Imbolc to Ostara Moon Schedule with Planting and Harvesting Days

By Dawn “Belladonna” Thomas

New Moon – February 6^th 10:44 p.m.

2^nd Quarter – February 13^th 10:33 p.m.

Full Moon – February 20^th 10:30 p.m.

4^th Quarter – February 28^th 9:18 p.m.

New Moon – March 7^th 12:14 p.m.

2^nd Quarter – March 14^th 6:45 a.m.

Moon Void of Course Schedule

  Date                                                   Starts                                              Ends

February 2nd	5:21 p.m.	February 3rd 4:52 a.m.
February 4th	1:20 p.m.	February 5th 2:10 p.m.
February 7th	10:50 a.m.	8:46 p.m.
February 9th	4:05 p.m.	February 10th 1:17 a.m.
February 11th	8:00 p.m.	February 12th 4:34 p.m.
February 14th	12:05 a.m.	7:19 a.m.
February 16th	5:17 a.m.	10:12 a.m.
February 17th	4:13 p.m.	February 18th 1:51 p.m.
February 20th	12:52 p.m.	7:06 p.m.
February 22nd	9:14 p.m.	February 23rd 2:44 a.m.
February 25th	8:35 a.m.	1:05 p.m.
February 27th	9:53 a.m.	February 28th 1:22 a.m.
March 1st	11:54 a.m.	1:33 p.m.
March 3rd	1:16 a.m.	11:24 p.m.
March 5th	4:46 p.m.	March 6th 5:53 a.m.
March 7th	2:04 p.m.	March 8th 9:23 a.m.
March 10th	7:09 a.m.	12:13 p.m.
March 12th	1:26 p.m.	1:54 p.m.
March 14th	4:23 p.m.	4:37 p.m.
March 16th	2:58 p.m.	9:04 p.m.
March 18th	2:38 p.m.	March 19th 3:25 a.m.
March 20th	3:28 p.m.	March 21st 11:45 a.m.

Planting Days

February 8^th, 9^th, 12^th, 13^th, 16^th, 17^th, 18^th, 26^th

March 12^th, 15^th, 16^th, 19^th, 20^th

Harvesting Days

February 1^st, 2^nd, 6^th, 28^th, 29^th

March 4^th, 5^th

Brighid by Deanne Quarrie

The springtime fire of the Goddess Brighid, linked with the festival of Imbolc, is very much connected with healing. For the surge of fire restores us in three ways. First, it gives us a lift of physical and emotional energy. It pleases our souls, because it not only brings knowledge that spring will come soon but also turns our thoughts to love and romance. And finally, it sparks our creativity. As our spirits lift, we are more likely to be inspired with new plans and projects....

Imbolc marks the end of winter and the beginning of Spring. We are mid-way between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox winter crocus are peaking up through the snow covered earth, assuring us of the warmer months coming. As a signal of Spring it stirs in the earth and awaken new energies. Imbolc was the time of the year that new animals were being born. This is perhaps the reason for the name 'Imbolc' which means 'In milk'....

Brighid's fiery aspect makes her the perfect goddess of the hearth. There are many hearth prayers dedicated to Brighid, especially concerning smooring. Ashes and embers were often deposited in the fields.

 

Smooring the Fire
The sacred Three
To save,
To shield,
To surround
The hearth,
The house,
The household,
This night,
Oh! this eve,
This night,
And every night
Each single night.

I will build the hearth,
As Brigid would build it,
The encompassment of Brigid,
Guarding the hearth, guarding the floor,
Guarding the household all.

Who are they on the lawn without?
Lugh the sun-radiant of my trust.
Who are they on the middle of the floor?
Angus and Goibniu and Manannan.
Who are they by the front of my bed?
The radiant Brigid and Her brother Ogma.

The mouth of the Goddess ordained,
The messenger of the Goddess proclaimed,
A Goddess bright in charge of the hearth
Till white day shall come to the embers.
A Goddess bright in charge of the hearth,
Till white day shall come to the embers.
http://www.geocities.com/pagantheology/carmina/firesmooring.html

 

On this night, Brighid the Cailleach, the ancient Hag, bathes in her sacred well and becomes Brighid the Caillín, the Maiden. On this night, winter begins to turn to spring, the year is made new, and creative fire kindles in all hearts.

This is the day of Bride. The serpent shall come from the hole. This is the day of Bride. The Queen has come from the mound.

'Imbolc' means, literally, 'in the belly' (of the Mother). For in the womb of Mother Earth, hidden from our mundane sight but sensed by a keener vision, there are stirrings. The seed that was planted in her womb at the solstice is quickening and the new year grows.... Brigit's holiday was marked by the kindling of sacred fires, since she symbolized the fire of birth and healing, the fire of the forge, and the fire of poetic inspiration. This Pagan Festival of Lights is sacred to the young Maiden Goddess, and one of the most beautiful and poetic of the year....

