Etsy Shop: Two New Yule Ornaments and Etsy Sale

I was originally going to post this a week or so ago.  But some personal stuff came up and I never got a chance to give this post one last look over.  Plus I felt bad about spamming the pagan tag on WordPress so badly in August and felt I probably should give it a break.

There’s a lot going on in September for me.  My birthday, my midterm ultrasound, and the first day of Autumn (I’m seriously done with temperatures in the 90 and the high 80’s).  To celebrate the awesomeness that is September as well as my shops reopening I will be offering a month long 20% discount. To get a 20% off your purchase use coupon code SEPTEMBERYAY.  No minimum purchase.

Also….

Over the weekend (a week or so ago) I came up with few new cute Yule ornament designs.  I know more holiday stuff posted way too early, but I just felt inspired and had to take advantage of the blessing of the Muses.

Red Witch Hat Yule Ornament. $12

Green Witch Hat Yule Ornament. $12

Poinsettia Cauldron Yule Ornament. $15

This is my favorite out of the bunch.  As I was creating this ornament my husband pointed out that it has a southwestern feel.  Accidental, but cool none the less.

My Take on Lammas

To me Lammas is the day that I remember what is involved in keeping me feed. It’s the day I reflect on the human labor involve in getting our food on the shelves of our local grocery stores. Especially migrate workers, since immigrants from Latin America get demonized so badly in our society. Its the day I think about the rains, the dark earth, the nurturing sun light the Gods provide so that we can eat. And last but not least, its the day I spend focusing of the fact that life feeds on life, and that in order for me to survive other living being must die.

Because of all the sacrifices others make to keep me alive, it only seems right to me that Lammas should be about making sacrifices. And when I say sacrifice I’m not talking about going through a personal inconvenience in hopes of being able to accomplishing a personal goal. I’m talking about making offerings.

Since I don’t have the knowledge, the means, nor the desire to make animal sacrifices, my sacrifice to the Gods and to the animals and plants that become my food is a portion from a special meal. It differs Lammas to Lammas, but almost always includes a loaf of homemade bread (yay for bread machines). It is a wheat festival after all. Another thing I like to do for Lammas is to make a donation to a food bank. When people think of animal sacrifice, they often think of burn offerings in which the whole animal would be offered to the flames. But often animal sacrifices were more like religious communal meals. Animals would be sacrificed, the God would receive a portion, and the community would eat the rest. Being that I have no animal husbandry skills, and that for the most part my practice is solitary, I’ve come the the conclusion that making a donation to a food bank works as a decent substitute for the communal animal sacrifice.

Unfortunately, I’m going to be late celebrating this Sabbat this year. Several members of my husband’s family are coming to town this weekend. I will try to celebrate it on the astrological cross quarter date, which will be August, 7^th this year.

Wheat Stalk Centering Visualization for Lammas

http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/

I originally wrote this as a centering visualization for the opening of a Lammas ritual.  Feel free to alter this exercise to fit your needs. Enjoy.

Needed: A wheat stalk (You can usually find bundles of wheat stalks in craft stores located in the floral section.)

Take a deep breath in. 1. 2. 3. 4. Exhale slowly. 1. 2. 3. 4. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

Now stand tall with you feet firmly placed on the ground. Breathe in. As you breath out imagine roots growing from the soles of your feet. With every exhale they grow deeper. Through the floor. Through the foundations of your dwelling. Your roots expand downwards until they reach the damp, dark soil. Breathe in, breathe out. Deeper and deeper your roots go, until you are firmly rooted in the Earth.

With every inhale feel yourself pulling cool, earthy, grounding energy from the soil and Mother Earth. Feel the energy move through your body, from the bottoms of your feet to the top of your head. As you exhale feel tension flow through your body and out through your feet, through your roots and deep into the earth.

Lift your stalk of wheat into the air. Imagine you are that stalk of grain. Feel the soft warmth and light of the sun. Gently rock yourself back and forth. As you do, imagine you are a stalk of wheat swaying in a cool summer breeze. Feel the energy of the sun and the wind flow through you and out through your roots. The wind and the sun are energizing you, your stalk, and the Earth. You are grounded, you are relaxed, yet full of energy. Blessed Be.

