A Joyful Harvest

Beautiful Sunset Last Week

Autumny greetings to you all! 
Just made that word up, autumny, sounds like it should be a real word to me! It feels like snuggly jumpers, warm scarves, hot soup and orangey-brown leaves falling silently to the ground making a vibrant crunchy carpet. Autumny - love it, so much so that I've just added it to the dictionary on my lap top - such a big kid!

So here we are again, nearly at Mabon or Autumn Equinox; when the light and the darkness are almost in balance, a short moment of perfect timing in their yearly dance through the wheel of the year. As we head towards the darkening veil of autumn and feel the chill as the Crone's dark cloak of long winter nights approaches, we take time to give thanks for the second harvest of the land. All the fields are bare, Mother Earth has yielded her fruit, grain and berries to nourish us through the coming months, in whatever form they are preserved - jam, chutney, frozen or increasingly cold stored, imported and sold at our local supermarkets. 

My morning drive to work is slowly

Early Morning Drive into Work

becoming shrouded in mist again, the pale sun lower and weaker in the sky, the land sluggishly waking up later and later each day, as though longing for it's long rejuvenating sleep of the winter months  - I know how it feels. 
The darker evenings are equally sleepy, illuminated with some glorious sunsets as though the summer is  performing a seasonal finale - a  spectacular swansong of golden orange.  
For me Mabon, the Autumn Equinox will be on Thursday, I love celebrating this sabbat, it's not too early to get up and watch the sunrise, one advantage over the summer ones!

Goodbye to the Summer

For us, the weekend just gone was a chance to celebrate our own precious harvest in a different sense of our Sophie's birthday. All those years full of love, nurturing, patience (especially for Mothers of girls with long hair) and care lavished on our children bears fruit to produce a marvellous harvest of it's own. Suddenly the child is all but gone, apart from a rare unconscious smile, giggle, frown or anxious chew of the lip and in their place is a full grown adult ready to fly the nest. In my case, a double blessing of a caring, kind and beautiful daughter and a wonderful, thoughtful and funny son. A bittersweet moment; a swell of pride and of joy of a job well done, sliced through with the weight of the ache of imminent departure

Celebrations

 as the nest slowly starts emptying, taking comfort in the knowledge that it's all just as it should be, that and there will be less washing up  and laundry abandoned around the house! There was certainly plenty of washing up over the weekend when we had all our family and friends round for a barbecue to celebrate, not letting the rain put us off, before all the 'yoof' as Mum calls them - my children, their partners and friends clattered off into town for a few gallons of celebratory drinks and partying. I made some candle holders out of raffia, string and jam jars that I had lying around, the hearts and butterflies seemed symbolic, love and new beginnings to surround the candles that have been lit to offer up thanks for time immemorial. Especially so as I thanked Goddess for my beautiful harvest.

Autumn Sun

Another bittersweet moment this weekend was a surreally crazy gathering to give my lovely friend Sally a leaving party to remember as she gets ready to leave her comfort zone and head off to Uni as a mature student in the next stage of her journey. A day of games and absolute hilarity ensued, unfortunately not quotable or repeatable, needless to say we had a fabulous time!  
Thank goodness for the internet so I will be able to harass her at some distance whilst she is away and for the planned Pagan invasion of her student flat...... Bon Voyage!
Just thought I'd leave you with this picture I took of Lady Moon last week. 
My poor family are so used to me trotting

Lady Moon

out in my pyjamas to gaze at the moon, they have given up rolling their eyes and now go with the flow and let me know if there is a particularly beautiful moon to see. This one last week was so bright and I was delighted to manage to get such a clear close up that shows the craters and mountains. 
Not bad if I do say so myself!





        Have A Blessed Mabon x x 

Travelling Through The Motherline

A Present From Sophie

Last week I had the pleasure of working for an evening with the lovely Katy, a colleague that I don't see very often these days. In fact we worked out it was well over a year and a half since we'd seen each other, the last time I saw her she had still been pregnant and her daughter is now 19 months old, compared to my 'little girl' being 19 on the 19th next week. The inevitable catch up conversation and sharing of photos ensued before we finally managed to fit some work in. Naturally we got round to how quickly time passes, how quickly our precious babies grow and about getting older in general. 'Don't you wish you were my age again?' she teased good naturedly, which happens to be 26, the age I was when I had Sophie, making me 19 years older than her. In fact she was 19 when I met her too! (Lots of 19 synchronicity here - I'll come to that in a minute!) I surprised myself and answered honestly that no I wouldn't, she laughed and asked not even if knew then what I knew now? Would I like my 26 year old body back again? I shook my head and replied that no I really wouldn't, the impact would be awful, I would be weighed down with worries and concerns that would stop me living and loving my

Me and Sophie 2001

life to the full, it would change where I am now, the woman I have become and even my path maybe, would I still know Goddess? I don't think I knew it until I said it, but I was suddenly and achingly aware of all the archetypes of Goddess Maiden, Lover, Mother, newly added Queen and Crone all rolling into one for the first time in a linear but swirling pattern and said as much aloud. Interestingly the lovely lady we getting ready for bed who is 89, agreed with me, much to Katy's surprise, proudly saying that she was not just a daughter and a mother like us but also a grandmother and great grandmother! 

