I was asked to join Cassie Olewinski on the December 23, 2008, Enviro Show to talk about the history and traditions of Winter Solstice and Yule. 
Our hosts, Glen and Jean, gave us a warm welcome and had some great questions for us. 
We had a whole lot of fun discussing an overview of historical traditions that many ancient cultures practiced to celebrate the return of the light at this time of year in the northern hemisphere.  We also touched upon current local traditions happening in the Valley.
Check out the podcast.....Cassie and I are on about 20 minutes into the show.

Bright Blessings!

        

Autumnal Equinox, Mabon and the Ancestor Time is unfolding around us now.  The Equinoxes are about balance, the balance of day and night.  They are important markers to the shifting Wheel of the Year and help us to prepare for planting or harvesting depending on the season.  
In modern times, the autumn equinox is referred to as the holiday of Mabon, the Witches Harvest, and Second Harvest.  We enter the time of preparation.  The Twilight Time.  The Ancestor Time.
Take a moment during Sunrise or Sunset in the coming weeks and just be on the Land.  Use all your senses to become one with the Earth and the Shift taking place.  What do you see, hear, smell, taste and feel?  What do you sense on the Wind, in the Air, beneath your feet?  How does your Spirit respond?  We can use the energy of Mabon to bring ourselves into alignment, into balance, to center and ground.
Now it when we bring in the second round of the harvest that will feed us for the coming winter.  Harder to image the importance to survival now with modern grocery stores, yet the time taken for proper harvesting and storage could make or break surviving the winter in the past.  Harvesting is hard work.  Once the Harvest is secured, then it is time for feasting and enjoying the last of the earth's abundance before the barren time of frozen ground.

We are also entering the time when the Veils Between the Worlds are growing thin.   Take a moment to experience the energy in the mists that form early in the mornings these days or late in the darkest time of night just before the pre-dawn light comes.  Listen.  There is a rhythm and song to these Other World times, there are Spirits afoot, and Gateways that open.

We can honor our Ancestors by creating an Ancestor Altar in our home.  You can use photos, flowers, candles, small dishes of food or drink as offerings and any items that are connected to your loved ones that have crossed over.  For example, I have a small, antique hand sewing machine that my maternal Grandmother purchased when she first came to America.   You could build an outdoor altar using stones, flowers and statues.
We can honor recently passed and our older lineage whether we know their names or not.   If you are new to this level of work, it takes some time to establish a relationship with Ancestor Spirits.  This kind of work goes further than just looking at one's immediate family. 



 

        

On September 13th Godiva Raven le Fey taught an intensive of the last 3 classes in her series "Stepping onto the Path of the Mysteries" also referred to as a Wicca 101 class here at AwenTree. 

Godiva will be moving from Western MA to the midwest so that her partner Rob and her can be in the same location and both enjoy employment in their respective careers.   While I mourn the loss of having both of them living here in Western MA and sharing all the wonderful attributes they both bring to their community, I am excited for their shared future together. 

Godiva presented a fantastic Wicca 101 class to our community.  Providing a detailed and comprehensive look at Wicca, her classes offered a solid foundation for those newer to their Path or just looking to grow in their knowledge base.   Godiva has a refreshing and candid view of earth centered Spirituality.  Drawing from years of hands-on experience and study with Chalice Well, she brings her quick wit and own thoughts to each class. 

As a shoppe owner, I see on a daily basis, the need for classes like this in the community.  While there are many great books out there, a class brings learning to a more interactive, live action place of growing.  Godiva provided simple exercises to help her students bring their intellectual knowledge into experience.   When we take our learning and move it from the intellectual realm and bring it into ourselves to then offer it outward into the world, this allows for a process of awakening and inner growing to begin.  This can be done with basic exercises offered in a class or workshop, a coven or dedicated spiritual group, or in solitary practice.   Sometimes, the simplest action such as making and keeping a commitment to attend class and study, brings about the most significant personal transformation.  It is my hope that Godiva will be able to return to teach Wicca 101 intensives here at AwenTree next year.

