Summer set lip to earth’s bosom bare,And left the flushed print in a poppy there.— Francis Thompson (1859-1907)Like those moments when other riders are climbing on and off of a Ferris wheel, we have slowly come to the very top of our ride and pause here for a few moments more. We know the descent … Read more
The Five of Cups To eat bread without hope is still slowly to starve to death. — Pearl S. BuckThis is a first appearance for this week’s card (since I’ve been posting my Tarot Cards of the Week the past several years). It is a card that is both mysterious and sorrowful. A figure is … Read more
Today is Midsummer Day in many of the Scandinavian and eastern European countries. In Finland, Latvia, and Estonia, for example, Midsummer Day is second only to Christmas as the biggest holiday of the year. Bonfires, feasting, parades, dancing and carousing fill the countryside. All sorts of divination and spells are common practice, and reveling outdoors … Read more
The young maid stole through the cottage door,And blushed as she sought the Plant of pow’r; —“Thou silver glow-worm, O lend me thy light,I must gather the mystic St. John’s wort tonight,The wonderful herb, whose leaf will decideIf the coming year shall make me a bride.”— Old German St. John’s Eve divination spell Today is … Read more
White coral bells Upon a slender stalk, Lilies of the Valley Deck my garden walk. Oh, don’t you wish That you could hear them ring? That will happen only when the faeries sing.— For my brothers, sisters, and the Dragons of MMT –- Did you stay up last night to dance and sing with the … Read more
Amazing Grace, how sweet the EarthThat birthed a Witch like me.I once was burned, now I surviveWas hanged, but now I’m free. T’was grace that drew down the MoonAnd grace that raised the sea,The magic of our people’s willWill set our Mother free. Rejoice! Rejoice! Blessings of Litha! May the children of Earth awaken, rise … Read more
Cancer is the sign of the Summer Solstice, the beginning of the warmest season of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. It is also the birth sign of the United States of America. Cancer is the first water sign of the Zodiac, (a cardinal sign), and forms its identity around home, family and personal experiences. … Read more
Over hill, over dale, Thorough bush, thorough brier, Over park, over pale, Thorough flood, thorough fire, I do wander everywhere, Swifter than the moon’s sphere; And I serve the fairy queen, To dew her orbs upon the green. The cowslips tall her pensioners be: In their gold coats spots you see; Those be rubies, fairy … Read more
Up the airy mountain,Down the rushy glen,We daren’t go a-huntingFor fear of little men;Wee folk, good folk,Trooping all together;Green jacket, red cap,And grey cock’s feather!— William Allingham (1824–1889) In every culture throughout human history, there are legends of beings who resemble us, but who are not precisely human. Besides the familiar European faery races, as … Read more
A drop of water has the tastes of the water of the seven seas: there is no need to experience all the ways of worldly life. The reflections of the moon on one thousand rivers are from the same moon: the mind must be full of light. — Hung Tzu-ch’eng In every culture, there are … Read more