Of Spring

Sometimes you need a wake up call, something to tell you that yes the wheel has turned and warmer lighter days are upon us.

It needn't be a big wake up call, something as simple as a bunch or two of flowers from friends. The colours of Spring in a vase. We had visitors yesterday and it was wonderful. Like minded friends who came for lunch and made the day that little brighter both with their presence and their presents.

It made me aware how very little is needed to lift the spirits, to know someone cares. It needn't even be flowers, a word , phone call is enough.

It has been a stressful few days. Mr Mog had a CT scan cancelled as the machine broke down. He got a new appointment for last Friday. Now why is it that waiting rooms have to remain in the archaic dismal past? The room we waited in was tiny, very hot, no windows and full. This is not just a normal appointment with a doctor, this is people with major health problems waiting for scans to give them results. Scans where they have to wait around. Drink a drink over the space of an hour before the actual scan. Sitting in a dismal room. One that was oppressively hot. I asked the receptionist if we could leave the door open but was told no due to fire regulations. What? How does getting fresh air in a room contravene that when the room is full?

Add in people coughing and bugs just sit around all day. Plus when we were leaving after the scan there was a big notice at reception telling people not to come in if they had had sickness and diarrhoea in the past 3 days due to there being breakouts of the same on the wards.

Do they not think that perhaps some fresh air through the hospital may have helped a tad? I do. Anyway the scan went well, Mr Mog was fine with the drinking and the subsequent injection before the scan. We now just have to wait until Friday for the results of it all when we go to see the Oncologist.

I came home with a headache and kept it until today but never mind I would not have dreamt of sending him on his own. We are hoping to go to Glastonbury after we get the results,as we haven't been for a while now. We intend to drop in on friends for an overnight stay. Not just to see their new kittens;)

Everything is growing in the garden and conservatory. Flowers cropping up all over. I love the pink Pulmonaria and somewhere we have the white form.

So many flowers brightening up the garden and our spirits.

I love the faded splendour of these tulips.

These are coffee plants. I bought a tiny pot and found that it had many plants in it so split them up and they have taken nicely.

I have also got some lemon plants growing from pips which is fun. The first shoots are showing and they have only been in a week now so I have high hopes for them.

Beltaine blessings

It is Beltaine or May Day today and what an incredibly beautiful day it is. I've two posts for you but as they are very picture heavy I'll do one today and one tomorrow.

Yesterday we went to one of our favourite places Conishead Priory to walk in the woods, a tradition for us on Beltaine and indeed woods are the place on all the festivals for me.

 The woods are looking absolutely stunning, the Goddess in all her glory. You can feel the energies and the power of the Lord and Lady at this time.

 I love the priory gardens they are easy to get around but yet you feel as if you are in the first forest it is so quiet and so overwhelmingly stunning.

 Comfrey or knitbone to give it its country name was a big part of my childhood. My nan used to wrap leaves of it around my sore joints to ease the pain. She used to make salves from it for when the leaves were not usable. I had to eat the leaves and drink an infusion as well. Sadly I still have my disease so it didn't cure it but it did help alleviate the pain. Nowadays they tell you not to drink it I think. Didn't harm me though, I'm still here:)
She also made the most foul smelling liquid to use on the garden because comfrey is a marvellous fertiliser. Mr Mog and I tried it several times and the results were great. We stopped after he accidentally spilt some across himself and it took a shower to get rid of the perfume.

 We found out later that there was a better, less smelly way to make it. We had put leaves in a bucket and added water. Don't do that. The easiest way is an upturned pop bottle with the bottom cut off, put the leaves in there with a weight on them. This produces a concentrated liquid that is equally effective. Just add water to it when using.

 So Beltaine, a fire festival and a time of great fertility in the land. What does it mean to you?

 For me it is a renewal of energy, a time of meditation and insights. A time to enjoy creativity for its own sake and not for an end result. A play time. A what if ?time.

 This past two days of woodland and nature have helped to ease the dark winter that still lingers in my bones and in my spirit.It tells me to let go of the past, accept what has been and be thankful for what it has done for me. I may not yet realise all the plus points but they are there. With the longer days and warmer weather the positive elements will come forth.

 This view always reminds me of one of my favourite poems The way through the Woods by Rudyard Kipling where coincidentally? the poem of the day is Puck's song

They shut the road through the woods
Seventy years ago.
Weather and rain have undone it again,
And now you would never know
There was once a road through the woods
Before they planted the trees.
It is underneath the coppice and heath,
And the thin anemones.
Only the keeper sees
That, where the ring-dove broods,
And the badgers roll at ease,
There was once a road through the woods.

Yet, if you enter the woods
Of a summer evening late,
When the night-air cools on the trout-ringed pools
Where the otter whistles his mate,
(They fear not men in the woods,
Because they see so few.)
You will hear the beat of a horse's feet,
And the swish of a skirt in the dew,
Steadily cantering through
The misty solitudes,
As though they perfectly knew
The old lost road through the woods.

 Puck's song

SEE you the ferny ride that steals
Into the oak-woods far?
0 that was whence they hewed the keels
That rolled to Trafalgar.

And mark you where the ivy clings
To Bayharn's mouldering walls?
0 there we cast the stout railings
That stand around St. Paul's.

See you the dimpled track that runs
All hollow through the wheat?
0 that was where they hauled the guns
That smote King Philip's fleet.

(Out of the Weald, the secret Weald,
Men sent in ancient years,
The horse-shoes red at Flodden Field,
The arrows at Poitiers!)

See you our little mill that clacks,
So busy by the brook?
She has ground her corn and paid her tax
Ever since Domesday Book.

See you our stilly woods of oak,
And the dread ditch beside?
0 that was where the Saxons broke
On the day that Harold died.