It seems to me that we as a community have an opportunity to continue to grow our visibility to newcomers.  There is so much more to our faith than book learning.  Personally, I have years of Solitary Practice in my own tradition yet I always cycled round to working with others.  I found both experiences to be vital to my spiritual growth. 
There are benefits to Solitary Work.  First off, it's easier to schedule having to only consult my own planner.  This can allow for more flexibility to work at  the most optimum moment regardless of the date or time.   Second, by working alone I found I could step quickly into Other Realms and open to wherever that might take me without being hindered by other folks' level of training or skill. 
And there are benefits to working in a group.   The role of community is powerful.  We can provide healing, inspiration, grounding and shared knowledge to each other.  When a group is well established and synchronized, they can lift more energy together than along.  Plus, Sabbats are just more meaningful and fun when shared with others. 
Having been both in a dance troupe and a coven, brings me the awareness of the unique and sacred bond that grows between group members.   You become kin.

As always, I am deeply grateful to have this opportunity to hold Sacred Space for my community at AwenTree and  for the many wonderful folk that travel through here whether as teachers, students or both.

In the end, we are all teachers as we are all students, weaving the web.

        

Re-entering reality post experience at Harvest Home Gathering. 
I could get really use to the "My Life as a Pagan Festival Roadie" or "The Gods Must Be Laughing".......it just is so apparent to me that while we humans are very attached to the concept of "it's a free will planet" there still is a master spiritual planning board that holds sway.

So, here is my review of the most recent festival we went to (Melissa, I and the ever watchful and protective AwenTree Spirits)

Harvest Home Gathering (held in CT) is a more intimate, focused Pagan Gathering held on at the lovely CT 4-H camp.  The facilities were great including consistently hot showers!   The land was beautiful with trails that led to magickal meadows full of dappled sunlight by day and a blanket of stars by night. 
The community was very real and welcoming.  While we were rather involved in our own world of vending and visiting with newly met friends (from Sirius Rising) that joined us on this trip and therefore did not get out as much to socialize, I still could sense the openness to meeting others in a connected way all around.
This a great festival for folks that really want to dive in deeper  to discovering/working their Path, interested in awakening and connecting with their community.  It's also local, full of good people and deserves our support as such.

The workshops and the presenters were above par.  All the workshops and Rituals were not just the basic intro level material.  While there is nothing wrong with offering the beginner level work, it was just so lovely to sink my energetic teeth into a deeper, wider experiences of the caliber of work being presented. 

I managed to get to one of Orion Foxwood's lectures, Walking the Dark Line and wow.  There is no justice I could do trying to summarize his workshop.  Just suffice to say that Orion is clearly dialed in to Spirit; empowering, motivating, and kicking it till it's real.  He has a Gift and we are blessed by his sharing of it. 

Janet Farrar and Gavin Bones ran a Prophecy Workshop that was really great.  Compelling and engaging, we sat in a large circle of folk while they work with 3 of their Priestesses that are trained as Seers.   Channeling their Goddesses, the Priestesses in turn each drew down The Morrigan, Freya and Brigid.  Janet was brilliant,  channeling the Archetypal Force of Sybil, the Sacred Oracle.   Gavin cast the Circle and worked with each Priestess.  I was riveted to my seat, gripping the hands of the two very large men sitting on either side of me through the entire 2 hour Ritual, the energy was that high. 

I really enjoy the freedom of timelessness and divine synchronicity that Spirit plays with when Pagans come together to share, learn, grow and embrace life.

        

My sense of time is non-linear and fluid, all times; past, present and future existing simultaneously in parallel worlds.  The most important life is the current life and the work the Soul has come here to do.  The many transformational journeys we undertake ultimately assist us in improving this life and help us to achieve our soul's goals.  

This life, our time on Earth, is a "school" for lack of a better word.  Before we come in, we agree to certain situations and opportunities, and they can be very challenging, that will allow for certain soul growth, expansion, healing and clearing of karmic contracts.   While we do not have control over other people's choices, decisions and actions (it is a free will planet we live on) we do have control over how we respond....and we can learn to respond rather than react.  

