The Goddess Ostara © Mickie MuellerThe country habit has me by the heart,For he’s bewitched forever who has seen,Not with his eyes but with his vision, SpringFlow down the woods and stipple leaves with sun. – Vita Sackville-West Also known as Lady Day or Alban Eiler (in Druid traditions), on this day, night and day … Read more
Supple and turbulent, a ring of menShall chant in orgy on a summer mornTheir boisterous devotion to the sun,Not as a god, but as a god might be,Naked among them, like a savage source.Their chant shall be a chant of paradise,Out of their blood, returning to the sky;And in their chant shall enter, voice by … Read more
In some mysterious way, woods have never seemed to me to be static things. In physical terms, I move through them; yet in metaphysical ones, they seem to move through me.— John FowlesThe daylight hours in the Northern Hemisphere slowly, almost imperceptibly, grow longer. But the Moon now fades, and we move towards Her dark … Read more
O the Ivy O, she’s the Queen of old,And the Holly he is red.Hang ‘en high in the farm,and us won’t come to no harmTill the Christmas days be told. — Traditional carol from Somerset Both the design and materials of your Solstice wreath can invoke magic. As I explained before, the circular shape is … Read more
Love is the vital essence that pervades and permeates, from the center to the circumference,the graduating circles of all thought and action. Love is the talisman of human weal and woe — the open sesame to every soul. — Elizabeth Cady Stanton For our magical working, you will need a wreath and five candles. The … Read more
Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road. — John Henry Jowett (1864 – 1923 ) As you shift your attention from what you don’t have, … Read more
Money is the blood of the planet. Heal the money and we can heal the world. — Barbara Wilder, Money is Love Money exerts a deep emotional influence on who we are and what we believe we can or cannot have, including our social and geopolitical structures. According to some thoughtful observers, our long unwillingness … Read more
Little Summer Poem Touching the Subject of Faithby Mary Oliver Every summerI listen and lookunder the sun’s brass and eveninto the moonlight, but I can’t hear anything, I can’t see anything —not the pale roots digging down, nor the green stalks muscling up,nor the leavesdeepening their damp pleats, nor the tassels making,nor the shucks, nor … Read more
When in still air and still in summertimeA leaf has had enough of this, it seemsTo make up its mind to go; fine as a sageIts drifting in detachment down the road. — Howard Nemerov, Threshold This is the eve of Lughnassadh, also called Lammas in the Christian revision of the Pagan rites. It is … Read more
We are the power in everyoneWe are the dance of the moon and sunWe are the hope that will not hideWe are the turning of the tide. — Starhawk As we explore the meaning of magic, it seems impossible to discuss it without also talking about ritual. In the rituals and magic that are woven … Read more