Finding The Corn Maiden

It's been an odd sort of week, one of those where it's either all or nothing. Work days seems to be very long and spread all over the county, added with early morning drop offs for the rest of the family and later pick ups -most of the week I've come home and crashed out - quite spectacularly on Wednesday - going to bed for an hour at ten to 6 and waking up nearly 13 hours later.....I must have needed it ! All of a sudden it's the weekend and apart from being Mum's taxi a few days of blissful chilling, I just wish I had some maiden energy that seems to be lacking a little at the moment, I'm just not feeling it at the minute - it's almost like the Crone energy has lingered, perhaps it's just the February blues!

Fit for a Fairy!

So today I found myself home alone with no car and decided to scoop myself up out of the armchair and pull my wellies on venture out to reconnect with the land and drag my inner maiden out of her cosy den to play whether she fancied it or not. Wellie-clad, armed with my camera and my phone defiantly on silent and tucked away in an inner pocket, I trotted up the road heading for my recently discovered new favourite place, splashing in the puddles and vowing to allow my senses to be overloaded. Less than a quarter of a mile from home I found this tree that looked to me like a perfect fairy home - see the Maiden was coaxed out to play after all, crouching to take a photo, I jumped like a naughty child when my neighbour a few doors down strolled past asking what I was doing, luckily she knows me well enough to smile at me indulgently and agree that yes it did look like a fairy house, before walking off very quickly! I headed off to my destination but was rather miffed to hear the sound of trials bikes as I approached - disgruntled was the word! 

New Spring Growth

(That's my word of the week - especially since I discovered that you could be the opposite and be "gruntled"! As a friend said- the word was indeed 'gruntle making' - Love it!)
Undeterred I reminded myself that it's not only my 
place and that the happy noise of the lads on the bikes was proof of this! Plodding on I decided to try a new path, admiring the fresh leaves unfurling and the new growth budding on the plants, listening to the noises of the woods the trees clacking their branches above me, the wind whistling through them and rustling the remaining leaves, it made me feel as though the woods were welcoming

Eye Spy....

me, the fanciful part of me imagined that they were talking to me - you wait I'll be talking to trees and plants next! All jokes aside the woods felt really alive, I can see how our ancestors looked at these woods, hills, rivers and found Goddesses and Gods in all that surrounded them. Many times I felt as though I was being watched or listened to by hidden creatures, birds and even the woods the trees themselves - this silver birch bark looked like eyes! 
I envisaged myself connecting myself to the land - arms outstretched in the middle of a woodland path, grounding myself through the connective thread between the land and stars - then had a bit of a spin round just because I

could! Viva La Maiden! Trailing through the wood land I was suddenly aware of the texture and feel of things - the smooth green velvety moss that carpets  the stunted coppiced trunks and the silky softness of the dusty catkins that dangled tantalisingly over head festooning the stark trees - having to jump up to catch them as I walked underneath.
I emerged onto the main road and found a stile I had driven past thousands of times and never even noticed, immediately opposite that led me through apple orchards that had the first signs of buds before turning a corner and finally throwing me out to my joy into the old corn field - the same one that became a bean field last

year! Well something has been planted already - I'm not sure quite what yet, but I'll definitely be back to see, maybe when it's been a bit drier - the pathway was a quagmire of boot, paw and hoof prints - which it must have been since time immemorial. I thought about some spinning through the fields but after nearly landing head first in the mud I changed my mind, so had a more sedate moment of arm outstretched contemplation soaking up the changing land. So a late arrival by the Corn Maiden and a bit of a timely reminder that it's time to get back down the allotment and get cracking again, the land needs to be rotivated, the crops decided on, seeds sown and tubers planted, it's a good job I've got a few days annual leave this week - I think I'm going to need them - and that's just to get over the digging ...

Have A Blessed Week x x 

Love, Hearts and Flowers

Well it's been a very normal week, whatever that might mean! 
One of those weeks where I think "Help-there's nothing to write about" -  I haven't been out and about doing Goddess things, just a run of the mill week, apart from having a surge of creative ideas and some very visual groundings, meditations and dreams which I have come to expect with the waxing moon.

Couldn't Resist This One!