Thorpe Park (I think) 2003

I've thought about that conversation all week, my mind rummaging through decades of dusty storage, dragging out treasured memories; not the first tooth or first solo bike ride necessarily, but of the picnic where the geese came and pinched our sandwiches, Dan always managing to come back with a wet trainer - wherever we went, Sophie putting herself to bed in latest Disney sparkly princess dress, complete with wand, tiara and wellies! Snapshots in time, good and the not so good, smiling randomly at images and recollections of the children when they were younger, family Christmases and birthdays, days out, my mind taking me further back to my own childhood. Precious memories of Nans and Great Aunties, all born story tellers, sitting listening to stories of their girlhoods and 'during the war', curled up on a floral cushion in my brushed cotton pyjamas and dressing gown, at their feet by a variety of gas bar fires hoping they didn't notice it was way past my bed time as I sipped my mug of cocoa or malted milk. It comforts me to think that they must have done this too when they were girls like Sophie has had the privilege to have 

A Very Rare  Photo of Sophie, Mum and Me!

done with both her Nans. How I wish I could remember all the details to pass those memories on when I am the aged grandmother who was alive in the last century ! How Elizabethan I shall be...
Just as I was musing all this, I came across an interesting article that fired up so many emotions -  The Aging Woman Syndrome (Check me out putting a link in!) which raised so many additional thoughts and questions, including wonder at the very clever image of a young and old woman combined as well as a very angry understanding of the truth. It discusses the notion or un-notion of age in various cultures - including magically mentioning the ages 19, 26 and 45, but it's main point being that

More Recently Celebrating a friend's 50th

Women and to some lesser extent Men's power, self worth and value diminishes with age in recent Western culture, unless they seize the opportunity to reclaim it. Have a read, it's well worth it. As you can imagine, I have no intention of diminishing or fretting about my ever increasing age, In fact I have every intention of doing the exact opposite; celebrating it, relishing the freedom, knowledge, wisdom that becoming older delivers me, seeing my place in the Motherline evolving and growing as a privilege! That and I fully intend to be a crazy cat lady that will be the star of many an entertaining story for my grandchildren to pass on to generations of descendants! Hopefully with a book or two as well.
The number 19 that kept appearing, well a bit of googling - I love that it's now officially a verb, reveals it to be a number of beginnings and endings, spiritual development, inner wisdom and divine life purpose. Sounds like a number pointing to the Motherline to me !

Have  a Blessed Week xx 

Just in case the link doesn't work.....  http://www.intuitivedance.org/single-post/2016/08/08/The-Aging-Woman-Syndrome-or-How-Women-Keep-Away-From-Their-Power

Please feel welcome to join my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/walkingwithmygoddess/?fref=ts

Wanders and Wonders

Beautiful Berries and their Shadows

Greetings from a decidedly autumnal feeling Kent this week!

Last week seemed to be a harvest of wondrous extremes: walks, woods, weddings, wise women and the plain weird and wonderful.

After a simple, low key wedding of an old friend during the day at a local spiritualist church where I sang tunelessly along to some childhood favourites and thought 'Her' Not 'Him', I headed off to Margate to meet friends for a previously arranged paranormal investigation - luckily the bride has known me for over 20 years and was very understanding and actually quite envious! 

Despite grounding at my altar in the morning, on arrival I sat and re-centred

Beautiful Ceiling 

myself again, asking Goddess to walk with me, to guide my instincts and intuition and to protect me throughout the night at the Theatre Royal. I often see or sense things but have yet to make any real sense of it all, it appears to be a gift that I have yet to master and as much as it fascinates me, there are occassions when it terrifies me in equal measure! Luckily my path has recently introduced me to some gifted mediums who I have started to work with  in synchronicity and safety. The decorated domed ceiling reminded me of the wheel of the year and I used it to help me refocus and to draw some strength on a few occasions! It was quite an eventful night - something pinched my bottom, twice for good measure, we all experienced some very odd energies and the group came away with some very odd photographs and I felt I had made a breakthrough in trusting my instincts, sharing similar sensations and thoughts with people more experienced than me. I definitely felt that my gift has started to develop and grow a little. A couple of people commented on the amount of energy coming from me, I think we know where that comes from! 

Elderberries

After a rather long and much needed lie in, investigations always drain me, I decided to completely re-energise and centre by taking myself off for a long leisurely walk in the local fields and woodland. Immersed in the peace and quiet, wandering through the paths I've come to know so well, I realised with a jolt that the seeds and fruits of Mabon are nearly on us again, all the trees proudly bearing their fruit and seeds to continue their progeny. 