Foods of Imbolc: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, poppy seed cakes, muffins, scones, and breads, all dairy products, peppers, onions, garlic, raisins, spiced wines and herbal teas...

Imbolc is good for psychic work: still the dark time of the year, but looking toward spring. It's also a good time to prepare your sacred space for this work, banishing old energy to clear the way for new....

The future spark of summer dances now; Imbolc is a good time to seek inspiration, especially for healers and wordsmiths.

Since the discipline of poetry was interwoven with divination, Brighid was seen as the great inspiration behind prophecy, the source of oracles.... On the eve of St. Brighid’s Day, the Old Woman of Winter, the Cailleach, journeys to the magical isle where in the woods lies the miraculous Well of Youth. At the first glimmer of morning light, she drinks the water that flows from the crevice of a rock, and is transformed into Brighid, the fair maid whose white wand turns the bare earth green again....

It is said that where Brighid walks over the waters or touches them with her finger the ice melts and that the land turns green where she spreads her mantle upon it, and also when she breathes upon the hills.

 

Things you can do to honor Imbolc

• Pour milk upon the earth and give thanks for the returning fertility and the sun....
• Tie a red ribbon on your doorstep and it will be blessed by Brighid as she passes. On the eve of Imbolc leave buttered bread in a bowl for the faeries. Place three ears of corn, tied with red ribbon, over a door as a symbol of the triple Goddess, and leave there until the Spring Equinox.
• Make dream pillows for everyone in the family.
• Take a bowl of seeds and bless them, thinking about any plans or dreams for this year. Leave the seeds out overnight where the moon can shine upon them. Plant the seeds at Spring Equinox and watch them grow bigger through the year, along with the manifestation of your dreams.

 

I like to build a replica of the flame in the well by creating a container of water to represent the well, and then placing my cauldron in the center which holds the fire. Holy water, sacred flame.

Folklore From the Isle of Man ~ Imbolc

February 1, Laa'l Breeshey "Bridget's Feast-day," when the festival of this famous Irish saint was celebrated. A parish church, a nunnery, and no less than seven of the ancient keeills or cells are named after her in the Isle of Man, where she seems to have been a great favourite. An old custom on this day was to gather rushes, and standing with them on the threshold, to invite St. Bridget to come and lodge there that night, saying "Brede, Brede, tar gys my thie, tar dys thie ayms noght. Foshil jee yn dorrys da Brede, as lhig da Brede cheet stiagh." 

"Bridget, Bridget, come to my house, come to my house to-night, open the door to Bridget, and let Bridget come in." After these words were repeated, the rushes were strewn on the floor by way of a carpet or bed for her. It is said also that straw was sometimes used, instead of rushes.  

A similar custom is practised in some of the other Sodor Isles," The mistress and servants of each family take a sheaf of oats and dress it up in woman's apparel, put it in a large basket and lay a wooden club by it, and this they call Briid's bed, and then the mistress and servants cry three times, 'Briid is come, Briid is welcome.'    

This they do just before going to bed, and when they rise in the morning, they look among the ashes expecting to see the impression of Briid's club there, which, if they do, they reckon it a true presage of a good crop and a prosperous year, and the contrary they take as an ill omen."   

There were various weather sayings with regard to this day, thus: 

  Laa'l Breeshey bane, 

  Dy chooilley yeeig lane. 

  Bridget's Feast-day white, every ditch full.    

i.e., If snowy on St. Bridget's day, there will be a wet mild spring.   

Choud as hig y shell ny-gah-ghreinney stiagh Laa'l Breeshey, hig y sniaghtey roish Laa Boayldyn. "As long as the sunbeam comes in on Bridget's Feast-day, the snow comes before May Day."    

 i.e., If mild on St. Bridget's day, there will be a cold spring.   

February 2^nd -   The festival of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, or Candlemas-day, called in Manx Laa'l Moore ny Gawne, "Mary's Feast-day of the Candle," seems, since St. Bridget has been forgotten, to have taken the place of the festival of the Irish saint, as the prognostics founded on the state of the weather on this day are practically identical with those derived from St. Bridget's festival. There is a universal superstition throughout Christendom that good weather on this day indicates a long continuance of winter and a bad crop, and that its being  foul is, on the contrary, a good omen. Sir Thomas Gawne, in his Vulgar Errors, quotes a Latin distich expressive of this idea:   

Si sol splendescat Maria purificante, 

Major erit glacies past festum quam fuit aute,   

Of which the Scotch version is:

  If Candlemass day be dry and fair, 

  The half o winter's to come and mair; 

  If Candlemass day be wet and foul, 

  The half o' winter's gane at Yule.   

