"Thank you for sharing" -Mid Season Imbolc Recollections

The sun is already bright and on a long higher trajectory from Southeast to closer to due West.

I tire of winter, of rescheduling plans and staying inside.

The hardness of the ice seemingly has intensified, 

shimmering and shattering like glass,

it is impenetrable.  

Our storms are increasingly intense, though the snows melt down quickly.

Soon mud will be everywhere. 

Soon bulbs will pop through the earth, already trees color with swelling buds. 

Catching up on rest in these last days of darkness. 

The springing fast approaches.

It rained last night and it is supposed to get scary windy.

We are near the exit of winter, kind of like a birthing.

I remember back then we were almost giddy at the coming of Imbolc,

noticeable daylight increase each day.

 notes from then:

DEEP FREEZE 

moving stars and strange lights in the woods

reconnecting with those from the past

cleaning and making circle food

no thoughts to sacred fire in the snow

she arrives and gives me an apron! with pockets!
that she made!

we eat because that's what we do

 warming up in the warmth of the sun.

they arrive and we settle in and get comfortable

because that honors Bridget most of all.

 

 Bridget Goddess of Becoming

of the Hearth and the Heart and the Strength to Go On.

Bridget Goddess of Smithcraft and Poetry.

 we did not sing her praises at ritual as we usually do

but we spent the day trying to understand
the acknowledgement of interconnection.

Cutting orange peppers on an orange plate
listening to Joe Strummer

he shows up with her.

Making whipped cream in a large mason jar,

we feasted with bowls of fruit and non-sweetened sweets,

lots of breads and three different proteins.

All gathered outside

on snow and ice

her ice candle and her mini-candles

transparent fire

feet on packed snow, hands on face

hazelnut offerings for the directions

over his head to the East

towards the maple and her in the South

to the silence at the end of the day in the West

to his left in gratitude for the healing of the North

up and down and onto his back in the Center.

the spinning well

balanced with laughter

the fire was a sacred woods blend:

oak, willow, alder, hazel, reed, ewe, holly, apple, ash

all from our land

  Visitations by 3 planes

 all went from North to South

1st at the welcoming of the East

2nd just before honoring the well

3rd just after

all white with red tails 

 

 mint wormwood yarrow 

circles of grape vine

 

 everyone making offerings while Bryan invoked and praised our Kindreds

multi-level multi-flame fires in containers

crisp air

  renewal and renewal and renewal

this year and not last year

sliding but not falling

walk like a penguin

 laugh a lot

these are the good old days

 our omens:

from the Honored Dead: Ansuz or Os or the Voice, the wind or the voice of Odin in particular, inspired ecstatic speech

from the Spirits of Nature & Place: Odul or Sacred Enclosure or safety deposit box,
what it is that your protect and keep safe

from the Gods & Goddesses: Daguz or Day or High Noon or the MidSummer high point overlook panoramic vantage point

for the Season: Elhwaz or the Horse or what is empowering us and how we get from here to there,
the interrelationship of horse and rider- the caring for another living being

dancing through Bridget's magick girdle in the sunlight

thrice,
we were all transformed

 sacred embers and Bridget's fire

kindled in our kitchen hearth

and rekindled in our woodstove

he also takes some in a tin
to be safely fed and transported and kept alive

to be reborn and reborn and reborn

turning over the caldron after all have left.

what is in the belly right now?

what is gestating?

the Muses

and pockets

setting the table

it's all about being comfortable

 

Bridget makes everything easier.

Yule turns the Year

all I remember is the hubbub of the season.

Star Wars, and shopping, and working too much,and illnesses and helping older friends

and busy schedules and warmish weather.

Strangely warm but sort of welcome anyway.

 a few friends and special guests arrived and snacked
and circled the fire outside.

He gathered and fed many armload of sticks (winter's kindling) to the fire.

She sang "Wouldn't It Be Loverly"

I offered his Yarzheit glass.

Teenagers were silent.

We were 9 people.

 omens in the yuletide-growing spearmint

from our Ancestors: Yera- the year or harvest, an entire year's cycle

from the Spirits of Nature and Place: Wunjo or Joy

from the Gods & Goddesses: Sowelu or the Sun, and the sun also represents the path

that the sun takes not only in a day, but in the year and the cycle

for the Season: Gibor or giving, sacrifice and gift and exchange

the day after ritual the weather turned cold,

it's been warm and wintery alternately.

We ride the cycles of the new weather together.

