Yule Blessings! Happy Winter Solstice!Hail to the returning Sun.We drink to the Old Gods.To the Holly, to the Oak, and Lady.A Merry Yule to all!— A very old Yuletide toast,from the lore of my dear magical sister Alruna The Shortest Day By Susan Cooper(author of The Dark is Rising) And so the Shortest Day came … 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
Groundless hope, like unconditional love, is probably the only kind that counts. — John Perry Barlow A BRIEF FOR THE DEFENSEby Jack Gilbert Sorrow everywhere. Slaughter everywhere. If babies are not starving someplace, they are starving somewhere else. With flies in their nostrils. But we enjoy our lives because that’s what God wants. Otherwise the … Read more
“The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling…their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability. Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. … Read more
O Yuletide Tree, O Yuletide TreeEvergreen and fragrantO Yuletide Tree, O Yuletide TreeEvergreen and fragrantWe bring you in our home to beA sign of life’s eternityO Yuletide Tree, O Yuletide TreeForever green and lovely. Evergreens have long been part of Winter Solstice celebrations. The evergreen trees, such as fir, pine and cedar or juniper, keep … Read more
O Christmas Tree © Rachel Cochrane Pagans sing, are you listenin’,Altar’s set, candles glisten,It’s a Magickal night, we’re having tonight,Dancing in a Wiccan Wonderland. Blades held high, censer smoking,God and Goddess, we’re invoking,Through Elements Five, we celebrate life,Dancing in a Wiccan Wonderland. In a Circle we can light a Yule Fire,And await the rising of … Read more
Lethargics are to be laid in the light, and exposed to the rays of the sun for the disease is gloom. -~Aretaeus This night, having made the preparations I described last week, we begin our spell for the return of the Light. It is based on the Christian practice of lighting candles around an Advent … Read more
Night Fall #1 – Mary McIntyre ©2003I believe in rainbows and all of that. But there are darker colors …and it’s the shade that defines the light. –– Tori Amos As we work with the magic of timing, once again this year, I invite my visitors to join with me in a magical working that … Read more