(Your wheat stalk is now charged with the energy of the wind and of the sun.  If you wish you can save your wheat stalk to utilize this energy at a later time, or place it on your altar as Harvest/Lammas decor.)

Five Reasons I *Heart* the Wheel of the Year

I don’t care for Litha, I’m confused by Mabon and I’m not feeling Brigid on Imbolc. So why do I follow the Wheel of the Year?

The Neopagan Wheel of the Year isn’t without its problems. Being that the Wheel is based off of the climate and seasonal patterns of Britain it can be a weird fit that requires some tailoring for Pagans outside of Europe. And sometimes Sabbats can feel repetitive and sometimes even empty. But I think this is due to the fact that the Wheel is still in its developmental stages. As the Pagan community settles, I think the Wheel of the Year will too. But even with its issues I still very much like the calendar and here’s why:

#1 Attachment.

This is probably the worst reason. I promise my reasons will get better as I go along. I’ve been observing the Wheel of the Year for a little over a decade and I have become rather attached to it. During this time I have put a lot of thought into the Wheel, what it means to me, and how it relates to my local climate. For the most part I feel settled in my understanding of the Wheel of the Year, and I have no motivation to start this process all over again with another Pagan holy calendar.

#2 The Wheel links me to the rest of the Pagan Community

Being a Pagan can be isolating at times, and worshiping an obscure pantheon adds to that feeling even more. But there’s one way I can feel connected to the majority of the Pagan community, and that’s through the Wheel of the Year. While it is true that not all Pagans observe the Wheel, I feel it safe to say that most do. Based on their traditions Pagans may call the sacred days by a different name, or even celebrate different things. Wiccans and Wiccanesque Pagans celebrate the Dance of the God and Goddess. Celts and Norse Pagans celebrate the deities of their pantheons. And Eclectic celebrate whatever they feel called to celebrate. But with all these different takes on the Sacred Days, I have noticed that there are themes that tend to be present in all the different interpretations. For example, no matter the path followed, Gods honored, or the name given to the day, most Pagans are still celebrating Spring around March 21, the harvest on August 1, the rebirth of the Sun around December 21, etc.

#3 It’s Modern

There has never been another time in history that the Wheel has been followed like it is today by Modern Pagans. Although some of the holidays on the Wheel are legit old (although there is some controversy around whether these holidays are ancient Celtic and Norse, or Medieval Christian) the combination of holidays and the days in which they are celebrated is a modern invention. To some this would be a liability, but I think it’s great. I am a modern person, with a modern view of the world. I like having a Holy Calendar that was created by someone also with a modern outlook, which marks the seasons in a way modern people understand them.

#4 Natural Holidays

Half of the Sabbats (Ostara, Litha, Mabon, and Yule) mark natural phenomenon. These holidays do not need any mythology or dogma attached to them to make them special. They are special because they mark the season. They are special because they mark the important points of the Earth’s yearly progress around the Sun. These days would be special whether humans existed or not, they are quite literally Natural Holidays. And I think that’s cool.

#5 The Wheel of the Year is much more than a Holy Calendar

In my opinion the Wheel of the Year is a religious rite in its own right (no pun intend). In Wicca and Wiccanesque Paganism the purpose of celebrating the Sabbats is to attune oneself to nature. Eight times a year the Wheel encourages us to take a moment, look around and notice what’s happening in the landscape around us. The Wheel also asked us to take notice of how the seasons affect us personally. The Wheel reminds us not only that we are connected to the Earth, but also how we are connected to Her. On a personal note, I have noticed that by following the Wheel of the Year, I have become more sensitive to the energies unique to each part of the year and the energetic changes that occurs between the shifting of the season.

Litha… Nope, not a fan…

Photo from Wikipedia.org. Silver Nightshade. Don’t let the pretty purple flowers fool you, this plant is pure evil.

Litha or the Summer Solstice is probably the hardest Sabbat for me to get excited about. In fact, I’m so unenthusiastic about this holiday that I often forget to celebrate it. In some parts of the country Litha is means reasonable weather, comfortably sunny days, and a green landscape full of life. Well it’s never really green in the desert. Kinda greenish is a better description for the landscape during late winter through early autumn here. And by June 21 the weather has most likely been hot for at least a month already.