Just when it seems that summer is here, the wheel turns again and the land starts yielding its second harvest and starts thinking ahead to its regrowth even if we are still enjoying the sun and some lazy holidays. Strolling through the tranquil woodland pondering some ideas for this

Tranquil Pathways

artwork I am doing for a friend, as well as a dream to have a small exhibition of my own to somehow illustrate my own journey of discovery; I was taken with the different textures, layers and colours of the land - the round shiny bead like berries, the rough cracked patterns of the trees and their bark, as well as the floating translucent leaves that shade and dapple the pathways. I'd been a little frustrated that I couldn't quite get the inspiration I was looking for to depict the world from my particular path, looking at this beautiful canvas of nature with imperfect shapes of leaves, irregularities of the trunks or bark and the variety of shades in the berries, I was reminded by Goddess yet again of the perfection in Her non uniformity and felt She was urging me to celebrate the differences, the

Cow Parsley Seeds

contrasts and the individuality. All reinforcing the lessons I had learned last week about concepts of what art is and the importance being on the creative process..

Soon I was snapping away with my camera, taking pictures of the sky, the trees and the woodland, ideas for collages, 3D and multi dimensional art work fizzing away in my mind, much to the consternation of some woodcutters busy at work coppicing who clearly thought I was either crazy or stalking them! Even the patterns and markings around me seemed inspiring such as the delicate stripes on these cow parsley seeds. Feeling like I'd had an artistic harvest all of my own, my mind loaded with inspiration from the rich pickings of nature,

Circle at the top of the mound

 I found myself heading to the mound in the woods for some quiet reflection. Luckily there were no motor bikes or ramblers at all, so I had the place all to myself to enjoy the special atmosphere it exudes. I still haven't got to the bottom of it's origins, another item on my to do list. The trees have grown a lot since my last visit and it feels more secluded and secret, much to my delight. The path is very defined, clearly lots of people come and visit for whatever reason, a recent fire pit proof of that. 

Cue a spot of spontaneous arm waving and then meditating, if anybody had strolled past they might have had a bit of a shock but I haven't heard any reports of a mad lady in Amsbury Woods on facebook so it really looks like for a short while I had it all to myself! Armed with a cornucopia of ideas (I wrote them down as soon as I got in) I plan to have a very busy and creative week !

Have a Blessed Week x x 

Artistic and Literal Ramblings

Vesica Pool, Chalice Well Gardens

This week I was supposed to be heading off to Glastonbury for a long awaited day with my circle Sisters there, but unfortunately it was cancelled a few days beforehand. Disappointed but determined to make the best of it, I started pondering what I could do with my couple of days off. I'd seen an article the other day about going on a date with yourself, which I'd dismissed out of hand as being psychological clap trap - envisaging being told to sit down for a posh meal with a mirror opposite you telling your reflection all the fabulous things about you and how much you're loved, you get the picture? Later on, the more I thought about it, I realised that taking a day out just for yourself, making an effort to please just yourself, even wearing your favourite things just for your own sake, as well as being comfortable with just yourself for company for a whole day of your choosing could actually be a rather glorious thing. At this point anyone who has ever done a Discovery workshop with our inspiring Priestess Michelle, will be jumping up and down shouting  "You cannot pour from an empty vessel!!" 

So feeling brave, armed with a map, a change of

A Slightly Hazy Long Man

clothes, a lovely picnic, plenty of water and of course the satnav, I headed off, out of my comfort zone into the wilds of deepest Sussex, an area I  really don't know very well! After a somewhat frustrating drive involving lots of roadworks and traffic, I arrived at my first stop of the day, the Long Man of Wilmington - a 70 feet tall figure marked into part of the South Downs, originally in chalk, now marked out with breeze blocks. Walking boots and socks on, off I marched up the hill to the base of the Long Man, and it was up hill, puffing and panting, I nodded and grunted to other crazy people hell bent on the same mission as me. At this point, heart pounding and my legs already aching I thought about backing out of my original plan of walking to the top of the hill. I thought about it quite a lot to be honest, reasoning with myself that if someone had ever had the audacity to take me on a date to do this, they would have gone home with a flea in their ear and alone for sure. That was before I got talking to a lovely lady, known only

Thank You Feet and Legs!!

as 'Nan', maybe in her early/mid 60's, out with her family, who'd got as far as me and was puffing nearly as much! Nan who was clearly delighted with her achievement, told me she was an artist, describing the fields laid out before us as a palette of watercolours, then told me why she was so pleased with her climb, explaining to me that this time last year she had been desperately ill with cancer and was not expected to live. She is now in full remission and wanted me to pass on her very best wishes and love to anyone who was in that dark place, to tell them that they could do it and she was intending to live the remainder of her life to the full. She spoke from her heart. I am passing that message of love and hope on for her as she asked...
At that point I knew I was going to climb up the other 150 metres - however long it took me. 