The Manx proverb corresponding with this conveys a caution to the farmers:   

  Laa'l Moirrey ny gianle,

  Lieh foddyr as lieh traagh.   

"Candlemas-day (or Mary's Feast-day of the Candle), half straw and half hay."  i.e., In the probable event of a mild Candlemas, half the stock of fodder should still be unconsumed, as much wintry weather will probably follow. Shrove Tuesday, in Manx Oie Ynnyd, "Eve of the Fast," seems to have been observed in the Isle of Man in much the same way as in England. It was formerly the custom to have sollaghan, which is made of oatmeal and gravy, for dinner on this day instead of at breakfast as usual, while the supper consisted of meat and pancakes. The following Manx saying is, we suppose, a warning against relying on the continuance of such sumptuous fare:   

  Ec shibber Oie Ynnyd my vees dty volg lane; 

  My jig Laa Caisht yiow traisht son sken. 

  "At Shrove-Tuesday supper if thy belly be full; 

  Before Easter-day thou mayest fast (hunger) for that."    

Chapter 6 - Folklore of the Isle of Man, A.W.Moore 1891[From Folklore of the Isle of Man, A.W.Moore, 1891]

Shared by Bendis

Found Goddess Verbena: Goddess of Wordplay and Really Awful Verse

“I don’t get no respect,” Verbena complains, and it’s true. Worship of this inconspicuous but divinatory Goddess has been likened to addiction. Falling under Her spell is contracting an infectious disease. Once you start punning, they say, you just can’t stop.

Playing with words is a form of self-abuse that can start in childhood with little jokes picked up on Sesame Street. Or a child can be infected by an adult, who, finding an infant not wearing shoes, maliciously inquires, “Are you a barefoot boy or a boyfoot bear?”

Then it spreads. Some little ones are taken to Dr. Seuss, but instead of offering a cure, he actually makes it worse. It was Seuss, maker-up of words, who took the French verb grincher to name that green fellow who tried to steal Christmas.

The next stage is Muppetry, which is truly communicable, and if verbal frolic is allowed to grow, we reach the point where an apparently innocent child may announce—in mixed company, no less—that “transcendental” means “beyond teeth.”¹

Left untreated, the verbenized mind continues to disintegrate. It moves into limericks and doggerel. It falls into amphigory, psalmistry, and sonnetry. It can sink as low as vers libre (during the 1920s, free verse was so shameful that one such poet was transmogrified into a cockroach named archy). The verbal abuser may become a poetaster. He may spend his days writing rock lyrics. If sent to school, the punster may stumble into houses of dithyramb and epithalamia, by which time not even a strong dose of thesaurovaccine can help. Scholars in extremis have been known to resort to figurative language and literary allusion, and it is on record that a certain not-to-be-named graduate student once actually titled a term paper “Complex Oedipus.” Sad to say, such scholars often become professors, and professors are often anthologized.

The final stages of the overzealous worship of Verbena are sophistry and punditry. By then, it’s not funny anymore. But the sophists and pundits go on television. They judge, they argue, they split hairs, they bore, they earn big money.

Hail, Verbena, you’re the one,

Help me find just one more pun.

Barbara Ardinger, Ph.D. (www.barbaraardinger.com), is the author of Pagan Every Day: Finding the Extraordinary in Our Ordinary Lives (RedWheel/Weiser, 2006), a unique daybook of daily meditations, stories, and activities. Her earlier books are Finding New Goddesses, Quicksilver Moon, Goddess Meditations, and Practicing the Presence of the Goddess. Her day job is freelance editing for people who don’t want to embarrass themselves in print. Barbara lives in southern California. To purchase a signed copy of Finding New Goddesses, just send Barbara an email at bawriting@earthlink.net.

Herb of the Season: Blackberry by Dawn "Belladonna" Thomas

Blackberry (Rubus villosus)   

Folk names: Bly, Bramble, Bramble-Kite, Bumble-Kite, Cloudberry, Dewberry, Goutberry, High Blackberry, Thimbleberry   

Element: Water   

Deity: Brigit, Brighid   

Powers: Healing, Money, Protection  

Parts used: Root, leaf, bud, and berry  

 

Botanical    

The blackberry or bramble grows profusely rambling through hedgerows and ancient oak forests.  It is persistent and invades gardens. It is remarkably adaptable and mutates readily. Over 2,000 varieties have been recognized.    

Blackberry is one of the few plants bearing blossoms and fruit at the same time. The fruits develop through three colors: green, red, then purple-black and resemble tiny bunches of grapes.    

