One of the most spiritual and intense rituals I ever participated in was a Samhain ritual that was performed in complete silence. We performed it with our full coven and did everything we would normally do, but with out any words. I am usually a pagan of many words and never thought such a simple ritual would be so powerful. While this can be done solitary, the power of a large group of people in silence can be a very magical experience, and can transcend many pagan paths.
Monthly Archives: June 2011
How To Make Paper
Simple Recipe:
Many types of paper that can be used include:
Computer Paper (unprinted)
Newspaper (If you want a grayish colored paper)
Magazines
Egg Cartons
Old Cards (For heavier paper)
Toilet Paper Paper
Bags
Non Waxed Boxes (Pre-soak in warm water)
Office Paper
Oíche Shamhna Feast – An Introduction to Iron Age Irish Food
As a Págánacht each holy day is a time to reflect on our ancestors and what their lives may have been like when they sat around their hearth or bonfire and celebrated their sacred times of the season. The Iron Age Irish (700 BCE – 400CE) didn’t have the luxuries of the modern kitchen with the ceramic top stove and built in microwaves. Much of their time was spent out amongst the rest of their tribes, partaking in a three day festival of celebration and preparation for the new season. In the time of Samhain preparation was particularly important because they were at the end of the harvest period and entering the winter where food needed to be stored and cattle slaughtered for meat that would be salted and kept to sustain them through the winter.
At Dream’s Doorway
As the eve of Samhain draws ever closer and the superstitions of old Celtic ways focus themselves on us as much as we them, I am reminded where I have been and all I have seen. From the formless nothingness that is literal death, the sense of being which exists in a place beyond direction, distance, or time as maybe the universe it’s self once did before it came into life.
How To Carve A Turnip For Oíche Shamhna
When most folks in North America think of a seasonal vegetable to use as decoration, the noble pumpkin is at the top of the list; and why not? The Pumpkin is large, bright and very distinctive; plus its rind is thick enough to maintain its shape when its pulp is removed (with little effort). However, things were not always so easy.
In the Gaelic homelands, the simple turnip was the vegetable of choice for carving, and is in fact the source of the tradition of pumpkin carving in the new world. Fortunately, turnips are usually available from local grocer, especially in the autumn, as they are often included in seasonal dishes. So, with a little effort, you to can learn to carve a turnip for Oíche Shamhna!
Create a Grimoire /Book of Shadows
Interested in creating your own Grimoire/Book of Shadows?
Lots of Pagans choose to do so, and sadly, lots of websites/stores know that and get ya with the prices. Just because you spent a bit of money on it, doesn’t make it any more powerful or important.
So, think about what you want to include.
68 and Counting
Tallied up the feeds I’m tracking with Google Reader. 68 blogs. And I read each and every post they release. Good thing they don’t all post every day. But because I do read them, I’d like to promote them, or at least admit that this plebe can handle the occasional hard word.
~looks at Blogroll to the right~
Hmm. I don’t think listing 68 links there is going to do good.
I considered using a plugin to pull the links from my Google Reader account, but all those I looked at will only feature those that have recent updates. Which pushes those that publish only monthly (or less) in the the nebulous background.
I’m somewhat sleep deprived (again), so I’m going to blather Plan A here. Dwell on it for a few days, then charge forward.
Post all the links on a static page. ~points up~ Next to “Keri’s Q’s & A’s”. Reduce the “Blogroll” to one link that will take you to the static page.
That lets me group the links in a more orderly fashion than one long scrolling list here.
No, you can’t volunteer to be link #69 unless your website is about cooking, magic, interesting, or a combination of those three.
(I haven’t forgotten the Uruz bindrune combo. Uruz + Ansuz + Sowilo. Just haven’t had time to sit and play with it, yet.)
The Bucket Discovery – Smart Shopping
There are many across the country right now feeling like they are living through a new ice age. The Winter weather is raging and keeping people off the roads and in their homes. Imagine if the only convenience you had was your hearth fire and, if lucky, enough dry wood to keep the fire going through the Winter. As those going through these hard times can imagine a little glimpse of hope to the passing of this weather was worth a celebration if only in the confines of a tiny cold home. This is the celebration of Imbolc.
Blossoming Jasmine Journal- Entry 1
We all have things in our head that we want to do with our lives. I get an idea and see myself going for it, but eventually it just fizzles out and I don’t get it done. Well I have recently decided that I want to get working on some of these things. I don’t want to say to myself anymore that I will do them and just not. I want to personally thank my online friend Amy Waters for giving me the title for this venture of mine. I wanted to be able to portray the idea that this was similar to a bucket list, but it was more about living not about things I wanted to do before dying. The name she suggested fit this perfectly, good job Amy! I want to blossom in my life and I hope that sharing this publicly, I will be able to stick to it and honor these ideas fully. So I will start this by creating a list of things I want to do and I will begin working on them over time. I also encourage you to do something similar and I also encourage you to share it too. So here is my first list of things I currently want to work on:
Jasmine’s Cupboard- I have been working on this idea for about 5 years now. I want to sell my home made herbal creations and I have been piddling about doing it. I have the majority of the things I need to get started, and even some stuff ready to sell at any time. But I get to my Etsy page and I freak out when I am about to put something up for sale. Its the part where they want me to pay a fee to place something up for sale. What if no one buys it and I waste the money I spent listing it? What if I undercharge for shipping and end up loosing money? What if no one likes the items I make… but I know people love what I make, I get compliments on it all the time.
Working Out- I have a huge list of exercises I want to do. Yoga, belly dance, tai chi, ballet… yep they all call to me. I just need to step away from all of my other work I am constantly doing and just go for it. When I was growing up I used to be a ballet dancer and a Baton Twirler (I even was on a national championship winning team) and I spent literally the first half of my life moving around. I need to reconnect with this part of me and the excuses need to stop. I plan on starting with a new book I just bought on my kindle (yay I found a sale last week) that teaches you to do 15 minutes of yoga in bed before you get out of bed each morning. I need to read it this week.
Healthy Eating- Just because I have cut things out of my diet that I think are unhealthy doesn’t give me room to eat crap because I have finally stopped eating other things. I feel that this is almost a cross addicting thing for me because I give up coffee and then I find myself sneaking dr. pepper’s more often and breaking my code of “no more than one pop per week”. I also hate bread I have discovered. I love good Italian bread and homemade breads but really I just need to get rid of the idea of crappy carbs all together. I eat allot of whole grains but I catch myself sneaking crackers and cookies that I just don’t need. I think that I should just stick to spinach wraps honestly… and I need to start having my morning smoothie again.. when I drank those I lost like 20 pounds in a month!
At the Shrine of the Bee Queen
The Bee Queen is a sacred spirit who embodies the magic of the bees during their active months of the summer. She rises with her children, unfurling her wings and crawling from her great flower, the first of spring. She whispers and hums a song to the winds and her children rise; the bees of every type and all their kin. She is the energy that bees run on; creating sweet honey, divine propolis, creamy wax and honeycombs.
She guides her children who move between the Otherworld, the Summerlands and our material world, carrying secrets and messages from between the crossroads. They hum their gossip all summer long and listen to our woes at the grave, where sweet flowers lull and the air is sleepy and quiet. As a blessing to man, the bees are guides of love and romance, of the power of the divine feminine and the yearning heart. Among their blessings are their business relationship with man, who loves his mead! The Bee Queen is honored from spring until the end of summer.