It took a while, but I did it, albeit red faced, sweaty and catching my breath. Elated and inexplicably smiling from ear to ear, I was rewarded with the wonderful sight of a beautiful Red Kite hovering 

I Did It!!

near me as I stood staring in appreciation and delight at the panoramic views all around me. Apart from the wind, the odd moo from the cows who had also braved the climb and bird calls, the silence up there was profound. There are burial mounds and barrows right on the top of the ridge, where the grass is somehow short and trimmed. What a magnificent final resting place, the ancestors must have been greatly revered here. 
Eating my picnic, I contemplated my small, modest achievement in climbing up this hill, ruminating on how much of that battle was psychological, how because I'd decided it was going to be done, that it was. How many battles do we lose before we even set foot outside of the door? No one would have known if I hadn't done it, if I'd wussed out, except me, my honesty and integrity and my Goddess. With this in mind I offered up some words of thanks to Goddess and vowed to trust my feet and heart to carry on when my brain fights back with all the bizarre reasoning and logic it can muster!

Pulpit, St Michael
and All Angels Church, Berwick.

After a leisurely descent, which took as long as the climb, I changed out of my walking clothes into a dress and sandals with the help of a kind random German lady, who stood guard whilst I swapped my attire behind half a brick wall. I'm way too tall and was far too hot and sweaty to attempt such a furtive manoeuvre in my car, I'd probably still be caught up in a sweaty, Lycra imprisoned contortionist hell now if I hadn't said stuff it! It was one of those days...
Freshly clothed and several litres of water later, I found the old church at Berwick, full of murals by Duncan Grant - part of the Bloomsbury Group, one time partner of Vanessa Bell, Virginia Woolf's sister, a refreshing sanctuary of divine coolness on such a hot day. 
The guide to the church merrily told me that the window behind the Saxon font overlooks a pagan burial mound, indicating that this is an ancient site of honouring the ancestors, if not of worship. I also found it interesting that this tiny chapel displays

such a fondness for the art of the Bloomsbury Group that the parish was able to overlook the bohemian and unconventional lifestyles of it's founder members. I always have a funny five minutes in a church, as though I'm an impostor, expecting people to suddenly ask me to leave, or wondering if it's entirely appropriate for me to be there. When a lovely lady started chatting to me about the murals and flowers that I had admired, which it turned out that she arranged, I felt the wave of uncertainty rise in me until she showed me the beautiful cards to buy, all of butterflies, birds and flowers before she triumphantly and seemingly out of nowhere brandished a card of a beautiful cornfield at me. Sold! Thank you my Goddess for reminding me that spirituality is everywhere! 
Whilst wandering through the churchyard I found this beautiful and simple inscription 'Jane Broster 1924-2010 Lively Gentle Empathist Sincere Friend' How beautiful and simple, what a tribute. How apt for such a beautiful mix of faith, spirituality, ideas and beliefs in a tiny church.

Charleston Gardens

From here it was a short drive to Charleston Farm, the summer haven and home of Vanessa Bell and the Bloomsbury Group. No photos from inside as you're asked not to take them, but it was Fabulous!! The farmhouse was leased to Vanessa Bell and became the epicentre of the arts movement pre, during and after 2nd World War. They didn't stop at painting canvases, they painted walls, tables, window sills, chairs - you name it! A lot of Vanessa's contibutions to the decor included painted circle designs and patterns, potentially full of meanings; circle of life, death and rebirth, wholeness and completion as well as being obviously feminine. I've been doodling circles ever since! The beauty for me was in the simplicity and conviction of the art, it didn't matter that it wasn't necessarily aesthetically or technically perfect, but it was genuine and designed sometimes with a specific person in mind, so was heartfelt.
A timely message to me as I often wrestle with 

Athena/Minerva

getting a bit of work right, worry about it being perfect - missing the point (again) that it's the creativity and the process of engaging in that is important.This is paticularly important as I am writing a bigger piece of work at the moment that is challenging me and my concepts of quality, as well as some art work I have offered to contribute for a friend's book! 
Just in case I needed a further reminder, as I explored the beautiful gardens I found lots of busts adorning an old garden wall, all of them Goddesses. This one seemed to take pride of place and appears to be of Athena/Minerva - mainly and oddly known as a Goddess of both War and Wisdom, but also of inspiration, arts, crafts, handicrafts, courage and agriculture... Perfect !

What a beautiful and glorious day - topped back up with wonder, awe, ideas, strength, satifisfaction and gratiutude of all sorts of things, including myself. 
Feeling inspired and full, I headed home musing on my continual journey of discovery, contemplating where I have been so far, all the places I am yet to travel, the people I have yet to meet and learn from.

                                    Have a Blessed Week x x 

Lammas.....at last!!

Trying to Catch the Sun
 at Herne Bay

Belated Lammas greetings to all you lovely people! 

