Imbolc Blessings
Yesterday Zahra stayed home from school, as she does every now and then, we call it a “homeschooling” and usually head outside or do something cozy indoors, relaxing and generally taking a day off.
And so it was with much excitement that she and I bundled up and headed outside in search of the first shoots of spring. We did not have to look for long, as here on the west coast we see the changing of the season early and were able to find loads of shoots poking up through the earth, and to our delight, right in front of the outdoor altar!
First we swept the altar off and then headed inside to load up our offering plate, making plans for candles how we would thank each of the trees, the bees and the spirits of our place for keeping us safe through the winter. This year we gave offerings of milk and honey to the goddess Brigid as these things are her favorites, as well as small cookies, chocolate and of course flowers! Back inside we cleared our seasonal altar off and added our corn dolly and small nest of eggs sending wishes out for a warm and gentle spring, and on Sunday I will head out to celebrate the changing season with my shamanic community
We would love to hear about your Imbolc creations and offerings, what will you get up to over the next few days?
Feeling tender, the return of the sun and the spirit of giving.
This morning when we awoke in the usual 7:30 darkness it felt like business as usual, but as soon as I looked out the window, there was a shimmer of white, that upon closer inspection was Snow!! There is nothing more fun then waking sleeping kids, with the words “wake up there is snow on the ground especially here on the west coast where snow is a treat that rarely lasts unless you live in the mountains or out further from the city. There was a big ruckus and a few snow balls tossed before I checked in on the chickens and bees and then it was off to school for everyone!
Like mothers everywhere I have been feeling extra tender-hearted towards my children in the wakes of last Friday’s event, holding mine close and cherishing every moment spent. It seems like there have been too many of these moments over the past years, with a dear friends children being lost in a fire, to terrifying accidents and the like. Each a reminder that things can change in a heart beat and that every moment is a gift.
This time of year always brings us closer as a family as we gather for a period of rest starting with the winter solstice, which we will be celebrating early, as on the 21st we will be high in the skies on our way to Kauai! We have never been there so it will be a big adventure for us as a family, I myself am looking forward to spending time with mama Pele!
Acorn Cakes for Mabon
Ahhh Mabon, you have brought with you the crisp evenings and the essence of a possible frost, you have brought with you the turning of leaves and the wonder of the harvest and the inevitable essential change of the season.
Today we made spicy ginger Acorn cakes with Pumpkin icing sandwiched between in honor of this change.
Beltaine Blessings
Beltane, which falls halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice, and means “good fire.” It is also a fertility festival, dancing round the maypole, crowning the May Queen.
May your spring be filled with fertile creative possibility!
Dying eggs for the goddess
Here at our house, we tend to celebrate in traditional family style the turning of the year. The translation of this means-when the kids are off from school.
So even though traditionally Ostara is celebrated on March 21st at the time of the equinox, we celebrate it when the Christians do in April, for practical reasons. That is not to say that we forgot the equinox, no not at all, but given that we have the whole long week-end to create some fun, this tends to be our big celebration. {Check out my blog from last Ostara }
Ostara is the Saxon Lunar Goddess of fertility (which is we get the word estrogen from, and whose two symbols were the egg and the rabbit.} Don’t you just love history!
The Christian religion adopted these symbols for Easter which is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon, and I have to say this full moon has been stunning, and as usual keeping me awake at night in it’s predictable way*sigh*.
Zahra and I have great fun with this celebration as we are sun loving creatures and when the sun comes out for the first time we get excited and so, so happy! This year Zahra took charge of changing the altar which is a first, and I sat back filled with feelings of pride and joy at seeing her delight of bringing in little flowers for egg dying and for the spring altar. I have to say she did a great job too!
This year though we decided to try egg dying in the traditional way using natural ingredients instead of food coloring. It was very time consuming, but I have to say well worth it, if even for the great conversations and new found admiration for those who had nothing but onion skins and cabbage to dye their eggs with.
First I sent Zahra out with a knife and a pail to gather tons of tiny flowers and leaves, and once this task was done we began to gather some of the other important ingredients such as larger flowers{store bought} white eggs, our dying agents and some cheap nylons to tie the leaves and flowers onto the eggs with, oh and a straw for blowing the insides of the eggs out and vinegar for setting the dye.
Usually we hard boil our eggs, but it seems such a waste to have to get rid of them later so this year we decided to blow the egg whites out, that way they will last longer and is great fun! First you poke a small hole in the top and bottom of the egg with a nail. Then you break the yolk inside the egg and mix it up a bit. Lastly you place the straw over the larger hole and blow, and it works, it really does!
Next we placed the flowers and leaves on the eggs in pretty patterns and tied them into the cut up nylons.
The next step is making the dye, which is also fun, but makes the whole house stink of onions and boiling cabbage-yuck!
It is super easy though, just take the skins of 4-5 large onions and boil them for 1/2 an hour in a pot of water, 3/4 of the way full. once it is done strain the liquid out and add 2-3 teaspoons of vinegar.
Do the same as above for the purple cabbage, I used 1/2 a head.
The eggs seemed to take a long time to soak up the dye so we left them overnight, and then, when we got up in the morning and opened them up, they were beautiful, certainly not the classic colors of pale pink and blue, but the natural beauty and the clear markings where the flowers and petals were is quite beautiful.
Imbolc and Lughnasadh
There is a stirring deep beneath the ground, a movement so subtle is is hard to notice if it were not for the change in the air, a crisp, and somehow warmer earthy smell that tells the snowdrops to show their heads and birds to sing a different song today.
Today I will pull our our corn dolly and change the altar, there will be offerings to the earth and to the goddess Brigid, in thanks for bringing us yet again out of the dark season. Candles will be lit and sweet cake baked to celebrate!
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