This year’s Imbolc was a special one for me, celebrating with the children, for two reasons. Firstly, because my oldest daughter, who is 10, has taken an active interest in participating over the past year. Secondly because I spent last Imbolc in the hospital recovering from a near fatal postpartum complication. This Imbolc I am home with my family, healthy, and have my children fully joining in with what I am doing. Life is truly good.
Blessing charm – For Soldiers
This is another charm that’s been re-worked from the Carmina Gadelica. I’m including the original at the bottom* so you can see the changes that have been made. This one can be used for many things but I have previously used it for a military friend when he was being deployed overseas as it is particularly suited for soldiers. It would, however, work just as well in other less martial situations.
Welcome to the World, Quinn! Epilogue Two–Medicinal Malfeasance
After Quinn’s birth, Lyndsay was put on an IV anti-inflammatory (Toradol) and 10 mg of Percocet every 4 hours. Ohio doesn’t use pain pumps unless someone is put under general anesthesia, and, so, this was her pain regimen.
A day and a half after Quinn was born, Lyndsay’s IV blew, and so was removed. Due to the previous nightmares of trying to get IVs and epidurals going, Lyndsay was understandably tired of being poked with needles, and, so, decided that she didn’t want a new IV or to have regular injections of the Toradol anymore.
The doctor on staff at the time, Dr. Flemming, decided, without informing Lyndsay of any consequences, that, to make up for not having the Toradol anymore, that he would up the dose of Percocet to 10 mg every 3 hours.
Welcome to the World, Quinn! Epilogue One–Nurse Ratchet
After all the excitement and terror from the wee hours of the morning, we were blessed with a few hours of minimal interference from the nurses.
That was to be short-lived, however…
Power Song
Sometimes I’m reminded of how very different my beliefs are from most mainstream pagans today, and it can be a bit depressing. I feel rather like a relic from some archeological dig on days like this. So to cheer myself up I was contemplating the Song of Amergin and how it could have been a song of power, where the speaker is claiming a connection to specific things to empower themselves and I ended up writing my own version. It’s inspired off of the Song of Amergin, clearly, and still a bit rough, but I like it enough to share it.
Welcome to the World, Quinn! Part Four–The Aftermath
Upon thanking Dr. Ortiz, I left the OR to go let Lyndsay’s family know that she and Quinn were okay.
I found them in her birthing suite, with her mom in the process of coming out of what appeared to be hysterical crying.
Welcome to the World, Quinn! Part Three–Just Breathe
Tuesday, January 14, 2014:
At approximately 12:45 am, Erin returned for another check of Lyndsay. In her words, Lyndsay was “almost 10 cm dilated” and she decided to have Lyndsay do some “practice pushes”. Having been in the room for 3 previous labors, this sounded odd to me, but that was a long time ago, so I kept my thoughts to myself.
Welcome to the World, Quinn! Part Two–Uncomfortably Numb
Monday, January 13, 2014:
The waiting period allowed us to get some sleep before heading over to the hospital (which inevitably results in cranky pregnant lady being tethered to a bed for hours on end while awaiting the final pushing, etc. We were able to take our time. Lyndsay took a warm bath, I gave her a foot rub, we took a nap, got up, went to breakfast, and then proceeded to mosey up to Mercy Anderson Hospital.
A Green Witch’s Textile Art and Love of Dyes
A few days ago while skimming through my normal routs for anything related to herbs, herb dye and plant textiles (all of which I utilize on a spiritual level for my charm and talisman work as a practitioner of folk arts and agrarian magic) I ran across a wonderful variety of blogs both old and new that have other pagan plant-textile enthusiasts and even one recent article in The New York Times about how DYI plant textile art is coming back! I’m happy to not be alone in this art; it’s something I developed an interest in watching my art teacher Missa teach classes on how to tie-dye fabric when I was about 8 years old.
Welcome to the World, Quinn! Part One–The Flood
On January 14, 2014, my girlfriend, Lyndsay, and I welcomed my fourth son (my fifth child overall, and Lyndsay’s first) into the world. This is the story about how it played out…