My blog is indeed the proverbial bus of the publishing world, still better late than never. 
A million and one excuses for the delay, the blog site did go down for a bit, but me and IT have never been the best of bed fellows and most of the reasons lay entirely at my feet so apologies  to all and thanks for waiting with patience, unless you are Emma, who you will pleased to know has been gently nagging me at work for a while , reminding me that I hadn't 'published' for a while and that I needed to get on with it! In which case thank you for your encouragement and belief x
Not that I've been quietly sleeping away my summer or hiding out anywhere, I've been rather busy! Late July we had the pleasure of having our little house guest James again for a weekend, he always helps me find my inner maiden, however well she tucks herself away, reevaluating

Sunset Over the Sea

the world through more youthful eyes and shaking off the detritus that has immersed us but we no longer need, like stress and routine, even if just for one weekend. On this last particular occasion we took in the seaside, sunsets, animals, arcades, chips and lots of photography - hence the photo of me almost holding the sun, as well as completing a small project taking photos of his and my old schools, places of interest in our village to send to a friend who hasn't lived here for several decades. A weekend of simple wonders and gems of delighted discoveries. I think he went home for a rest!
Lammas itself is always a time of celebration in our family as it's around my lovely Dad's birthday, plenty of reasons for family get togethers and cake! 
In between this year's festivities and the realisation that Lammas would be on the evening I was working, I decided to celebrate on the Sunday before, which didn't seem to coincide with anything that my like minded friends were doing, undeterred, I knew I would wake up and Goddess would have inspired me to celebrate the perfect way for me...... flowers, ancient woodland and Motherline as it turned out, who would have guessed?

I woke up feeling the need to honour my Motherline as my way of marking and celebrating Lammas, honouring the continuous line of fertility that we have been blessed to be part of. As I've mentioned before a lot of my Mum's family are in the beautiful churchyard at Aylesford and I always leave a couple of flowers on all the graves I know are 'ours'. Feeling humble and blessed at the same time, I headed off and bought a variety of bunches of flowers in yellows, peaches and oranges, all the colours of Lammas, deciding that I would take my Mum some too when I saw her later in the day, as well buying enough for me and some to surprise my daughter when she got in from work. 
Whilst I was happily

Lammas Flowers for Lily

falling over graves, kneeling on pine cones and chatting to my long departed Nan and Great Grandmothers, explaining what I was doing and  thanking them for the gifts and genes they passed down to me, I remembered my Nan telling me that her Grandmother was there too and had shown me a rough area, the headstone long gone, even when she had told me roughly 30 years ago. There's a bench in the vicinity, so I sat there and thought of her too, I knew she'd had a very difficult life, but had been a strong and determined woman, I left a few flowers for her too, chuckling to myself that this line of women were oddly all from a variety of non conformists chapels and churches and instead of rolling their eyes in horror, were probably proudly saying yep, here's another one, merrily doing her own thing! Very comforting and emotional all in the same instant.

I had also decided to take some time out to meditate and explore some new ground, well when I say new, of course I mean the exact opposite. I had recently read about the earthworks of an Iron Age Hill Fort nearby in ancient woodland that could once have been the stomping ground of any ancient ancestors who may have been alive then, which is how I found myself confronted with this unusual tree in a quiet clearing at Oldbury Hill Fort - very interesting name isn't it? Quite how a tree grew like that I don't know but it most definitely spoke of the Goddess to me, of fertility, of wombs, of birth and after I explored the tracks in the woodland, listening for ancients voices and whispers amongst the trees, I returned for some much needed quiet contemplation and musings. It felt like the perfect place to lean back and listen to the sounds of the woodland, feeling the roots of the trees reaching down to the belly of the earth beneath me and the branches stretching up to the heavens above me, conscious as always of the

The Curious Womb Like Centre

echoes and reflections of the Motherline in everything around me. Not for the first time I didn't feel entirely alone, safe but curiously watched by unseen eyes. What I did find is that after a while I could sense movement in the trees, in the air and in the energy around me, sure enough dog walkers and ramblers would come into sight or hearing just after that, as though my silent stillness had enhanced my senses. That explained some of the feeling. It was also a very special place, no doubt about it. I do have to admit to slightly freaking myself out when I heard snatched intermittent strains of a strange language whilst sitting leaning against the tree. My eyes snapped open on a couple of occasions expecting to see fur and hide clad Iron Age people surrounding me as though I'd travelled back in time, but was relieved to finally make out a family on the ridge who as they came nearer waved and greeted me with a cheery 'Guten Tag'! Merely some happy German visitors, but it made me stop and think about how our ancient ancestors might have spoken, their dialects and their in my case probable European origins....

All in all a very happy Lammas, Mum and Sophie loved their Lammas Motherline flowers, in total 6 generations of our line were honoured with flowers that day and many, many more were thought about.

Have  a Blessed Week and I promise to not be away for so long this time.

Blessed Be xx

A Well Celebrated Solstice...

Blessed Summer Solstice Everyone! 
I hope you had a beautiful morning, day or evening - whatever you did to celebrate. I made a complete spiritual solstice pig of myself and celebrated for about 4 days solid! My body has yet to forgive me....
Hot on the heels of our few days away last week and ignoring the weather forecast, I headed off to Eastbourne on the East Sussex coast for a spot of camping with my friend Charlotte and her daughter Jem at a Summer Solstice Festival run by a local drumming group that another friend is involved with. 
An hour later, after a whole car load of camping equipment had been battled with and sworn at, finally vanquished with no instructions and a fortifying cuppa from our new 'neighbours' had been gratefully drunk, we were ready to go and explore the variety of stalls and be entertained for the afternoon and evening. 
Lots of deeply resonating drumming from the Pentacle Drummers, wonderful performances from various Morris groups and dancers and magic from that old scoundrel Devil Stick Pete, but yet again it was the fabulous confident and sexy hip-swinging belly dancers of Tribal Unity that stood out for me. A group of ladies of mixed ages and body shapes, curvy and slim all unabashedly dancing to wonderful music from around the world