We in Central New Mexico have been blessed with a really wet year. This Spring instead of lots of wind and lots of sand being blown around, we got lots of wind and lots of rain. Which kept both the sand and temperatures down. For the first time in years I actually got to experience a stereotypical spring. Which was pretty great. But then June came, and the whole raining every other day thing stopped and the weather went back to it’s regularly scheduled programming. Which means lots of heat.

I really probably shouldn’t complain. It really could be worse. The high altitude does keep the heat in check, and most days during the dry part of the summer have temperatures hanging around the 80’s and 90’s. Which really isn’t much worse than some other southern parts of the country. And unlike other parts of the southern US (like Texas) we don’t have to worry about 80-100+ degrees with 100% humidity. On those few days we do hit a 100 it’s a news worthy event. And that usually happens mid to late June, right around Litha.

Litha to me means oppressive heat, overwhelming dryness, and a searing sun. And brush fires, lets not forget brush fires and fire bans. Litha means that the wild grasses that sprang to life in my backyard during the late winter and early spring have long since died and have been replace by plants that can handle a full blown desert summer. Which are mostly silver nightshade and other plants with lots of thorns or that produce lots of stickers. My garden is able to survive the dry part of summer, but require a lot of attention. If I neglect my garden during this time of the year even for a couple days, it spells certain death for most of my plants. June in New Mexico is just something I can’t have much love for.

I still feel like I should do something to mark the Summer Solstice though. I might take some inspiration from Natib Qadish’s Ashuru Zabi and banish the negative aspects of the summer by creating and burning an effigy of Mot, the Canaanite god of death, drought and sterility.

Note:  Okay, I realize this is probably my third post complaining about a Sabbat.  Which will lead some people to think “why is this woman even bothering with the Wheel of the Year?”  Believe me as much a I complain, I actually have a lot of love for the Wiccan/Neopagan Sabbats, and consider the Wheel to be a very important part of my path.  I will have to write more about this in a future post.

A Tour of a Small Desert Veggie Garden

Anyone who tells you that you can’t grow in the desert is WRONG. They know not what they say. They are speaking ignorance and are 100% incorrect. I know because I’m a very novice, very mediocre gardener and even I can get stuff to grow here in Albuquerque. And it’s not all that hard, you just have to dance around nature a little. But when you think of it, gardening is one big unnatural dance around whatever your climate has given you.

Because ABQ is high desert, we have a traditional growing season here (spring to fall). I loosely follow the square foot gardening method, and I try to keep my gardening mostly organic. But in the end, I’m mostly concerned with what works, and less interested in strictly following any sort of gardening dogma. Because the soil is such crap here, raised beds are popular. Most of my beds are raised, but I have a few that are directly in the ground (after digging out the native soil sand and replacing it with topsoil and compost). I also have a few plants in containers as well.

The average last frost date has yet to past here, so right now I only got four small beds of cool weather crops going. Most of the transfers and seeds were planted late February/March.

All in all the entire household is excited about the gardening season, and were all looking forward to when the harvest starts rolling in.

Potatoes.  Red skin potatoes to the right.  Blue potatoes to the left.  If you can, I suggest you grow potatoes.  I doubt it’s very cost effective, but fresh potatoes straight from the ground are heavenly.  The best potatoes you’ll every have.  So creamy, yum yum…

The mystery bed.  I had a bunch of old seeds lying around, so I decided to toss them into this bed and see if anything grew.  Well, a lot of things grew.  I’m not totally sure of what’s what.  There is a chance that I’m growing kohl rabbi, broccoli rabe, broccoli, kale, collar greens and carrots.  Also in this bed is a purple sage plant, two kale plants I planted last year, then forgot about, and an onion plant also from last year.

More kale.  I like fresh kale salads and kale is kinda $ here, kinda.  To the left are some onion plants.  There is also a chocolate mint plant that’s not looking so good.

Sugar Snap Peas.  I don’t have much hope for these.  I’ve attempted to grow peas in the past, and haven’t had much luck.  But I had some seeds lying around and thought why not.  I also planted some radish seeds in this bed, but they didn’t sprout.