Folklore and History    

In the ancient lunar calendar, the blackberry is the tree that represents the tenth moon month, starting at the tenth New Moon after the winter solstice.  Celtic scholars agree that the “vine” of the Druidic tree alphabet refers to the blackberry bramble bush. Muin, the Celtic word, represented by the blackberry actually means vine.    

A loop of blackberry bramble served as a healing source in much the same way as a holed stone. In Ireland, to pass under such an arch and promise to devote oneself to the Devil’s service brought uncanny luck at playing cards. Brambles were often planted on graves to stop the dead from walking and to keep the sheep off the grave.    

One ancient legend tells how blackberries gathered and eaten during the waxing moon at harvest time assured protection from the force of evil runes. For refuge, in times of danger, one need only creep under a bramble bush.    

The blackberry is a faerie plant. In some rural regions of France and the British Isles it was considered dangerous to eat blackberries. The reason given was that the fruit belongs to the faeries and they resent it when mortals eat of the magical berries. A clue to the blackberry magic may be found in a piece of country wisdom. When frozen dew covers blackberry blossoms at dawn in early spring, the farmers rejoice and hail the event as a “blackberry winter.” Without this frost, the berries will not set. What may appear threatening turns out to be a blessing, for the hoarfrost is a harbinger of a rich harvest.    

Herbal uses    

Blackberry is astringent and antiseptic. The berries can be eaten straight from the vine, baked in pies, or transformed into jellies and wines. Blackberry wine is sweet, red and heady, rivaling the finest Chianti. Blackberry vinegar is an excellent remedy for a sore mouth or a touch of diarrhea. For sore throats and hoarseness, a tablespoon of blackberry jam can be sucked and swallowed slowly.  

It has many curative values and was recognized in medieval herbals. A major virtue was its reputed power to lift the spirits by restoring energy and hope. This thought continued in Victorian England, and physicians often prescribed blackberry cordial to cheer a depressed patient. The root is a classic remedy for diarrhea and is reputed to clean the kidneys and urinary tract of stones and gravel. The buds and leaves are used fresh in poultices for wounds, buns, mouth sores, and sore throats. The berries are slightly binding (as in blackberry wine) and are useful in diarrhea, as are the leaves.   

There are stories involving traditional rites involved passing a baby through the loop three times to secure good health. It was also said that the whooping cough could be cured by passing a sick child under a bramble arch that is rooted at both ends. It was important to also leave an offering of bread and butter. The leaves may be used in healing.  It is also possible to dry the fruit and make a powder out of it. A very pleasing infusion or tea use can be made from the powder to be used in a ritual cup when working rituals for health and healing. Blackberry brambles may be gathered and woven into pentagrams or wreaths, hung in auspicious locations within the home to provide protection.   

The bark of the root and the leaves contain tannin, and have long been esteemed as a capital astringent and tonic, providing a valuable remedy for dysentery and diarrhea. The fruit contains malic and citric acids, pectin and albumen. The root bark when used medicinally should be thin, tough, flexible bands. It is strongly astringent and somewhat bitter. It should be peeled off the root and dried in the sun. The leaves are also used for the same purpose.   

Magical uses    

Sacred to Brighid, the leaves and berries are used to attract wealth or healing. This is a Goddess herb and is ruled by Venus. Blackberry was considered to be sacred to some of the old Pagan deities of Europe, and was used in worship. To the present day, blackberry pies are baked on Lughnasadh in commemoration of the first harvest.  

A bramble bush that forms a natural arch is a great aid to magical healing. On a sunny day, crawl through the arch backward and then forward three times, going as nearly east to west as possible. Old tales say that using blackberry will make boils, rheumatism, and whooping cough to disappear. According to Scott Cunningham in Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs:   

“The blackberry leaves are used in spells of wealth, as are the berries themselves and the vines are protective if grown. The blackberry plant is also used to heal burns by dipping nine blackberry leaves in spring water and then laying them against the wound gently, while saying the following chant three times to each leaf (27 times in all):   

 

Three ladies came from the east, 

One with fire and two with frost. 

Out with fire, in with frost.” (Cunningham, page 59)   

He believes this is an old invocation to Brigit, the ancient Celtic Goddess of poetry, healing, and smithcraft.  

The following protection charm and wealth spell come from Patricia Telesco’s A Floral Grimoire (page 138).  

Protection Charm: Take a small, dead blackberry branch with the brambles and soak it in water overnight. Once it’s pliable, bend it into a circle and place it around an item that symbolizes that which needs safety and protection. Leave the brambles and the item in place until the trouble passes. At this point you can grind the wood into powder and use it as a base in a warding incense.  

Wealth Spell: Wrap a large blackberry leaf around a silver coin. Take a braid of gold, silver and green thread to bind this in place saying “Where gold and green are joined, blessed herewith by a silver coin, wealth, and prosperity, to me … to me.”   