See you the windy levels spread
About the gates of Rye?
0 that was where the Northmen fled,
When Alfred's ships came by.

See you our pastures wide and lone,
Where the red oxen browse?
0 there was a City thronged and known,
Ere London boasted a house.

And see you, after rain, the trace
Of mound and ditch and wall?
0 that was a Legion's camping-place,
When Caesar sailed from Gaul.

And see you marks that show and fade,
Like shadows on the Downs?
0 they are the lines the Flint Men made,
To guard their wondrous towns.

Trackway and Camp and City lost,
Salt Marsh where now is corn-

And so was England born.

She is not any common Earth,
Water or wood or air,
But Merlin's Isle of Gramarye,
Where you and I will fare.

 Primroses are always a surprise flower, they suddenly appear. Have you ever had primrose wine? Gorgeous flavour and brings with it all the magic of the Spring. Whenever I've made it I've only ever taken petals from a prolific area of the flowers and always asked before taking.

 Bluebells here are mainly the native ones, a few Spanish have crept in but not too many thankfully.

 Saxifrage is such a tiny flower you can miss it if you aren't watching closely.
These next 2 pictures are for Leanne She had been searching for hope and look what we found in the gardens there.

 And a close up

 As you can see the day was beautiful

 Carpets of flowers and new leaves in abundance.

 A gateway to a magical world.

Hope you enjoyed the journey and may your Beltaine be full of joy and hope.

Karma

I've been reading several things about negativity, partly from people's experiences with the negative button on Ravelry and the effect it has on them. Just 1 click of a button by some anonymous person can  really hurt. They may be doing it for fun or for badness who knows? But the effect can be nasty. 1 friend of mine left Rav because of it, sad really when you see all the good things there. I disabled my disagree button many  moons ago. I don't see any purpose to it, if someone doesn't like something I write that is their prerogative as it is mine to write. They can say they don't like something by all means but honestly not anonymously:) Sometimes I think we forget Karma and the three fold law. What we send out be it positive or negative always comes back threefold. It isn't easy sometimes  to be positive and not negative.I try to  think about the possible results of my thoughts and actions and try to do the right thing.
I don't intentionally hurt anyone by deed or word. Not everyone thinks that way and that is a shame for them as it always rebounds on them I've found.

Life is too short to bear grudges,or be negative after all  you never know what is round the next corner . Isn't it much better to smile, rejoice in the fact you are alive and enjoy each day?

Today is bright and very sunny and the plants are growing speedily. What were bare twigs are now covered in bright green leaves and spring flowers. New growth everywhere you look and there for the enjoying.

I started to think about my current practice of choosing a card from a tarot pack and focusing on it  throughout the day to see what message and meaning there is for me. My current tarot is the Wild spirit pack from Poppy Palin, I like the stories she weaves around the cards and I love the imagery of them. I have several packs of tarot and oracle in my collection. I've been using the Wild spirit one since Imbolc I think? I don't know how long I'll make this my daily card,but when the time comes I'll change on to another pack. I think we have to be flexible and not remain stagnant. Stagnant water isn't nice and stagnant energy is just the same. Ever onwards and outwards on the spiral path gives challenges but also rewards.

It is useful to visual a mirrored shield around when meditating or doing magic. I always see mine as a blueish mirror to reflect the Goddess energy. It is very important to ground and shield before doing anything otherwise it can seriously mess with your body and mind. Magic and witchcraft is not something to play at.

Beltaine countdown

It is almost Beltaine eve and I can feel the energy rising. The earth thrums with it as I sit among the trees.
Everything is buzzing from bees to new flowers.
The Goddess is awake and we can be too if we tune into the rhythm of the earth.
New babies on the ponds, calling as they swim with their parents.
Barely hatched by the size of them.
Flowers everywhere you look. On trees, in water it matters not they all show the beauty of the Lady
Such vibrant colours to welcome the festival.
Secret grottoes to while away the hours, or to await the sunrise on May day.
More colour everywhere you look. So much joy to be taken from each moment. It just needs a little awareness and open eyes.
My Nan used to call this brides bouquet, she said it flowered in honour of the Lady and her consort. A bridal bouquet for a spring bride.
I used to lie beneath the branches and watch the petals fall softly on my face.
Doesn't it make you smile to see?
We too can honour the Goddess and the Green Man in simple ways. Just being aware is enough.
Nearly Beltaine, how will you celebrate?

les femmes du printemps

I haven't shown you any femmes for awhile have I?

I thought you might like to see the Spring (Printemps) ones. They are awaiting boots but I'm sure you won't mind that:) For some reason this group are of a Celtic nature, hence the tribal designs on their cloaks.

The first one is Tailtiu, named in honour of the Celtic earth Goddess. She wears a fox's head upon her chest. She brings grounding and the bounties of earth with her.

The designs upon her cloak reflect the path she walks, always a spiral as the journey goes onwards never staying still


Secondly we have Blodeuwedd, named in honour of the Spring flower Goddess. As you can see she loves her flowers:)


The colour of her cloak reflects the colours of Spring, her season with all its new growth and beauty. She brings this new energy and inspiration with her.



This is Airmed, she was known for her extensive knowledge of herbs and their uses. Her gift is knowledge, use it wisely.

She wears a Celtic brooch with stones of earth to protect and shield.


Here you see the lady Nimue, lady of the moon. She links with tides of water and woman. Her gift is the ability to work with the phases of the moon. She knows that new beginnings are for the waxing moon as letting go is for the waning.


She carries an image of the great Goddess with her always.

This is Damona,Goddess of fertility and healing. Her spring colours bring hope after the chill and dark of Winter. Hope and promise of brighter days come with her.I hope you like les femmes du printemps:)