Tribal Unity

celebrating the diversity amongst themselves rather than hiding it away and enjoying it - Go Ladies! I rather think my Goddess would particularly approve of them.
Later a simple ritual was held to mark the forthcoming solstice, which included calling in the four elements, the Goddess and the Gods, as well as some bardic story telling about the Oak and the Holly Kings battling for supremacy over the seasons.
The evening was topped off by some brilliant singers and bands; singing a mixture of mournful, joyous, haunting and funny songs about Beltane, Gods, myths, Goddesses, legends and the earth late into the night with some catching up with old friends, followed by a spectacular near full visit from Lady Moon as we headed back to our woodland camp site and attempted to sleep. 

Lady Moon

Funny how much quicker it is to take the tents and awnings down the following day isn't it? After an impromptu visit to the nearby beach on the way home where I collected some beautiful stones for my altar, I managed to sneak an extra hour of sleep in my suddenly oh so comfy bed, before seeing my lovely Dad for Father's Day and then somewhat reluctantly, hauling myself off to my local  Maidstone Pagans Moot that I unexpectedly inherited the Admin and running of a while back! A lot of people had been unable to make it and I was all but ready to cancel it when a new lady said she was definitely coming. My reward, apart form my lovely husband offering to drive for a change so that I could have a cheeky pint, was not one but four shiny lovely new people and a great evening chatting to like minded people about all manner of things Goddessy, Angels, Tarot, Ghosts ... you name it as well as making amazing connection between two people that had lost touch with each other - small world!
As if I hadn't done enough camping to make my bones ache and grumble over the weekend, I packed every waterproof I possessed and made my way with some anxiety to my next adventure a Summer Solstice Camp, anxiety

Sunshine Wheel

due to the fact that I'd only met two people there a mere once before. Big, brave pep talk and stern talking to myself in the car ensued about being confident and all of it being part of my journey, basically telling myself to Woman Up! Just to reassure some of the less confident among you that I do get a bit lonely and isolated too on my path and have wavers in my faith of my abilities and limits and wonder if I should just go back home - quite a lot if I'm honest! Usually grounding or centering myself clears all that negativity and calling Goddess in helps me focus on my strengths and identifying my goals.

Solstice Incense

Deep breath, last minute grounding and as I got out of the car, found myself approached by two lovely people who welcomed me with hugs and introduced themselves, pointing me to where I had to register and showing me where to pitch my tent - sorted. Heartfelt prayer of thanks sent to Her upstairs.

Tent pitched and mug of tea filled, a quick wander round the beautiful camp - Kits Coty Glamping nestling in the North Downs, it's absolutely gorgeous and I was ready to Solstice! I joined in with a colourful selection of solstice arts and crafts that was taking place, like the sun wheel above, easy once you got the hang of it, which we later placed on our own cloutie tree at the site, as well as mixing and blending our own recipe of incense, making and decorating wands, masks 

Midsummer's Eve Walk

and designing flower mandalas whilst chatting with lots of lovely people and recognising a few more familiar faces too.
Before our sundown ritual, we just had time

to walk up to the stones, my beloved Kit's Coty where I often go for a bit of peace or to clear my mind. Walking through fields of waist high grass and wild flowers was pretty magical in the evening sun. 
The children in the group laughing and running ahead up the hill, playing and hiding in the long grass, like they must have done for time immemorial on their journey up to this special place. It really felt like the ancestors walked besides us as we went and I have to say that later on as evening fell, I was very aware of the closeness of these people, I was sure I heard voices nearby but couldn't understand what was being said. 

Offering at The Stones

As we reached the stones, I saw with delight that someone had somehow managed to get through the railings that surround the stones to protect it and placed none other than a corn dolly there for Litha, Summer Solstice or Midsummer - couldn't be a more apt symbol for a Grain Goddess such as Ker could there? Interesting choice, which had me wondering who else visits there regularly and why this corn dolly was so important to them that they went to the effort to place it there!

We celebrated further into the night with a short sundown ritual and a fire, with plenty of bats flying above our heads whilst we drank hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows before catching a few hours sleep. My sleep was disturbed by a strange snuffling and shuffling outside of my tent, first instinct was that it was a crazed wolf, then a rabid fox or a ferocious rat...it was in fact none of them, just a curious hedgehog who blinked with bewilderment when I shone my torch at it. I'm sure I could still hear those voices though! Sunrise came round quickly and was veiled in cloud, but we stood there bleary eyed and fuelled with tea to greet it and perform another ceremony to welcome Summer. I'm still not quite sure how I got through  all day at work, but I did get a much needed early night in a proper bed that night, it may take a while for the rest of me to catch up though!