Recently, while spending time with my Coven Mates to celebrate the Full Moon and Lughnasa, we talked a lot about this subject.  About understanding exactly how we have control in our lives and to what extent....this is often referred to as manifestation/positive affirmation work which the now famous movie "The Secret" helped to bring forward in consciousness to the mainstream public.   Sometimes the most important task in clearing old patterns, old ways of being that no longer serve us, is not about control at all, but the opposite....it's about letting go and surrendering to the process.   Ah, this is where that word Faith comes back into play.  It takes Faith to let go and trust that we are divinely guided. 

Sharing spiritual work, whether in a Coven, Kindred, or Circle, helps us to continue learning, stay inspired and to persevere.  When there is a group of folk coming together with respect, trust, commitment and common values/ethics they can help each other to see situations/challenges from a different perspective or to offer wisdom/suggestions from shared experiences.  Hopefully, we each will have the strength and skill to call us "out" on ourselves in a responsible manner when we are mired, denying or can't get out of our own way.  
And there is the joy in celebrating the Esbats and the Sabbats in community.
The Wheel of the Year seems to me to be truly about the community celebrating significant times that each play an important energetic role to creation and sustenance and so I find more joy doing that with others.
Knowing that time is set aside each month to hold sacred space for each other in love and trust means a lot to me because I have made a commitment to others to show up.  I don't let "life" get in the way which often happened when I worked as a Solitary. 

        

This month I was able to take Past Life Regression Facilitator training with Georgina Cannon of Canada. 
PLR has long been of interest to me and is what inspired me to become a Certified Hypnotherapist.  I find the hypnosis training supports the PLR work in a very important and beneficial manner. 
Georgina is truly a very bright soul; inspiring, knowledgeable and connected. 
The workshop was an intensive condensing 3 days of information and practice into 2 days. 
This is the kind of training where you set your soul to "fast" and open to the journey.  Not only did we learn how to facilitate a successful, safe PLR; our discussions covered soul growth, soul patterns, soul evolution and healing through all time and place. 

PLR is a transformational tool that helps us to find and gain insight on situations from past lives that we may still be carrying with us in this life.   It also helps us to discover our Soul's Patterns and can illuminate our Soul's Work/Mission/Path for this life.   Through the sessions we work to uncover the wisdom of our spirit learned through other life circumstances and to release any negativity, old stuck energies or trauma that might linger.  This allows for deep healing, increased flow of positive energy in our current lives and a renewed sense of purpose. 

It was very powerful and inspiring to attend this intensive training and to go through many past life regressions myself as part of the training.   It deepened my own understanding of Soul Patterns and the Sacred Work we are all here to do.

        

"For once you have tasted flight,
you will walk the Earth
with your eyes turned skyward;
For there you have been,
and there you long to return."

-Leonardo da Vinci

        

August 1 is the day we recognize Lammas, also called Lughnasa, in the Wheel of the Year.  This is a celebration of the first grain harvest to be cut down.  This is the time when the God, having fulfilled his role to the Goddess in the time of Beltaine and Litha, is "cut down" undergoing death and rebirth in sacrificial mating, so that the cycle can continue. 

This is an important time.  For us in the New England region, we are well into summer (and we have a limited growing season).  If you garden or are a farmer, the crops have long since been planted; sweat equity given to bring forth food for another year.  We are past harvesting early spring greens and first fruits.  Now we are beginning to bring in the grains which will be ground and stored for use in the coming year.   We also coming into the height of harvesting vegetables; zuchinis, summer squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and more.  Take a moment to pause and think about the volume of work our ancestors did to grow, harvest and preserve food to survive another coming winter.   There were no groceries stores.  There was no refridgeration.  Food had to be dried, smoked, salted, canned or pickled.  If the crops failed or where not brought in properly, there would be no food. 

