Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. ~Alfred Lord Tennyson, 1850 Many thanks to Waverly FitzGerald, who is the source for much of today’s lore. Blessings to you, Waverly, for your faithful, invaluable … Read more
A Blue Moon is when two full Moons occur in one calendar month. It is an occurrence that happens about every 2.5 years. A Blue Moon on New Year’s is much rarer, only occurring once in about 19-20 years. But then, a Blue Moon eclipse on New Year’s Eve, even partial, as today’s will be, … Read more
This is the Eve of the Winter Solstice. This is the great celebration of Mother Night. As far as we know, our ancestors did not have atomic clocks or satellites to help them dissect Time to the nanosecond. Instead, they had to figure by their keen observation, by dead reckoning, by the plants and animals, … Read more
From December 3rd through the 9th, a delegation of modern Pagans and Witches from across the globe are gathered in Melbourne, Australia for the Parliament of the World’s Religions. They are representing organizations like Covenant of the Goddess, the Temple of Ara, EarthSpirit, Cherry Hill Seminary, Earth Traditions, Circle Sanctuary, Solar Cross, the Pagan Federation, … Read more
I don’t want to come to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well. — Diane Ackerman We are coming to the end of Chapter Nine, which has been about Recovering a Sense of Compassion for … Read more
We honor this night the Dark Goddess, the Mysteries, the Blessed Dead, and the Mighty Ones of the Craft. I send my love and gratitude to all my teachers, elders, brothers and sisters who dance the Spiral Dance with me in spirit, if not in flesh, this night. And I give thanks for each of … Read more
There was a grove, immemorially inviolate, Hidden from the air above by interlacing branches… There fell fountain-streams, There gloomy images of Gods Stood guard, jutting, human-carven in tree-trunk shape… — from De Bello Civilis by Lucan (39-65 C.E.) As we approach the crossroads of the Old and the New Year at Samhain, we honor the … Read more
The leaves fall patiently Nothing remembers or grieves The river takes to the sea The yellow drift of leaves. –Sara Teasdale Today, according to the Celtic Tree calendar, we enter the month of The Reed. The Celtic Tree Year is divided into thirteen lunar months. Each has a tree (or in this case, a shrub) … Read more
“May you be blessed with good fortune as long as Lord Ganesha’s trunk, wealth and prosperity as big as His stomach, happiness as sweet as His ladoos, and may your troubles be as small as His mouse.” — Traditional Diwali blessing Diwali (also known as Divali or Deepavali) is celebrated starting today, and continuing for … Read more
I am still jazzed from the wonderful post that artist and author, Kris Waldherr generously wrote for us yesterday. So much wisdom and illumination for our journey on The Artist’s Way. As you will see in this video, The Goddess Tarot is a beautiful, deeply healing deck that combines the wisdom of the Tarot with … Read more