Divination    

Choosing a blackberry wand in divination, means you are in for an interesting time. It brings a phase of joy, unbridled enthusiasm and exhilaration. This can come in the form of intoxication or with an idea, sex, passion, or any impulse that masters the mind and breaks down barriers, quashing what would have previously been personal or cultural taboos.    

It can bring a temptation, a chance to practice excess, or a new enthusiasm, for a religion, person, or political creed.  If a person is carried away with an impulse brought by the blackberry, it could lead to ruin. But if channeled correctly, it can transform both you and others, opening floodgates to creativity and the dissemination of ideas.  Whatever passion it brings, you will never be the same.  Expect news of a celebration or exciting event, a chance to dance, drink, and even love.    

Sources    

Beyerl, Paul. A Compendium of Herbal Magick. Custer, WA. Phoenix Publishing. 1998 

Cunningham, Scott. Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. St. Paul, MN. Llewellyn Publications. 2000 

Dathen, Jon. Ogham Wisdom of the Trees. Somerset: Capall Bann Publishing; 2003

Grieve, M. A Modern Herbal. Mineola, NY. Dover Publications, Inc. 1971 

Griggs, Barbara. A Green Witch Herbal. Rochester, VT. Healing Arts Press. 1994

Hopman, Ellen Evert. A Druid’s Herbal for the Sacred Year. Rochester, VT. Destiny Books. 1995

Pepper, Elizabeth. Celtic Tree Magic. Rhode Island: The Witches’ Almanac, Ltd.; 1996

Telesco, Patricia. A Floral Grimoire. New York, NY. Kensington Publishing Corp. 2001 

Imbolc Solitary Ritual By Dawn ’Belladonna‘ Thomas

Imbolc Solitary Ritual 

 By Dawn ’Belladonna‘ Thomas 

 

Theme: Welcoming the increasing light

Altar Needs
White altar cloth
Five, white candles
Cauldron
Pen and Paper
Chalice


To prepare for the ritual have a ritual bath with some bath salts. Play some relaxing music. Set up your altar with the five unlit candles - one for each element and one in the center to represent the Goddess.

Call the Elements and the Goddess:
Hail to the Spirit of the East, Element of Air. The winter winds blow cool breezes all around me. Please join me tonight. Light the candle in the East.

Hail to the Spirit of the South, Element of Fire. The warmth of fire makes me aware of the coming new season. Please join me tonight. Light the candle in the South.

Hail to the Spirit of the West, Element of Water. The melting snow flows into the rivers and provide much needed water the earth. Please join me tonight. Light the candle in the West.

Hail to the Spirit of the North, Element of Earth. The fruits from the last harvest are providing nourishment during these winter months. Please join me tonight. Light the candle in the North.

Great Brigit, Guardian of poetry and smith crafts. I am honored to have you here and to bask in the light of your eternal flame. Please join me tonight. Light the candle in the center of the altar.

Tonight I celebrate the return of the sun and the rebirth of light.

Work and Meditation
Sit in front of your altar and think about what you would like to manifest in your life. When you are finished, write your thoughts on your piece of paper.  Place the paper in the cauldron and light it to release your thought to the Elements and the Goddess. While the paper is burning say the following:

May the Great Lady Brigit, radiant flame,
Protect all your daughters
No fire, no sun, no moon will burn me
No lake, no water, no sea shall drown me
No arrow of faerie nor dart of fey shall wound me
May Brigit's water heal me
May Brigit's winds inspire me
May Brigit's fire warm me
Under Her protection, I go in peace. *

Drink from your chalice and offer blessings. 

If you would like to make a corn dolly, now is the time to do that.  As you are braiding continue your thoughts you want to manifest. When finished, open the circle.

Release the Goddess and the Elements
Great Brigit, Your welcoming light is increasing all around me. Thank you for joining me tonight. Hail and Farewell. Extinguish the candle in the center. 

Spirit of the North, the earth begins to show new life. Thank you for joining me tonight. Hail and Farewell. Extinguish the candle in the North.

Spirit of the West, the rivers are filling and the waters are warming. Thank you for joining me tonight. Hail and Farewell. Extinguish the candle in the West. 

 

Spirit of the South, the days continue to grow longer and are beginning to warm.  Thank you for joining me tonight. Hail and Farewell. Extinguish the candle in the South.

Spirit of the East, there is a hint of March winds swirling around. Thank you for joining me tonight. Hail and Farewell. Extinguish the candle in the East.

The Circle is open but remains unbroken.  

 

Blessed Be!

* adapted from John O’Donovan from The Martyrology of Donegal.

