Manifest plainness,Embrace simplicity,Reduce selfishness,Have few desires. — Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching Today is Fat Tuesday, Mardis Gras, sometimes called Shrove Tuesday. On this day, Christians prepare for a season of purification and deprivation, in alignment with their God’s vision quest. I love what author and Wise One of Time Waverly Fitzgerald has written about how … Read more
Blessings of Imbolc This is the great moment in the Wheel of the Year when we take note of the first stirrings of Spring. Though snow may still blanket the ground in some places, and storms are sure to continue, the light is growing stronger every day, and new signs of the return of life … Read more
Silently a flower blooms,In silence it falls away;Yet here now, at this moment, at this place,The world of the flower, the whole ofthe world is blooming.This is the talk of the flower, the truthof the blossom:The glory of eternal life is fully shining here. — Zenkei Shibayama In honor of Maia and Flora, and all … Read more
Today, as in the time of Pliny and Columella, the hyacinth flourishes in Wales, the periwinkle in Illyria, the daisy on the ruins of Numantia; while around them cities have changed their masters and their names, collided and smashed, disappeared into nothingness, their peaceful generations have crossed down the ages as fresh and smiling as … Read more
Then the purple-lidded nightWestering comes, her footsteps lightGuided by the radiant boonOf a sickle-shaped new moon. — Amy Lowell We who are riding Mother Earth’s lands of the Northern Hemisphere are now zooming towards the pinnacle of the Light, the Summer Solstice. This happens, even as our brothers and sisters in the places below the … Read more
©Flora – Genevieve AmyI am the handmaid of the EarthI broider fair Her glorious gownAnd deck Her on Her days of mirthWith many a garland of renown. And while earth’s little ones are fainAnd play about the Mother’s hemI scatter every gift I gainFrom sun and wind to gladden them.– William MorrisThe Floralia was the … Read more
When in the springtime of the yearWhen the trees are crowned with leavesWhen the ash and oak, and the birch and yewAre dressed in ribbons fair…–Loreena McKinnett In all the Beltane excitement, we mustn’t forget the other gifts of this most magical time, including the ancient Roman rites of the Floralia. Usually celebrated from April … Read more
Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight,Or he would call it a sin;But we have been out in the woods all night,A-conjuring Summer in!– – Rudyard Kipling Many of the visitors to my website will be celebrating Beltane this weekend with their circles, covens and communities (in addition to their solitary or family rites … Read more
On the evening of the MayRound the fires burning gayWitches dance the night awayAnd that’s good enough for me! When the rednecks say we’re sinningI don’t care, ’cause we are winningAnd this is only the beginningAnd that’s good enough for me! Come and join the celebrationPour the Goddess a libationYou don’t need initiationAnd that’s good … Read more