Sunday, April 27, 2014

Equilibrium Recalibration

Spring
Ok now less than a week until Beltane
and down the mountain
the trees bloom, it rains and is still a bit cold.
Perfect Spring.
green
Fast paced bursting forward of shoots and bugs and buds
We watch the lilac leaves grow daily, the forsythia yellow and the landscape come to color.
Birds everywhere, the brook rushes loud.
It makes you want to dance with joy on our Earth.
ashes of Imbolc fire 
Though we woke to ice and snow in NYC last week
and had leftover snow here for a few days,
the fields of growing greenness replaced the endless white of this month since equinox.
Just as the blooming land and birds were like a dream
so too now the frozen landscape is a memory.
It is real Spring, cool mornings and warm afternoons bursts of activity and life.
Finally.
equinox morning 
equinox sunrise
equinox morningequinox morning
 equinox morning equinox morning
We gathered as families and individuals, 
some without their children and new folks with toddlers.
Our kid is here always even if he would rather be elsewhere.
familyfamily
Every day since our gathering I think of
the simple happiness (or honest sadness)
of the young ones.

I believe it was the child energy
as direct connection with spirit
that finally brought our Springtime back,
that helped to melt the piles of snow,
that encouraged the flowers to bloom.
beginning ritual beginning ritual sacrifice  
snow and sacrifice and waters and fire
   fire and sacrifice fire and sacrifice fire and sacrifice   fire and sacrifice fire and sacrifice
Notes from the day of our Equinox ritual:
The forgotten sound of the rushing stream.
While the family sleeps, I start the day:
Kitchen cleaning, boiling eggs,
finding balance
on schedule, including time for coffee and sitting
balancing all-
mom, cleaner, cook, bookkeeper, nurse, friend-
being quiet and saying thanks
on self-structured time
letting go
balancing wood, stacked against the wind
finding where to help, where to be silent. blooming

small children  arrive and declare “Hi!”
the universal welcome of openness.
The smiles of children as another dimension.
East
Eagle in the east
birds & friends
many cooks
letting go. 
  
Grumpy older kid
finding balance
between toys and joy
and new distractions.
making him cut strawberries.
the delightfulness of small trucks.

frozen wellThe light in the well,
the poof of herbs in the fire
others cooking in the kitchen.

smoke magicsmoke magicsmoke magicJust showing up is sacrifice
sacrifice

Our ancestors-dead people- closer to us than the birds, calling in a favor, watching over us

Children laughing in the snow fort
Sun gathering strength

Down to the last drop
One with the Earth

shoots
The connection between the dark ground and the shining sun overhead
feel yourself
balanced.
fire speaksfire speaksfire speaks
So quickly the bird songs and the stream become normal, regular sounds of our day, not the magic of newness, though always magical.
I am grateful for this outside season.
I am grateful to be able to pray for our good health,
for our safety and the safety of others,
for a healthy planet and for clarity of purpose.
Grateful for the beauty around us each day, for the moon and the sun rising and shining and setting.
Grateful for friends and family and art and nature.
so much gratitude to offer and so little time. Spring.    prayers     prayers   prayers prayers answers
answers answers answers Our Omens:omens
Sowelu or the Sun!
Gibor or gift
Raido or communication
Tiwaz- truth or balance
 omensBryan pulled virtue cards to remind us  
omens omens
Hospitality is the Sowelu
Perseverance is the Gibor
Fertility is the Raido
Wisdom is the Tiwaz
omens        
smile