 

Letter to the Goddess By Rhiannon

Great Goddess,  

You amaze me. I live in such a beautiful world. I know it's not what it once was. Once upon a time humans saw that the beautiful Earth beneath their feet was their own Mother's body. They didn't dream of wanting to defile or hurt that. They understood that their life depended on being one with you, respecting you and loving you. I'm sorry that humanity has not been kind to you of late, Mother Goddess. I promise that I will seek to be the change I want to see taking place. I am only one but I am still one and I am one with you.  

I love to become still and experience my oneness with you, Goddess. All I need is the sky above me and a patch of ground to lay me down on. I stretch out and close my eyes and just feel your loving support beneath me. Then I open my eyes to the star-filled heavens and ponder the endlessness above me. It is enough. The tightly clasped fingers of my restless mind relax their grip and I sail along with you through space and time. I match my heartbeat to yours. This is true magic. This is what true holiness feels like.    

There are so many of us on this beautiful jewel called Planet Earth. You've given me so many companions. There are those that walk on two legs and four legs and those that swim in your waters and fly in the sky, even those who slither and crawl along with me and those that are rooted in one place, connecting earth and sky. The trees that shade and shelter me are far older than me. What have they witnessed? And the rocks and stones that are your bones: what can they tell me?  

Thank you for the pleasure and peace I get from growing my garden, Mother. Thank you for the beauty and the gift of each season. Thank you for sunshine that warms me and rain that nourishes me. Thank you for velvety snow and sparkling ice in winter's stillness. Thank you for every kind of flower. Thank you for my family, both in the flesh and in the Spirit and for dogs and cats who've given me comfort and love. Thank you for birds and bees and for friendship. Thank you for the radiant moon, flowing through her monthly courses above me as my own body answers to them here below. Thank you for your infinite, starry universe. Thank you for help and guidance and the process of growth. Thank you for the chance to become older and wiser as I experience the path set before me. Thank you, Great Mother, that you are you and I am your daughter.  

Blessed be! 

Rhiannon 

Ripples Out From The Center: A Pagan Pilgrim in the Celtic Homelands. Author: H. Byron Ballard

Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licuor,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour...
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages...

        Chaucer ~ Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

The old pilgrim paths sometimes beckon to us, teasing us from the routine of workaday lives with promises of spiritual glory and glimmers of the Divine, however we interpret that deeply human need. Santiago de Compostela, Ephesus, Mecca, Rome, Canterbury - the names are otherworldly and compelling, the stony paths call for our bare and reverential feet.

One never knows when the call will come, when the small voice inside grows clamorous and insistent. It is almost never convenient, barely rational. But the urge is there to be on the road, to call oneself "wayfarer," to find a cockleshell for the hat.

When the call comes, it is best to pack lightly, to take a sturdy stick and get on the road before it is too late, before the opportunity is forever lost. Make no mistake, each call is a limited time offer: once refused, it is gone. There will be other calls, if one listens, but each one beckons to a specific experience that, once denied, is irretrievably lost.

There is a strong pilgrimage tradition in both Christianity and Islam. Geoffrey Chaucer's tales continue to challenge the language skills of American students and the word "haj" has become part of our popular vocabulary. But there are older traditions of peregrination, traditions that predate the intentional wanderings of those Abrahamic cousins. The Greeks went to Eleusis and Delphi, the Celts left their homes to touch the Earth Mother in Dingle and Meath.

For peoples who revered all the planet as sacred, there was little need to visit a particular structure or relic for its inherent holiness. Tribal folk could look to the clan totems, to the burial mounds for inspiration and comfort. But our Ancestors kenned that some places are more lively, more powerful than other places, and this potency is explored through the medium of sacred geometry, through ley lines and stone circles.

There are also aspects of the natural landscape that command our attention: from the mountains to the deserts, rivers and springs, trees and stone outcroppings. The natural world is peopled with the elemental spirits that both delighted and stymied our Ancestors. Deity was to be experienced through rain and wind and fire - snowflakes on the tongue, avalanches through the spruce trees.

For those of us with Western European roots, the places of power are symbols of a Pagan past more legendary than historical, more remembered than currently experienced. Much of the lost language of European Paganism has been encoded in improbable locales. Fairy tales and ghost stories certainly contain the kernels of this story but it also lies deep in the strongholds of the victors, which hold bits and pieces of liturgy, worship practice and sacred lore. The Christian Church preserved much that was good in Pagan Europe, unknowingly saving it for the global revival of Earth Religions that we are experiencing at the dawn of this new century and new millennium.

Pilgrimage is traveling with intent, journeying physically as a symbol of an inward journey. As Pagans, we often talk of our connection on the Web of Life, but that is often more an intellectual exercise than a visceral one. Connection with the Divine, whether through art or ritual or travel, is a deeply-felt need for many people and yet our busy lives often keep us from achieving it.

