down to the roots. My personal brand of shamanistic witchcraft has been heavily influenced by Eastern philosophy. I believe that there is no separation between the mundane and the magical, the everyday and the sacred. This whole Earth is my temple, and every step I take is a prayer. I'm into mindfulness - each moment is important, and truly is all we have.

My life is full of ritual. In fact, with all the transitions and changes in my life in recent years, you might even say that ritual is my anchor point. My daily rituals keep me centered amidst the ebb and flow of life. I have written before about my dinacharya, my daily routine. To summarize, I begin each day with prayer, Yoga, meditation and general self-care. I bless each meal. I end the day with meditation and gratitude.

Since I wrote those posts, my routine has shifted slightly. I'm meditating in the morning more now. I'm also writing more in the morning. My evening practice has all but disappeared, being devoted more to winding down, checking the last emails and spending time with family. Of course, these last few months  have been very transitional, so I'm working to get back on track. Whether I will find equilibrium at my old routine, or something new, I do not yet know. It's gardening season, so all bets are off.

Aside from the daily routine, there are many little things I do at random times that add meaning and a sense of the sacred to my life. I put magic into my cooking, infusing the meals I cook for myself and my family with healing and love. I sing to my plants. I take time every day to connect with my kitties. My partner likes to walk our property with me, taking note of each new bloom. I visit my favorite woods and rivers regularly so that I can watch the progression of the seasons in each place and to recharge my spirit. I make offerings to my favorite tree.

On the spiritual side of things, I mark and celebrate the seasons. I lead my Clan in rituals to honor the Full Moon, the eight great Sabbats and our five patrons and matrons. Because we are an eclectic coven, our rituals range from full-on formal circles to informal events like devotional hikes. This being our first turn of the Wheel together, we are still evolving and settling into a routine. I have so many ideas that I am excited to bring into being.

This question of how my mundane and spiritual rituals inform each other…it is a difficult one. I find myself writing this post and not knowing where to put certain items. Is recharging my crystals under the light of the Full Moon a mundane ritual or a spiritual one? Again, my view is one of unity. My intent is to make my life more and more of a seamless blend each year. I live on a homestead out in the country, and my view truly is to infuse the necessary with the sacred. The mundane WITH the spiritual.

The last question, is ritual a necessary component of spiritual practice…I say that it's a necessary component to MY spiritual practice. Yoga philosophy sums it up well: the things we do each day form scars or grooves (samskara), which itself is ritual whether we like it or not. I choose to do this consciously. To make my habits ones that uplift and support my purpose and path.

I would never dream of dictating another person's journey. Perhaps it includes ritual, perhaps not. Perhaps those rituals are secular rather than religious. It is not for me to say what is right for another. 

That being said, rituals and ceremonies were created out of a universal human need. Artifacts have been found from our earliest times for which no utilitarian function is known, their use being purely ceremonial. Scientists imply that our transition to sentient humanity as we know it today began with our need for meaning, for spirituality, for ritual. 

Rituals take us across the threshold of the stages of our lives. They heal us of trauma. They lift us up and help us to carry on through times both good and bad. They give us a sense of belonging and strengthen community. Rituals punctuate the daily grind with celebration, devotion and a joyous sense of occasion. Rituals are the percussion in the song of our lives. 

“Life is a ritual of love
Life is a ritual of union, and 
Life is a dance of the divine” 
― Vishwas Chavan, SoulBliss: a poetic tale of cosmic love

Xignal Boost: Annual Sun Wheel Ceremony

Our local tarot expert, Beth Owls Daughter, has a beautiful idea. Each Sun-day between now and Solstice or Christmas, people all around the globe will light a candle and pray or meditate. This year's intention is "from within the sacred dark, we arise with the returning Light."

Regardless of faith or tradition, we can all join together in celebrating the season of the light's return at winter solstice, or the birth of Jesus, as you prefer. Taking this quiet time to join with others is a lovely way to go within and honor the introspective energy of this dark time of year.