The containers.  Left to right.  A salad mix.  Carrots and peony.  I not into growing stuff that I can’t eat, but peonies are so pretty that I decided I wanted one.  The carrots have sprouted, but the peony hasn’t yet.  Blueberry bush.  I learned after I bought this that blueberries are not suited, at all to growing here.  Blueberry’s need highly acidic soil.  The soil here is alkaline, even our water is alkaline, so blueberries die here.  But I got attached to the idea of blueberry bush, so I replaced the soil with peat moss, and I’m going to give it a try.  The red pot, the first causality of the gardening season.  It was a blackberry plant.

Candlemas: When You’re Just Not that into Bridget

I don’t have any problems with Bridget.  She seems like a perfectly lovely goddess, but it was made clear to me long ago that she’s not mine. While I can appreciate the beauty of Celtic culture, I’ve never clicked with its mythology or its gods. Because I don’t work with Celtic gods my Candlemases (plural form of Candlemas?) are pretty much void of Bridget dolls, Bridget crosses and ewes. Recently I learned that Candlemas isn’t just a Christianized version of Imbolc, but a holiday with it’s own pre-Christian history.  So I no longer have to feel guilty or weird about not being able to get into the Bridget spirit on Feb 2nd.

I know I can’t be the only one who goes, “Bridget?” (shrugs) when everyone else is cheering “It’s Imbolc, Yay Bridget!” If you’re on the same boat and are looking for ideas on celebrating Candlemas/Imbolc that don’t have much to do with Celtic deities or ewes, here are my suggestions. Note: When I was a newbie pagan an acquaintance of mine mentioned that she focused on family and the hearth on Imbolc. This stuck with me. To me this sabbat is about Family, the Domestic realm and Purification, so my list reflects this.

• Cook an Imbolc/Candlemas inspired menu.

• Skip the public rituals and instead spend the holiday with family and close friends at home.

• Deep clean, de-clutter, cleanse, bless and ward your house.

• If you have the skill, make household repairs.

• Celebrate deities and/or spirits of the domestic realm, and ask that they bless your home.

• Celebrate fire goddesses.

• If you have brought something into the new year that no longer serves you, dump it on Candlemas while the year is still young.

• If you have already dropped your new year resolution use this Sabbat as a chance to give it another go.

• Take a cleansing bath.

• Make candles, perfumed oils and magical/ritual waters.

• Plan this year’s garden (if you have one).

A Pantheistic Winter Solstice Ritual to Honor the Sun

I have been doing this ritual in one form or another for years now. I’m never 100% please with it and am forever tweaking it. Honestly, I’ll probably be tweaking it again this year. This ritual is Wiccanesque without being overly Wiccan. There is no circle casting, calling the quarters or raising of energy. And this ritual is focused on honoring the Sun instead of the Goddess and the Child of Promise. If you desire, you could probably insert a solar deity into this ritual with some modification. This ritual can be done either indoors or outside. Feel free to personalize this ritual anyway you like.

You need:
5 candles. (Or 4 candles and a place to light a fire.)  Preferably in theses colors, green, yellow, red, blue and gold.

Prelude.
Poem-The Sun Never Says by Hafiz

Even after all this time
The sun never says to the earth
“You owe Me.”
Look what happens with
A love like that,
It lights up the Whole Sky.

Ritual Intro.
Tonight we come together to honor the returning Sun. In ancient times people came together at this time of the year as they knew December was their last opportunity to feast and enjoy the products of their labor. The beginning of winter marked the hardship they would soon endure as days become colder and food would become scarce. Even though the Winter Solstice meant that hard times were just around the corner, the ancients took hope as the Solstice also promised that the hardship would not be eternal. Although tonight is the longest night of the year, it also marks the rebirth and return of the Sun. After tonight the days will become longer and with that the Earth will once more become fertile.

Ritual Action.
Earth Candle: We ask for the Suns return. On this the longest night the creatures that roam the earth slumber in blankets of snow and ice. The lengthening of days will bring life anew to the animal kingdom. The creatures of the Earth ask for the Sun’s return.

Light Earth Candle.

Air Candle: We ask for the Sun’s return. On this the longest night leafless trees dance in the crisp winter air. The lengthening of days will bring blooms to the trees and the song of the birds to the breeze. The creatures of Air ask for the Sun’s return.

Light Air Candle.

Fire Candle: We ask for the Sun’s return. On this the longest night the people light their fires to illuminate the darkness. The lengthening days will bring warmth filled sunny days giving the hearth fires their rest. The creatures of Fire ask for the Sun’s return.

