A collection of tidbits from my posts in years past, with heartfelt thanks to Waverly FitzGerald, who is a faithful, invaluable Priestess of Time. ~ Beth Out with the old and in with the new! There’s magic on New Year’s in all that you do! ~ Beth We stand at the crossroads of a new … Read more
While I am still out of town, I offer an encore of my post last year. Instead of the troublesome Patrick, I will be honoring the Green Isle and the Old Ones on this day. May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, And may trouble avoid you wherever you go. Today is Trefuilnid Treochair … Read more
Happy New Year to all who celebrate the Lunar Calendar holidays! And warmest wishes to those of us born in 1953 – who are seeing our Water Snake Return! For your enjoyment, here’s a collection of interpretations from here and there on the interwebs: What to expect in the Year of the Water Snake [In … Read more
Brighid of the mantle, encompass us; Lady of the lambs, protect us; Keeper of the hearth, kindle us; Beneath your mantle, gather us; And restore us to memory. ~ Caitlín Matthews, A Blessing for Hearth Keepers Today we celebrate the great Sabbat called Imbolc, Oimelc, or Brigid, or the more Christianized name of Candlemas. By … Read more
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 this lore. Blessings to you, Waverly, for your faithful, invaluable … Read more
The walls between the worlds are thinned; The Gods’ might is at its peak, The wights and the dead walk freely among the living. Let us remember them on this Mother Night. ~ from a Heathen rite posted on the Internet some years ago, original source unknown. This is the Eve of the Winter Solstice. … Read more
Halcyon days, now wars are ending. You shall find where-e’er you sail Tritons all the while attending With a kind and gentle gale. ~ Halcyon Days by Thomas Shadwell (1642 – 1692) With the arrival of yesterday’s New Moon, and then the Winter Solstice being only a week away, we here in the Northern Hemisphere … Read more
Hail! Journeyer of the Heavens, Queen of Brightness, King of Beauty! Gifts of gladness richly bringing, Autumn sheaves and red leaves’ fall. Generous be the heart within us, Open be our hands to all, Justice to be in equal measure, Harvest thankfulness our call. ~ Greeting to the Autumn Equinox Caitlín Matthews, A Celtic Devotional … Read more
In one of the earliest formal shamanic classes I ever took, we were guided into the Underworlds with the intention of meeting our spirit guide. More often than not, our instructor explained, this would be an animal spirit. As I got used to the steady drum beat (à la Michael Harner, and so different from … Read more
Hand in hand, with Fairy grace, Will we sing, and bless this place. ~ Titania, from William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, today is the last day of Spring. This is Midsummer’s Eve, the night before the sabbat of Litha (Summer Solstice). Besides Samhain and Beltane, this … Read more