I'm in. Are you?


The following is excerpted from Beth Owls Daughter's blog. View the original post here.

The Concept

It’s very simple. You only need a wreath and five candles. Starting with the first week, around dusk wherever you live, you’ll light one candle, meditate a bit, then extinguish the flame. The next week you light the first candle, and then a second one. And so on, until the final candle on Winter Solstice, Christmas, or both.

This ritual may remind you of the Christian tradition of lighting candles around an Advent wreath. That practice is descended from older Pagan observances that marked the advent of the Winter Solstice. (Advent simply means “the coming of”).

You can easily adapt this to be in harmony with your own dreams, desires, and beliefs. I encourage you to join the countless families and individuals throughout the world, Christians and non- , and to share it with your friends and beloveds.

Quietly Healing with Samhain

One of the things I love most about the traditions of our faith is their healing, therapeutic effect on the human psyche. During the years of my own spiritual seeking, I always asked myself two questions when evaluating a tradition or practice:

1. How does this make me feel? If I am inexplicably drawn to it, if it sounds my inner bell of "rightness", it's probably a good addition to my spiritual toolbox.

2. Does it work for me? If I feel the alleged benefits or other positive effect, it's probably a good addition to my spiritual toolbox.

Samhain is a time to honor and communicate with our beloved dead. It is the third harvest, the harvest of souls. In many cultures and time periods (including today, in some areas), it was the time of the animal harvest. Livestock were slaughtered to get us through the long, dark days of winter. This also provided enough resources for the rest of the animals to survive the winter as well.

The practice of actively engaging with our ancestors, allies and other dearly departed is a deeply therapeutic one. Culture in the US does not lean this way, overall. In general, death is something to be avoided, distanced from, sanitized and commercially packaged…like everything else. What this leads to is often less effective grieving and delayed healing for the survivors.

I would know. In my short life, I have lost an entire immediate family, plus a lover and many close friends. When my family passed, I inherited the family antiques. For a time, I set up my home with these items and with family portraits. It was too much. I felt I was living in a mausoleum. I sold most of the antiques and put the portraits away.

For years, years in which I did not always formally celebrate the Sabbats, I simply couldn't bear my losses. I unconsciously avoided the ancestral aspect of Samhain. I shut down my emotions on many levels. I didn't speak to my beloved dead or engage with them in any way. It was too painful. Holidays became excruciating. Movies and shows portraying happy families were brutal. It was all just too much.

I made a few attempts, here and there, but it just didn't take.

Fast forward to today. I have built a family of my own. I have been practicing with a coven for several years. I'm an active part of the local Pagan community. This year, I met a medicine woman who does ancestral work. I began to actively engage with my dead. I maintained a table of light. I set up an ancestor altar.

Last night I went and celebrated Samhain with the lovely folks of Church of the Earth. We did very little formal ritual and a whole lot of silent communion with our dead. We had a wonderful Dumb Supper out in a grove. Tables were widely scattered through the clearing, beautifully set with china and crystal for our ancestors. The sounds of classical cello drifted through the crisp night air. When not dining, we quietly sat around a crackling fire pit.

Afterwards, I noticed something big. I didn't cry. I felt emotional, but not dysfunctional. I slowly realized that I'm no longer crushed by grief. Sure, I will always miss these people who are so dear to me. There are times when it is poignant and intense. But last night, at the supper, I caught them up on my news. I told them about the joy and love that is now in my life. About the hard work of building my career and my coven.

This morning I woke up and felt calm. Through my morning Yoga practice, I began to realize that this is what healing feels like. My family and close friends will always be a part of me, and their loss has helped to define who I am as a person. But it's ok. It really is. I can now smile and tell their stories without dissolving into a weeping mass.

So for me, the tradition of Samhain passes the test. It makes me feel good, and it works.

A blessed Samhain to all. May you too be healed by its cleansing power.

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!