Have A Blessed Week x x 

Journeys

A Shy Peony at The Druid's Inn

The last few weeks seem to have been all about journeys for me, spiritually, mentally as well as physically. 
On several levels I have felt as though I have moved along my path significantly. Whether that is because on the most basic level I am exploring and writing about the wheel of the year again, perhaps with more clarity and understanding than before, as well as the fact that people have sought me out to ask me questions about my journey, how to start theirs and for advice. I've become on occasion 'someone that will know' - not that I always do and neither do I claim to be an expert I hasten to add! It's

Moon Meditation Journal

as though I  have progressed to the next class up from beginners - with that comes confidence to trust my own instincts, to listen to my inner voice and the knowledge that what I do is right for me but also carries the weight of responsibility and need for wisdom. I feel as though my learning curve has become instinctive now, a purely personal journey where I walk with Goddess. 
Through listening to my own body and my reactions, as well as keeping a meditation journal I discovered many moons ago,(boom boom!) my meditations are usually much more vivid and powerful when the moon is waxing. It also increases my creativity, again adding to the vividness of my meditation journeys- ideas, thoughts floating into focus, that mother line of mine jostling to be heard  and I have been very conscious of the need to tell lost stories, obviously in my own way and a little poetic licence for fiction! I've always loved tales of myth and legend, believing that is probably a grain of truth somewhere in them, this week I have been happily scribbling away, characters developing, plots unfolding fast and furiously to the point where I have had to implement a project book just to note down ideas, as well as making a serious start to

Druid's Cave

planning some more serious and accurate research for other projects  - I won't have time to go to work at this rate!
This week we headed off to Manchester for a concert and stayed with some family nearby which allowed us to explore a bit of Derbyshire and the Peak District, reluctantly Mark let me navigate unsupervised without the satnav. He wasn't at all surprised when we pulled up outside a pub called the Druid's Inn and I told him there was a cave behind known as the Druid's Cave that I wanted to explore... Walking boots on, we went off to explore and found a series of small caves that would have been habitable if a bit precarious!

Cave Entrance

Hidden from the road and in a high out crop of rock it's easy to see where the legend came from - there's even carved steps and a rock with a dip in that could act a bathing pool! A bit 'girlie' for a druid/hermit maybe?
This cave entrance was very feminine in form, if not positively yoni like! It got me wondering just who had lived their before the legendary Druid or Hermit, you can see why it would be a special place for anyone, Goddesses too!.
Bravely and against his better judgement, himself continued to let me navigate off piste - (very rare) this time I steered us to Stanton Moor for a 'short walk' as I misinformed him, to find a stone circle known as the 9 Ladies. legend has it that 10 women were turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath....one stone fell flat so hence the name now!

Hmmm, seeing as they are 4000 years old we can discount that myth, the information said that funerary and ceremonial relics have been found and it has 

long been seen as a special place. Being me, I had to have a little weave in and out of the stones and touch them as I went, some seeming warmer to the touch than others. So quiet there apart from the odd marauding dog, straying away from their owners to check out our packed lunches! I fancied that the tress looked like dancers poised in a tableaux, the odd sway in the wind looking like a discreet lack of balance! Me and my ideas.... Walking back to the car I could almost hear whispered voices and we both heard what we thought were hooves clip clopping on the ground but there were none to be seen, just a few shy sheep a little further along the track. it would Remote and secluded it must have been a wonderful place for a ceremony or ritual  for something special or sacred, I suspect it still is!

My good luck with full control of the navigation continued and on the way back yesterday, I managed to sneak in a few more detours. First we went to Eyam, a small village up in the Dales that had the misfortune in 1665 of being in receipt of a parcel of cloth for the village tailor that was infested with fleas from plague ridden London, what followed was inevitable. Their courage though was exceptional, they barricaded themselves in, quarantining the village - a act which cost them three quarters of the population of the village, but prevented the plague spreading anywhere else. Entire families wiped out in days and weeks, or decimated so that just one member survived. Despite the grimness the stories fascinated with me, a fantastic museum has preserved their memory and celebrates their bravery, their names are real, especially as you walk through the beautiful village and the houses that these people lived in are signposted. One lady in particular kept replaying in my mind all the way home, I think her story will be one I will have to tell in depth - yet another set of

8th/9th Century Celtic Cross

scribbled ideas in my project book. When I asked  Goddess for inspiration, I was thinking creativity in making up a story, what I've been given are facts and stories that inspire creativity, I can work with that! 
Also found a slightly shortened but otherwise fabulous Celtic Cross, dated 8th/9th Century in the church yard that appealed to me, no one knows how long it's been there or where it was previous to the building of the church. The front had the normal Celtic knots on it but the back was covered in odd shapes that almost look like cornucopias with long strands of foliage coming out of them.  Finally the satnav was wheeled out for the sake of himself's sanity, but bless it, our route took us past a sign to a village nearby called Cressbrook.. Now researching any mention of Ker all over the UK  and the world as I have, Ker and cress have been linked, it's even suggested that cress that commonly grows around a well is a derivative of Ker, this could mean only one course of action... Driving into Cressbrook I discovered it was their one week of the year to

Green Man Well Dressing

have their well dressed, most of the others are in July - now just what are the odds of that?!
A brief pit stop had me running down a grassy bank to find this beauty on the village green! Not Ker of course, but the Green Man, Old Cerrunus himself - rather an odd choice for the fund this year for the village church! Next to it they had a  standing stone about four feet tall to mark the millennium, which I thought was a lovely idea - I wonder if people will look at it in a few hundred years and wondered if we danced round it?
Safely belted and locked in the car, satnav firmly on, we headed off on the long journey home my head full of sights and stories that need ruminating and meditating on to bring them alive once more.
Full moon is also Summer Solstice which I will be celebrating in a variety of ways that involves a lot of camping, singing, dancing, drumming and hopefully not too much rain!

