winter

   
holidays past, looking for a semblance of normality as the sun shines across the landscape of snow. Freezing temps to give way to just above 32° so the precipitation we receive will be sleet or rain. and then it will go back down to below zero.
now yet another week later and we have had brutal arctic temperatures and more snow giving way overnight to 50+ degree weather, melting again the white landscape, creating floods, pools and powerful streams.

The lives of water constantly changing as the thermometer roller-coasts this season.
the hard winter I knew would come is here.

this mid-winter solstice started our 2 weeks of cocooning family time, going between the woodstove, the kitchen and the couch. Time outdoors shoveling and marveling at the clouds, the sky, the clear air, the wind, the snow, the squalls and the winter light. and more shoveling.
Time as family, time to clean, time to eat, time to sleep, new kitten time.

Solstice ritual was an energy shift,
the enduring lost fog of the misunderstood and forgotten, giving way to small bursts of energized clarity.
We are only here now, it is not about plans, it is just about doing.
It all starts with a tiny flame of light.

Candles circle the berme of snow around the fire pit,
dug out in the cold and melted to bare earth in the changing weather of this winter’s sun.           


The magic of transformation is nearly impossible
to capture in the moment,
even harder to remember the next day or weeks later.
But it is still felt and here, even if indescribable.

my notes from a ritual held the night of solstice eve at a fire nestled in a spiral of snow and built from small layered and stacked sticks lit in the blue dusk of just evening:

crystal ball on a bed of fir
I sit silently alone as the sky darkens and the flame shines.

first just us
then +1
then +2
then +1 more
putting additional wine glasses circle down in the snow.

 

      

calling directions with the wave of the pine branch
always the birds, even in the dead of winter, call to us
the owl as commentator, echoing our invocation.

the light melting energy
shift

 
prayers and bones and shout outs to those who have passed, to those struggling with illness or loss,
to the old year gone and the new year coming.

May we all find our sustainable peace, our heart and hearth
May we all be in good health
May we all be happy and productive
May we all be together on this journey as the sun sets and rises anew.

The way the fire speaks to each of us, flaming different for Mananan or Bridget, each of the Kindred or me.
And at the end, calling to let go of excess energy,
the mostly consumed yet full of spirit fire suddenly flared  sending sparks into the night sky to mingle with stars.


      



















Our omens
from our Ancestors:Kenaz the torch, our ability to light up, fire up, illuminate, shape & see & craft 
from the Spirits of Nature and Place: Raido or communication and the journey or the quest 
from the Gods & Goddesses: Manaz the self
for the Season:Laguz the lake, that which we draw up from
    

bright fire and directed arrows in flight

flames higher than the wild lettuce

Now 2 weeks since ritual and the overwhelming nature of summer has infused our spirits.

Even as the days grow slowly shorter
and the nights blissfully cooler,
we are more involved and lost in work and languid with afternoon naps and also so very busy in a slow motion way.
before the autumn arrives.

This season as non-stop as solstice,
as precipice-like as Imbolc,
full of evolutionary change at microscopic levels.
Notes from just after Lughnasad ritual:
sparks of learning and expanding knowledge
    the apple tree down towards the east
after the unity riders,
days of activity, meals with friends,
many people gathering at different times. 
a different kind of prep, ongoing hosting,
cleaning and cooking
for a variety of worldly and otherworldly guests.
  the assembly of the skeletal form of fire to be
  

waiting for family, meeting new family,
dealing with family, looking at the sky
Hudson River School clouds overhead

When the intent fails,
that is to be acknowledged too.
Even with embers from the harvested fire,
only the new fire was able to ignite.
Struggling with the spirit,
children and camera lenses,
new and old,
growing up and finding space,
harbinger of autumn,
bright light Lugh.
           

3 gongs to start,
sage smoke and water aspersions and find space among the knot work of the land.

what’s for the Earth Mother?
ah beer, mother’s milk . ok.


the directions from standing still, the clouds and the trees and the wind.
 
our well, our tree,
our fire to be
what would not light but only smolder from the maintained flame.
  
Cameras whirr and energy drifts,
remembering other fires and patience.
A log from the other fire,
also embered from the Beltane fire
but really lit from paper,
was brought into this one  
and then its brilliance riveted focus.
 

Liqueur for Mananan and oils for Bridget,
neither of which flamed as expected but created a more intensely bright part of the fire.

Good to always have a variety of sacrifice. White sage and our kitchen herbs and corn for the gods. Our last cherries for Lugh.
It always feels fast paced or like a dream.
And suddenly it is time.
                  

feel the air around us and passing through us
children offering intent and silent, or adult children exuberant.
the moss under feet,
spirals of grasses,
no flare ups just more intent fire,
the strange bird cackles, the women offering,
all the cauldron as small beings of flame,
the bacon sacrifice
   
 
Our omens
of joy and luck and shaping and disruption.
Look for the opportunity, the new seed.
         

from the Ancestors:Kenaz, the torch- our ability to illuminate and shape
from the Spirits of Nature & Place:Wunjo, Joy- particularly the joy of the company of friends
from the Gods & Goddesses:Perth, Chance, the Lottery Cup-chance and luck
from Lugh and for the season:Hagal, Hail- disruption of the old order with seed of the new.
waters in our own glasses each pouring for themselves and the children.

thanks with enough for all.

wistful wholeness.
chill in the air August.
acceptance.