Imbolc Blessings

This season from Winter's end to full Spring
is truly a birthing
the growth of change so slow and fast
here we are.

much of this was written a few weeks ago
or just after everyone left that day
before these heavy Spring snows
(probably with more to come)
but not the defeating endless snow
and more snow
and so far not the bad ice.
Weather has changed over time
but the cycles
are ongoing.

Only two weeks since ritual but feels like a short eon.
The weather is whatever it is each day,
normal patterns of the cold and snow
seemingly gone.
So maybe it is subzero and then it's 60 degrees
and maybe there's precipitation of some kind
or it's just grey
but there is no snow today
and there's been no endless blank landscape
for a while.

 Dreaming of gardens and early dawns,
I have lacked the inaccessibility to be on the earth.
Longing for Spring feels different,
when there is no first sighting of green
or breakthrough flow of the stream.

  And yet,
all of it a great blessing.

And now, 4 weeks on, ritual feels like a distant memory.
We have had snows and melts and more snows,
finally the ground has become again
an endless blank landscape of white
clearing the mind
resetting
to begin again.
But Spring is in the air and in the Spirit
and in the beginning to bud
blush of trees.

There is no stopping this cycle,
no stopping Bridget's blessings
no stopping joy.

Notes and pics from then not necessarily in order.

So much food.
So much Kitchen.
Four or Five things in the oven at once,
several pots of coffee,
cordials in plastic cups,
and mead.
A true feast.

The one bird cheep cheeping
lighting the fire with our mint
and sassafras
sticks blown down from the maple
the night before

 

how blessed we are to be here
quiet with this land

Bridget of so many aspects

what goes into the effort is making it seem effortless

How Bridget is so welcoming
everywhere and friendly 

So many interwoven
energies
catching up
creative poetic high

how you doing?
time moving quickly by
how is it Friday
or Sunday
again?

Resting and Dreaming
thinking garden?

2 tall yellow ocher hats
layers and snowpants
and boots
big coats
insulated from the wind
and cold

chime chime clonk

triangle fire of frozen logs

roses roses roses
handfuls of dried petals
and geraniums
and all the pot leaves
2 handmade wreaths

everyone sacrificing for Bridget
Grove Matron
our insider friend
and guide
and connection

that which is rising up

the slow unbinding of the Yule Wreaths

Bridget of the livestock
and Barn
nurturing and caring
Bridget not just
a Goddess of Humans

 We have to share
that is our purpose
so much dreaming
detailed dreaming

our responsibility for goodness

a day of cleaning
a day of cooking
vacuuming, yoga, gathering in baskets
laying out sacrifice
on icy snow

hosting is exhausting
Bridget get it
she knows
she advocated for self-care
self-care as self expression
self-care as listening to yourself
self-care as light the way.

Bridget gives extensively
like her ever expanding cloak
like our hearts and love
and time
our bias towards balance
being here and now
laughing

full moon rises due East
sun rising halfway there
everyone in the West
double cookies for the North
heart cookie for the Center
heart is our center
balance bias
here & now
this middle world
our friend Bridget

 basket of one of all the flowers
from last year's garden
May this year be a good one
may our fields flourish
may our good dreams be realized
may our fears be allayed
or faced or befriended
may our hearts be strong
and kind
and let our creativity guide us

 

Our Omens:
From our Honored Dead, Blessed Ancestors- WUNJO, Joy
From the Beloved Spirits of Nature and Place - EHWAZ, the horse and connection of horse and rider,
the care-taking relationship with all livestock
From the Glorious Gods and Goddesses- ALGIZ, Be Alert/Be Aware, pay attention
From the Season of Imbolc and Our Dear Bridget- FEHU, fee, mobile wealth, worth

waters still warm
sitting in the cold
near our Bridget idol
exactly enough glasses for all
with us getting the fancy ones
and having counted wrong
but exactly right
11 folks

 

Stepping through Bridget's girdle
"is it just a string?"
head or feet first
or together
tangled up or leaping through
not a requirement
no one is forced
everyone succeeds

sheep and wool and dreams

Whirling dervish energy
of more and more women
in the kitchen
putting food in the stove.
All the oven mits/potholders used.
All the hot plates.
Much potatoes and cream.
Bountiful Feast.

full moon over ice crusted stream

we were out with
the Moon and the Shrine
when the candle burnt out.

Glorius MidSummer Solstice

I have no notes and we have been through a lot this month so its hard to remember much
but I know that the time was full (as befitting MidSummer) and we were on a path to healing,
to moving forward and towards becoming more of ourselves.

I remember groupings of people, friends bringing friends, younger ones and older ones and families.
I remember that the fire was as hot as it was tall
and that it reminded me to pay attention with reverence.

I remember many women and 3 men-two of whom live here, several people who had never been here
and yet everyone fit easily around the circle
or on the deck
or in the kitchen.

I remember how amazing ritual was.
I remember how magical ritual was.
I remember how I could have stayed up by the fire talking
all night.

The sun has seemed stronger these days, four weeks later,
but I notice the gentle lessening of the light in the dawn and at the end of the day.

We move towards the season of great thunderstorms.
May they be appropriate and quenching without destruction.

Back then, when the daytime was longest, the garden had just begun its total blossoming,
now there is a riot of flowers many taller than the tallest of us.

For us, we went from graduation and family
to illnesses and doctors and healing
to a new door and festivals
to our anniversary and more healing
to Solstice.

There was a stick breaking in the morning.

Renewal of repetitions of ritual.

Marking cycles.  

five-circle firepit set with last summer's stalks

And we were thinking there might have been even more,
maybe there were 13 of us altogether.

Bryan was pretty sure we would see flaming mice
run out of the pyre, which we didn't. 

Chairs around the fire were good, comfortable and easy,
not unlike this season.

pre-rit

The fire was strong and large and powerful.

 

      

And it was super full and bright.

 There was a lot there.

And then there was the final sacrifice,
flame suddenly reappearing after quickly burning down

floating fire over fire.

  Seeking Omens

Our Omens

from the Ancestors, our Honored Dead- Isa/Ice, thinking of ICE taking children away from families, thinking the smooth hard glassy surface, thinking the opposite of this holiday in the dark of winter, thinking staying cool with a frosty one.
from the Spirits of Nature & Place- Berkanu/Birch, beginning, birth, new beginnings
from the Gods & Goddesses- Sowelu/the Sun, the path of the Sun, it has to do with the cycle and with the dependable nature of the movement, orientation, the Major Director of obvious stature.
For the Season- Fehu/Fee, what is the value, the mobile wealth and property, absolute value, could also be the level of cost and what something costs.

We drank our waters and gave our thanks
and settled down again returning to ourselves.

We filled our plates with the great bounty of food.

Started before everyone arrived it glowed long into the night.

Interconnections.