To me, Lammas is a time of celebrating that the crops have grown successfully and to begin the all consuming, daily task of harvesting that will continue now until Samhain.  Communities celebrated and worked together.  They were tied closely to the land. 
We might live in more urban settings and have grocery stores, but we can still take time to honor this important time in the life cycle, the nourishment that comes from the Earth that sustains us and the good folk who grow our food.

Some ways to connect to the land and the harvest:
visit a local farm, farmer's market or farm stand
prepare a special meal with your family or community; include foods that are grain based, seasonally appropriate
make bread and make creative shapes with the bread for your Altar or centerpiece on the dinner table(this is great activity with children)
if you pass a farmer working her/his wheat field (living in western ma it is easy to see them out there on their fields) maybe take a moment to bear witness to the day's work

As for inner workings:
What harvest are you bringing in personally?
What is it that you are reaping as a result of your work and intentions (known or unknown) through the first half of the year?
To whom or what are you grateful for your harvest?
How will you process, prepare and make use of that which you have harvested?
How will you share your harvest with your family and community?

I think it is important to look at all these things when working an earth centered Path.  It is important to our own growth and to our families/communities that we do more than just "watch" a Ritual....we can take it deeper, become a real player, an aware, contributing player and not be just a consumer.

        

ok, so this has been quite a year for me, one I can easily say has been the darkest shadow year I have experienced since I was 23 (can you believe that!)  It's just been one of those years where it all came down at the same time, purging my soul and expanding it.....ah growth. 
Did I mention I have a lot of Scorpio in my chart....and you all thought it was mostly Taurus...and through it all, what has stood out to me most is my community. 

I wanted to take a moment and share my gratitude for the amazing and wonderful circle of friends that surrounds me.   Each and everyone of you is truly a blessing in my life.   And my  daughter.   She has consistently shined laughter, love and faith into every shadow helping to bring dark to light. 

There is an inner power that comes through intense challenge.  I have worked hard to maintain my center, to hold my own power and to keep faith in the fundamental goodness of humanity even when some humans' choices disappoint me deeply.
Through it all I have worked to keep gentle and open as the Wheel turns, which it must inevitably do, bringing death which brings new life.   This takes Courage and Faith.

Yesterday,  I spent time with a friend of mine that has also experienced a lot of change this past year and we were working with our respective Tarot Decks, asking for insight and wisdom through the connection that cards allow to Source. 
Today, we talked about how dead on the readings were.  Courage and Faith.  I have worked with cards for many years.  It's a conversation.  With Higher Self, Sacred Source, Spirit Guides, Ancestors, The Divine.   What I know and always come back to is this;  it is a conversation.  IF you are open and willing to listen, you will hear. 

Courage and Faith.

        

The Labyrinth at Sirius Rising was the most physically beautiful and energetically powerful Labyrinth I have experienced so far in my journeys.

I can appreciate the many factors that would impact creating a labyrinth, amount of space and location, being the first two biggest aspects to be addressed.  Brushwood has incredible land with a charge so powerful that I could literally feel it pulsing beneath my feet and surging into my being in certain spots.  They placed the Labyrinth in a large field far enough away from the more crowded central part of the event where the vendors are which kept the meditative energy of the Labyrinth free of everyday energetic activities. 

The Labyrinth itself was created from mowing the grass in the field.  The Brushwood folk thoughtfully created an extra wide pathway so that one could walk side by side with another and a wheel chair could fit.  I saw several couples walking the labyrinth together after the opening Spirit Ritual.  It struck me as the perfect place to be Hand Fasted.

The shear size of the Labyrinth was awesome.  It took about 1/2 an hour to walk it completely alone, longer in the first turn with it full of community.   The opening Ritual was dedicated to Spirit.  Everyone was encouraged to wear white.  The Sirius folk that led the Ritual walked the Labyrinth alone first to open the energy and the second time to light the candle lanterns that lined it.  After that, everyone else present was invited to walk together. 
The sun was setting and the full moon was rising.  Chimes, incense and huge quartz crystals were in the center.  The lanterns were lit, the chimes rung, incense burned. 

There is a beauty and profound connection to the Sacred to walk in the silence and simplicity of such a labyrinth.