Autumnal Equinox Balance

balance
balanced
balancing

learning painting tips, painting a vision from a year ago
raptors overhead
in the warming sun after a grey cold day when we could sense winter approaching

most folks occupied
many at the Climate March representing in person
what we held sacred here
alone
just us
the 2 of us.Is is so dry here that even a cloudburst last night is invisible.
Except for the wind.

So we had thoughts about a big fire, or even a small fire
in the woods 
but the land so waterless
and us still needing to be able to sit
and be comfortable
we decided on the small close to the house fire pit
and at first light only small branches in a metal bowl
at the top of the trunk of an old xmas tree still holding up the sun chimes and serving as our sacred tree at this site.
We placed or poured or tossed all our sacrifice
into the not-yet-lit center
and with patience and effort transferred the flame
from the small contained embers
to the short-lived intense blaze
consuming it all.Let this fire be a good fire,
Let it carry our prayers.

Just peaceful being here, being present
remembering to take pictures
not thinking about others
only the others
the Kindred
the birds
the bees
the folks marching
the Earth Mother
each other.
Sometimes and especially lately it has been hard.
We are not yet done crying, at least I am not.

But this circle of seasons, so strange in its passing of time is so very grounding.
Literally.
Soon the ground will be covered with leaves, then snow.
And then buds and vole tracks. Equinoxes are busy.
This moment in time, almost imperceptible,
and yet absolute.
It is different now, afterward.

Cutting up the sassafras
leaves and branches
for the fire,
putting out gathered sacrifice,
staying on the time schedule
almost as a means of remembering.

We ask out loud a lot these days
”What day is it? What time is it?”
and then soon afterward again
”What day is it? What time is it?”
We have been rebalancing
in all these changes-
Earth changes
life changes
family changes
health changes

Earth changes life changes family changes health changes.
(add punctuation as needed)

It was a beautiful ritual,
so lost in the meditation on and with the Earth,
I came to the directions from far away it seemed.
Redirecting our energies with the orientation of this planet,
bunny crackers, orange like fall, in handfuls like bunny poop
in each direction. Not a trace of them the next morning.

The East of vision like the eagle or the hawk and rising each new day to that light and the South of our environmental lessons and our family of 400,000 peacefully gathered together due south of us and the West of our neighbors and the sun setting exactly on center and the North of the coming Winter and the White Buffalo and good healing
for ourselves and our families and our Earth Mother.
And the up and the down and the center.

Moth-full tortilla flour gifted with love to the Earth,
falling in dust and clumps,
she supports us all.

dark pink rose for Mananan, surrounding us with its scent
and also fermented cider with intoxicating apple smell,
then a white rose for Goddess Bridget
and more cider
in a circle
with gratitude.

   Our outsiders offering towards the woods with kindness
Bryan brought peach scraps, rotted parts and pits
from our first harvest & processing of this year.
He returned with the container filled with fresh whole fruit.
Like a magic trick.  
 
Balancing and rebalancing.

 dried flowers for the Ancestors-all our ancestors,
those humans who were, our family, 
friends and family especially those recently passed,
our teachers, our inspiration, artists from the last century, scientists and writers, farmers and actors,
people who struggled and lived and loved and died.

garlic stalks from the last of last year’s harvest for the Spirits of Nature and Place-rocks and hummingbirds and crows and blue jays and bees and cats and wind and clouds and sun and all the water and waterways and animals and bugs and grass and flowers and seed heads and fruit and mold and rot and compost and so much more on this amazing planet.
dried Thuja branch trimmings for the Gods & Goddesses, the shining ones and the eventual match for our fire.

lighting the fire as final sacrifice
and also tossing in
the three corns-chips, crumbs & meal
for the season.

Circles of offerings of circles
letting go of old and no longer needed circles
grateful for healing circles
prayers for helpful new circles
grapevine wreath from last year
sweetgrass wreath from last season
small wreath from my pocket

so gentle and focused just the two of us.

reaching into the endless bag of divination
(it’s bigger on the inside) 
finding all or enough of the runes  

from the Ancestors: Jera or harvest or a year
from the Spirits of Nature & Place: Berkanu or birch or beginnings
from the Gods & Goddesses: Kenaz or the torch or the shaping & crafting
for the Season: Fehu or fee.
We get the same or some of the same omens a lot,
we are being told to listen
listen to what we know
hallowing the waters and a bit of mint flowers
in the leftover smoldering smoke. 
2 large glasses and a bit extra
Bryan drinks his down continuously and slowly and I drink mine in several long sips with long breaths in between.

Oh thank you everyone, 
finish the cider all.

We sit and we hug 
We walk into the nemeton to see the sun set
through the entrance due West from due East
We talk about this life, this season, the dry stream,
our growing son, changing times, the Earth Mother