How many times in your own work as clergy and counselor have you listened with patience and compassion to a litany of woes and troubles from a circle member or colleague? They are broke or jobless, ill or homeless. And yet, when you ask about their personal daily practice, you are met with a blank stare. They either don't know how to reconnect with the Divine or else they've forgotten that we live our lives "in the lap of the Goddess," as someone once wrote. That connection to the Web of Life and the life of the biosphere is a remarkable facet of modern Pagan practice that is often left out of discussions in both interfaith and intrafaith settings.

I was a pilgrim this spring. It is true that I spent the month of March in a formal pilgrimage to the Celtic homelands of Cornwall, Wales and Ireland. But as a priestess on a year-long sabbatical, every day is a new experience and I face the darkening of the year with something approaching the intensity I felt years ago, before there were congregational needs to press me, before I was a member of the clergy. The August sun seems brighter, the rainstorms of Lughnasadh more energizing than this time last year, as my beginner's mind grapples with the mystery of the changing seasons that make up the Great Wheel of the Year.

It was the time in the islands west of Europe, however, that set the tone for my "year off." We began planning it as a business trip in the autumn of the previous year. I confess to being a person who always gets a bit of wanderlust in the fall, though I'm not sure why. When the first cool air starts to nip the mountain evenings, there's always a sense of longing and sadness, a need to get on the road. Too much Tolkien in my youth perhaps, or a trace of the melancholy that haunts both the English and Irish sides of my family.

As we planned the trip, we considered every possible area of Britain as fair game - from Inverness to Penzance, from Dingle to Canterbury. For reasons of time, we sadly postponed Scotland for another trip and we concentrated our efforts on the Celtic lands in Cornwall, Somerset, Wales and the east coast of Ireland.

We scanned books and websites for stone circles and ancient monuments and even secured permission to do a dawn ritual within the precinct at Stonehenge. If you looked at our itinerary you'd think we were bouncing from quoit to holy well to stone circle and you wouldn't be far wrong. We scheduled rituals - sometimes several in one day - in both famous and obscure sites. There were a couple of significant dates - including the Vernal Equinox and a full moon - and for reasons of my own, I very much wanted to be in Kildare on 17 March, to spend a traditionally "Irish" day in the land of Brigid. One of our group had never seen London, though, so we arranged to fly into the airport at Gatwick, spend a little time in that grand old city and travel by train across the island to Bristol.

We left Atlanta and spent the next day connecting with the Thames and Boudicca and supporting in our own tired way the Iraq war protestors outside the Houses of Parliament. There's a charming photo of my travel companions giving the statue of Oliver Cromwell a one-fingered salute. But it was in the West Country that the real journey began, in lands steeped with Celtic legend and pre-Celtic ruins.

We took the train from Paddington Station to Bristol and passed white horses rampant on the greening hills. We picked up a car at the airport outside Bristol and began our sojourn into the West Country with a stop at Tintagel and Boscastle. Penzance was our destination for the evening and we arrived there already full of the energies and sights and smells of the area.

In our three weeks in Cornwall, Wales and Ireland, we saw amazing sites and felt remarkable spirits abroad in the land. In one day alone, we did our dawn ritual inside Stonehenge, traveled to Avebury, the Ridgeway and Silbury Hill and finished the afternoon with a ritual (including libations) to Sulis Minerva in her sacred precinct at Bath.

I can't tell you how important and life-changing this trip was for me at this time in my life, both temporal and spiritual. And while I realize not every American Pagan has the resources for this sort of pilgrimage, I encourage each and every one of you to take up your staff and become a pilgrim in whatever way seems appropriate for you. See the world with new eyes, even if it's the world of a familiar city park or the apple tree in your own backyard. Go outside, onto the breast of our Mother, and see what riches lie spread before you.

But if you can swing it and your heart tells you it's the right place and the right time, if you lean toward the ancient Celts and their predecessors for your spiritual juiciness, then take yourself to the homelands. Eat the food, touch the dirt, drink the beer, experience the terror and joy and transcendence of opening yourself fully to your world, your Ancestors and your Gods. It will change you in ways you cannot even guess from the comfort of your computer chair.

Now, several months later, I continue to process what happened to me on this journey. I met new friends and reconnected with old ones. I laughed and cursed and cried, often in the span of a few minutes. We heard the trees speak to us at the Madron Well, crawled through the holey stone at the Men-An-Tol and met Basil Fawlty in Penzance. We argued and giggled and sang and danced. From my dark night of the soul in Bristol to the unforgettable whirlwind tour of Anglesey, my spirit was honed and shattered, broken again and again. I heard the voices of the Ancestors, I felt the chill of the Goddess in her wrath and splendor.