Have a Wonderful Solstice or Litha However You Celebrate. Blessed Be x x

Sitting With Myself

Cow Parsley From My Nature Photo Challenge

So, I was rather happily having one of those quiet Goddessing weeks, just pootling along with my camera, happily and quietly muttering away to myself, staring thoughtfully into the local countryside looking either fey or deranged - dependant on your own personal opinion, which suited me just fine. Over the last few week I have been floating around on a serene cloud of love for all around me. I was planning on blogging about the nature photos I had taken as part of a week long facebook challenge by a friend, nice and easy. Nope, should have known, Goddess had other ideas for me and the chilled lazy next few days I had planned.

Stunning Windows
- Reminded me of Corn

Cue a frantic phone call from my daughter on Thursday afternoon to tell me she'd missed the last train to get her to college in time for her final and graded drama performance.... quick mental calculations about possible options resulted in a formula one style drive across what felt like half of Kent, full of raging warrior mother energy as well as plenty of loud and fiery hormonal induced teenage squawking and pre-menopausal stressed shrieks from both parties, followed by a silent terse last part of the journey. Joy. 
We got there with a minute to spare. As there was no time go home and I didn't feel like doing another 25 miles just for the fun of it, I hauled my huffing and puffing grumpiness off to the nearest library and sulkily chose the nearest book I could find that appealed. It just happened to be Labyrinth by Kate Mosse - before carting myself to sit by a pretty village church just outside of Tonbridge to read it.

Witchy Clouds

Tudeley Church as well as being the nearest village is also a place of ancestral interest to our family, who shouted Mother line at me? 

Book in hand, I wandered through the churchyard, amused to see a collection of clouds that looked like a witch on her broomstick to me and was delighted to find the Church itself open. 
Still huffing and puffing and decidedly stressed,  I let myself in and explored it's simple and beautiful interior, complete with it's amazing stained glass windows, the work of artist Marc Chagall, commissioned as a memorial. Sitting in the dreamy light and atmosphere of the windows was like being underwater and put me in mind of the book Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. Soothed, I sat back and felt the emotions of centuries of hopes, dreams, tears - happiness

Churchyard Labyrinth

and sadness that have worn the stone floor down; some by my own ancestors wash over me, until I returned to my pre phone call state of love and wonder. One stunning window in particular made me think of the flourishing corn fields growing near to home and of Ker, how little symbols where literally everywhere, which left me pondering quite how religion dominated by men overtook the spirituality that had pre-dated it-had feminine spirituality dominated or had there been an ancient equality between the sexes of all the deities in the past?  

Heading outside, I made myself comfy on a bench and opened my book to read. Barely a few pages in, I was aware of a persistent bird call round behind the church and not for the first time felt I wasn't entirely alone. Curiosity got the better of me and I walked round the back of the building to find this simple labyrinth cut into the grass. I had to walk round it of course, even if the sign said it was designed as a project for children! Spinning round it, (that had to be

A Corn Field - What a Surprise!

done too didn't it?) I stopped opposite a grave that bore an old family name on my Mum's side, hmm not just a coincidence! 
That and the fact that when I walked through the grave yard path and beyond I found myself standing in a corn field  of all things, where I sat on the track and spent a long time watching the gravity defying swooping acrobatics of some magnificent swallows who seemed totally unconcerned by my presence as they flew in and out of the growing corn.
So with Raging Warrior calmed and Wild Woman understood and appeased I found I was actually grateful for the anger and stress that had sent me off to find some peace and solitude, acknowledging it, sitting with it  and honouring it had led me to a place of peace rather than letting it fester away and brew

A Bit of Tranquillity

for another occasion, rather than 'allowing' it room and head space - how silly that seems when you look at it like that! Like damming a volcano! I was back in benevolent Earth Mother mode  and headed off to watch Sophie's show, which she was absolutely fantastic in, despite sudden massive technical problems, hitches, the fire alarm going off and everyone standing in the car park for 45 minutes, yes really!
Good job I had take the time to deal with my anger or I may well just have actually spontaneously combusted with frustration in West Kent College Car park!
Got me thinking though, I know I don't like to accept stress and anger as a part of me and try to push it down and deny it, which to be honest just makes it worse. I think we all do. Interesting that acknowledging and working with a bit of a blow up as opposed to ignoring it, led me to all my favourite things and found me a healthy way to deal with it fully. 

Have A Blessed and Not Too Combustible Week x x