Beltaine-Suddenly Everything is Green

Cold rain slows the tumbling race towards MidSummer,
but it happens anyway.

Taking the time to do it right is a good thing.

There are no notes because it was so totally full.

Full of friends, full of hugs, full of food, full of laughter, 

full of joys and challenges.
Such is this life,
building up and letting go,
with grace and strength.

Welcome to the May.

Give thanks for finally getting to here.

It has been an eternity.

Budding, blossoming, blooming, becoming.
We no longer see the branches or clearing in the woods,
there is only full verdant leaves.

Bridging Spring and Summer,
the beginning and the fullness,
some of the longest days before we are accustomed
to the languidness of the season,
May is always astounding.

On May Day we decorated the crown
of our new tall and mostly vertical and majestic May Pole
with many daffodils and forsythia 
and a branch of each of the flowering fruit trees
and painstakingly redid all 8 ribbons counting them again and again
though one was gone by the time we danced the next day 
and the rest were totally entangled with the mullein stalk growing next to the pole site.
Such is this life,
gentle work and prayers put out and plans crafted,
with outcomes unknown.

What does it mean to let the light shine through our crown into our body and entire being

and flow through us deep into the earth?
To let our light shine through crowning our body and being
and flowing from the earth?

A simple complicated dance of breath and balance.

 

Almost time to take it down for another year. 

So much family gathered here then,
family with generations who have come here, 
some of the kids grown, some still growing
and finding their way,
some generations not yet born.

We were 10 folks present, spirits of at least 3 younger ones now grown and elsewhere,
and Elizabeth (and Ted) brought to mind and heart.

Beginning to interconnect, inter-reconnect
re-enter and remember.

Such a long Winter.
Give thanks for the Sun.

Some pics from then with commentary from now.

Gathered together and comfortable
the first flowers, the last year's herbs,
spring cleaning clearings and everything else.

We center and meditate, let go and be present,
close our eyes and open our ears and hearts.
We honor the Seven Directions
and Our Earth Mother.

Chiming the Well

-Flow within Us-

that which reaches down and rises up
Sacred Tree
-Grow within Us-

  

Lighting the Sacred Fire
-Glow within Us-

We honor Mananan and request his kind gatekeeping abilities.

We make offerings to those outside our sphere of support.
We welcome our special insider Bridget
with sweet smelling combustibles and much gratitude.

  

Circular fire accepting sacrifice for our Kindreds

and our Heartsong.

I love when even the quiet folks or younger people offer prayers,
emptying all my pockets in prayer.

Final sacrifice

Hear and Answer Us

We Pray

Our expressive fires speak volumes.

Our Omens

from Our Honored Dead: Gibor -Giver/Giving/Gift,
the Open Hands, Giving AND Receiving,

the Ancestors know what this is all about
I would say let's remember to use the gifts
those humans no longer here have so generously given to us
*

from the Spirits of Nature and Place: Algiz- the Elksedge,
 it is about attention/awareness, it ain't about slack,
be on guard,

BE ALERT THE WORLD NEEDS MORE LERTS
I like the idea of standing tall, shoulders back and ready,
flexible like the trees and strong like the stones
*

from the Gods and Goddesses: Yera-the Harvest,
the only rune broken into two figures,
but it is about balance, a whole year,
the time that it takes for the stuff that it makes
I keep hearing to slow down and allow for natural unfolding

*

for the Season: Ansuz or we say Os -the Voice or the Wind
or Odin,
it has to do with a message heard and received.
Listen UP!
Maybe it is our own voice and maybe we are singing.

GZYO!

We take in those blessings

 (at times blazing and at times smoky)
with our refreshing water and giddiness.
We give thanks with we all that we have left.

We gather to feast together,
food in the house,
sharing our plates and flatware,
like old times.

Strange but tentative.
A good start.

The dance of Seven.

Hurdy Gurdy all the time!

Vernal Equinox-Winds of Change

Even as we begin to gather and to hug

there is much imbalance still

and perhaps forever.
Whatever forever means.

Equinox reminds us of the moment, of now, of being.
Balance is movement and stillness at once.

These cycles of seasons

almost familiar after decades of witness
with snow surprises
among the joys of renewal.

The stream rages at times as do I.

Spring Up!

Beltaine almost upon us,

trees in the most beautiful bloom,
house surrounded by flowering bulbs and early perennials.
Violets instantly appear everywhere
as always on time.

    

Staying in the present is a changing practice.

At the Equinox
always an anticipatory time
made more so in comparison
to what was last year
and was was in the times before.

                                             

Same and different

as usual

even with the unusual

like late-Spring snows and winds 
or a pandemic

or possible reckoning and revision and righting of wrongs

personal, cultural, environmental.

Maybe breaking open is the only way.

Spring Up! 

        

What follows are some images from our Vernal Equinox Ritual
and Notes from the Day-after

not in order of actual events but of actual recollection.

that liminal space between dew and frost.

Which came first - the chicken or the egg?

Blue birds overhead,
ritual starting with mourning doves and ending as the sun left our horizon

 

always make sure there is enough 

sacrifice

a smooth quarter

from the Earth for the Well

Sudden

Springtime

Abundance

stress & release

POP!

talking about comfort and acceptance

walking with difficulty

also
dancing a jig on the Equinox!

singing of the birds
warmth of the sun

greening of the land

and also

despair and depression and cold winds
crippling fear and excess
unspoken challenge

all this in the bubbling up of Spring

-seeds-

She said she planted too many seeds.
We sacrificed old seed.

Seed in my pocket for witness.

What is your comfort zone?
What is your fear?
What do we hold on to and what do we toss out?

Cleaned and vacuumed like old times.

Made food to share like old times.

Newness and oldness hand in hand.

It can be difficult to facilitate group worship

without catering to or focusing on the needs
of the human group.

melting ice sheets

go BANG on metal

not documented
looking for safe steps
missing the recorded moment

being in the present

He was all day barefoot on the Earth

and it was my first day in many weeks walking on the Earth.

the hammock over the stream
the stream flowing loud
the snow remaining only in the shadows of the garden

fires made from sticks recently blown onto the land
by the changing winds
and lit by her golden wrapping paper

 

spending the day in ritual contemplation

or reverence
noting
how different expressions
of springtime energy

rising up
can feel sometimes
like clashing of tectonic plates
or the ice floes breaking up in the river

swelling of old seed packs

before being consumed by the fire

flash of protein powder

drip drip drip of grease

spilled first on the deck
then as sacrifice into the fire

good to the last drop

grounding

with the Earth

away from others

in silence

words drowned out
by Nature

how to keep moving forward 

when lost

one foot in front of the other

one day at a time

gets thru the calendar

but the longing

for purpose

remains

Maybe we are meant to just witness

and give thanks

the lessons of Spring springing

the lessons of going slow

the lessons of care and compassion

honesty is the best sacrifice

compassion is essential

self & others

space & interconnecting

"it is so wonderful, we don't know what is waiting for us outdoors"

Our Omens

the seed- the action of potential & being

the vehicle- the relationship of horse & rider

the annual harvest- yearly completion of cycles

the day- vantage of high noon

bunnies and bulbs and birds

last year the pandemic fearful halting retreat at Spring
and now
the expansive rapid bursting forth of real Spring

life goes on

new life begins
transformation happens whether we notice it or not