In Anglesey, on Ynys Mona, standing on a hillside surrounded by the ancient stone foundations of circular houses, a stone was thrown into the deep still pool of my own spirituality and the ripples keep moving out, ever widening, from this center.

How does a fact-finding business trip turn into a life-changing pilgrimage? What happens when a modern day Witch opens her soul to the Ancestors? A pilgrimage is a wonderful thing. Wonderful and terrible. Worlds collide, souls are broken and reforged and lives are irrevocably altered.

Not your average three week vacation.

Try it, my friends...it will transform you.

Walking a Rainbow Path By Flash Silvermoon

For me, there is nothing more important than my spiritual path.I am knowing and understanding this more each day. I have walked this path for many, many moons calling myself or being called a Witch, Shaman, Healer, Pagan, Goddess Worshiper, working with Wicca, Yoruba, Native American, Feng Shui, Tantric paths and others.

 

I finally recognize and have words for this path that I walk.It is a Rainbow Path where we honor diversity with many traditions, not to water any down, but to embrace each unique part and hold Sacred that which resonates.For me, this is a decidedly Womanspirit path yet one that goes beyond the Western European and Celtic styles that have been the mainstay of my circles for some 20 years.

 

You might think that after working for 25+ years on the Wise Woman's Tarot, which is among other things, a Global View of the Goddess, creating Womanspirit Rising 1990, which was the first Multi-traditional Women's Spirituality Gathering in the South at least, or surely the creation of the Annual Wise Woman Festival which is in its 5th year (APRIL 4-6) should surely have suggested that my spirituality had gone Global, had become larger than one tradition and that this was done by me with intention or moved through me by the Goddess.

 

It is not unusual for my intellect to play catch up with my intuition. I essentially follow my inner guidance and do what appears to be my mission.It is then later I understand it intellectually which is the opposite of how Western and mainstream folk go about their lives. I am content to swim through the cosmic waters in my own unique style and I rarely feel the need to define myself. At this point though, it feels so important to not only claim this Rainbow Path that I walk but to embrace it so that I may experience it more fully and share with others of a like mind as well.

 

I have so enjoyed getting to know other Priestesses and Priests, Shamans, and Medicine Women whose spirituality, like mine, is as much a part of them as their own skin. It is refreshing for me to meet with others who coexist with me on the Mother who see the world through a similar and more heartfelt lens. Our ways are more tribal and inclusive and do not bow to the traditions and expectations of the corporate world. We approach the world with a vision and a deep dream of peace and harmony as well as a desire for us each to become a flash point for positive change, justice and healing.

 

Leadership is important yet we need to move away from the more hierarchical ways of most traditions and seek to empower the individuals. There is no getting away from the fact that some of us have worked our entire lives serving as Priestesses and teachers and we just plain know more. However, that doesn't mean we should hold that position for dear life and not teach others to one day be able to step up as well. We Elders do deserve our space, honor and respect and we need to be conscious of our responsibility to help create the New World being birthed as the Blue Star whirls and swirls pitching us to and fro in this Cauldron of seeming Chaos.

 

It is no longer possible to "not know" where we are to place our energies. Ignorance is not bliss and we each need to find that magical space where we can be most in touch with the inner and outer Goddess.

 

Blessings,
Flash Silvermoon

The Wise Woman's Tarot - http://www.flashsilvermoon.com

Women and Spirituality

Alive Mind is launching: Women & Spirituality.  At Alive Mind you will find exclusive films, books and blogs by leading filmmakers, scholars, artists, writers and activists in feminist spirituality today. Their Women and Spirituality bloggers include Muslim activist and scholar Amina Wadud, filmmaker Donna Read, eco-activist Starhawk, activists and scholars, Charlene Spretnak and Carol P. Christ, and artist, writer and life coach Susan Reimer-Tom. From the personal to the political, this space is dedicated to exploring issues related to women and spirituality.

The first feature release is Donna Read's classic trilogy Women & Spirituality, which explores the power of the sacred feminine in mythological, historical and cultural contexts. Never before available on DVD, it is a stunning and poetic work comprised of three one-hour films: Goddess Remembered, The Burning Times and Full Circle. This multi-award winner is the definitive series on feminine spirituality.

"A top seller when only on VHS, we expect it to be eagerly embraced by a wide new audience as the lead title in our spirituality line," said Elizabeth Sheldon, VP of acquisitions at Alive Mind. Licensed from the National Film Board of Canada it is scheduled for DVD release direct from Alive Mind online in January 2008 ($34.98).

I remember when these came out in VHS - they are incredible. If you have not seen them, believe me, you will want this DVD - it is a keeper!

Buy the Women & Spirituality DVD

 

Global Goddess will receive $3.00 for each copy sold when the buyer goes through this site to theirs to make the purchase.