Light Fire Candle.

Water Candle: We ask for the Sun’s return. On this the longest time rivers and streams stand still under the spell of winter. The lengthening days will bring the tides of beauty and inspiration of the Spring. The creatures of Water ask for the Sun’s return.

Light Water Candle.

Bonfire or Sun Candle:
The wheel of the year has turned once more, and the nights have grown longer and colder. Tonight we ask the Sun to bring the light once again, and force darkness to retreat. As the wheel continues to spin, we ask for the Sun to return to us once more.

Even in the darkest hours,
Even in the longest nights,
The spark of life lingers on.
Laying dormant, waiting, ready to return when the time is right.
We ask the Sun to begin it’s journey home,
So that the darkness will leave us now.

Light bonfire or sun candle. Yay!

Praise to the Sun.
Adapted from “Prayer to the Sun at Litha”, About.com

Great and powerful sun,
we honor you this night
and thank you for your gifts.
You are the light over the crops,
the heat that warms the earth,
the hope that springs eternal,
the bringer of life.
We welcome you, and we honor you this night,
celebrating your light.

Hopi Sun Prayer.
You who are the source of all power,
Your rays illuminate the whole world,
Illuminate our hearts also,
So we too may do your work.

Sing Yule carols, feast or some other joyous activity while the candles continue to burn.

My Autumn Equinox Weirdness

I’m an autumn baby, therefore it’s safe to assume that I love fall. I really do. I get so excited the first morning I wake up craving soup. When I’m a hankering for soup that means fall’s right around the corner. I, like many pagans feel the most spiritual during the autumn. There’s just a buzz in the air, it’s hard not to feel spiritual. But even with all the excitement that autumn brings me I have a hard time celebrating the Autumn Equinox. Most years I straight up forget about it.

I love the Wheel of the Year, but sometimes following it can be a little frustrating. Too often themes get repetitive. And some sabbats feel underdeveloped and empty to me, like they’re just there to fill in space. The sabbats I often forget to celebrate are the Spring Equinox, the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox. To me the Spring Equinox feels a little too much like pre-Beltane. The weather in June is some of the hottest, driest, and all around most unpleasant of the year, so I’m just not in a festive mood come the Solstice. And the traditional understanding of the Autumn Equinox feels a lot like Lammas 2.0 to me.

Many Pagans celebrate the Autumn Equinox as the “Witches Thanksgiving,” but my family does our Thanksgiving on Lammas. August 1 is the middle of the monsoon season here. It’s the only time of year we get regular rain in the High Desert where I live. The Monsoon season gives us relief from the oppressively dry summer heat. The rains green the desert floor, and bright wild flower appear and bloom. It’s like a second spring, and with the addition of Lammas’ theme of sacrifice it just makes sense to me to make early August our time of Thanksgiving.  I can’t help but to feel all sorts of thankful during the monsoon season.

So… when the Equinox comes around I’m left scratching my head, shrugging my shoulders and asking myself, “What am I celebrating again?” I really dislike repetitive themes in my personal Wheel of the Year, so while Thanksgiving is certainly a worthy theme of celebration, it’s out for me. And while my path is heavily influenced by Wicca, I am not a duo-theist. I really don’t care about what the Horn God and the Triple Goddess are doing this time of the year, so all themes surrounding the dance between the Wiccan God and Goddess are out too.  I also don’t work with Celtic deities, so the god Mabon isn’t applicable to my celebrations either.

In hopes of solving my issue I have been turning to the Earth. I’ve been asking myself what is this piece of Earth I’m located on doing during this time of year? While I’m writing this the sky is overcast and there’s a chill in the air. But I know the temperature very well might spike back up into the 80’s or at least the 70’s during the day once this weather front passes. The leaves on the trees have not yet started to turn, and the wild flowers are still in bloom. It very much feels like the last hurrah. The final days of the monsoon season. The final days of t-shirt and flip flop weather. And the final weeks of growth in the plant kingdom before the first frost of mid October arrives bringing infertility to the land.

The last hurrah, the tipping of the scales towards the darkness, the beginning of the Descent, a rush of activity and excitement before the calm, chilaxing and retreating within. That seems like enough to work with.  There’s a little less than a week until the Equinox, hopefully I can come up with a ritual that makes sense to me.