That alone means that I am aware of the waxing and waning of the moon, so a little Goddess link there then that I wasn't necessarily aware of! 
However on Saturday I popped in the local charity shop in the neighbouring village to check out their jigsaws (rock and roll baby!) for my lovely parents (honestly) and picked up this beauty. I saw the spine of the book and my hand shot out, I think you can all imagine my delight when I saw the front cover with the picture of the Sulis Minerva from the Roman Baths at Bath on the front.  For anyone who hasn't heard of Her, Sulis possibly also meaning Sun was the local  Celtic name for the Goddess of the Springs at Bath, called 'Aquea Sulis' by the Romans who also added Minerva - presumably an attempt to assimilate but also a natural pairing as they shared many similar characteristics  such as  'restitution' (restoration/recompense) of theft and justice - funny how that happens across continents throughout the history of the world?! 
On Saturday night we went to a party and I was delighted to catch up with some friends we lost contact with about 8 years

Quartz Heart Given to Me By
A Dear Neighbour Years Ago

ago, the conversation turned to children and a long discussion followed about not their being able to have them, part of the reason of their self imposed exile. Whilst I know many people who haven't the blessing of a baby to love, the depth of the conversation rocked me to the core and later when we were home moved me to tears at the depth of their pain, their hope, their disappointments and finally their fortitude and strength. My tears weren't of pity but of a deep sense of ignorance - almost guilt or shame that I hadn't really thought about the subject in depth before, that I had blithely assumed like most of us do that this is a natural progression in life. I looked back to the child/maiden that I was, blindly confident of my future imaginary children so ok there are a couple less than I'd envisaged and neither of them are  a rock star or Harley Street surgeon yet but hey, they are pretty

A Present From One Of My Best Friends

blooming amazing to me just as they are! 
It got me thinking though, about the Motherline that constantly calls and whispers to me, the debates about nurture versus nature and about the many  wonderful women I know that have put their time, effort and love into step children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, god children, foster children, adopted children and pupils .... This love must carry itself forward, these children having the blessing of being loved and cherished by additional people must absorb, influence and take on these non genetic characteristics, qualities, beliefs and mannerisms bequeathed to them if not inherited. I can see it it my own children, the influence that my Husband has had on them, those of his lovely late Mum - sayings, mannerisms and even facial gestures. Maybe the mother line overcomes this generational genetic blip in some way and adds facets that are apparent later down the line too..... I think so, I can already see signs of it amongst many of the children and adults I know who have been blessed and loved by a non biological mum, aunt, nan, sister or teacher.
Valentines Day has always struck me as odd!

A Burning Heart...

A martyred Christian saint  as a reason to spend a fortune on cards, over priced flowers, chocolates, bubbly and romantic breaks - now I'm not a cynic, I'm up for those as much as the next person, I just think it's a wry old mixture! Apparently the original St Valentine (there were several) was arrested for conducted weddings of Roman soldiers to Christian and/or non Christian women which was not allowed at the time and whilst not quite promoting free love, supporting inter faith marriages, ok so I like the sound of him a bit more! 
This of course is exactly  around the time of Lupercalia in the pre Christian calendar - Greek and  Roman festivals held around the same date: 13th - 15th February to avert evil spirits, to purify the cities and towns and release health and fertility, with plenty of naked running around  the city, slapping women's hands (with what one wonders?!) for luck and fertility! It sounds more like Beltane to me, we certainly wouldn't want to be doing that here in February - things could drop off! I have yet to find any connection to any

Goddess for either celebration, however the Roman festival may be named for Lupa the She Wolf who myth and legend says suckled the abandoned infant twins Romulus and Remus the founders of Rome - and of course She Wolf is a term to denote a fiercely protective mother ! 
So She was at the root of it all....

It wouldn't be Valentines without the twelve red roses from himself......
I hope you've all a had a week full of love in whatever shape or form it may be.

Have a Blessed Week x x 

Feeling Childlike...

Early Blossom

Spring has Sprung! 

Well that's how it feels here this week - despite the rather fierce wind and the odd gusty shower, the plants are slowly unfurling their delicate faces and petals to the wintry sun that shines brightly with a sudden and sudden surprising brilliance, alternating with weak rays that struggle to filter their way through the dark clouds as the final vestiges of winter reappear to remind us where we are in the ever turning wheel of the seasons.

No one seems to have told this lovely tree at work though and the blossom is multiplying daily like a joyous bunting waiting to proclaim the arrival and festivities of spring.

After clearing away the old energies from my altar, I had a rummage amongst my candles and altar pieces and realised

It Appealed to My Inner Maiden!

I hadn't really got anything maiden like to redress it with. I lit a single candle, grounded myself and called Goddess in as her maiden aspect and spent a little while meditating and sitting with the new energies. Instead of dashing off out to buy something suitably 'Goddessy' to adorn it with, I decided to rummage in my bags of fabric and found a jazzy cloth of green gingham - that seemed to call the maiden energy to mind when I found it! I cut it and hemmed it to cover the window sill. Inspired, I then dug out an old votive candle jar that I'd kept for some reason or other, cleaned out all the old wax and decorated it with some pretty bird stickers that I'd found too, it really appealed to the inner Maiden, the little Claire tucked away inside - I  even showed Mark and my children with great glee - not unlike a child gaily waving a painted blob on a scrumpled 

up sheet of paper at their parents after school convinced they've just created a masterpiece!
I was that inspired and convinced of my own artistic genius by now, I even strung a handful of bells left over from a Christmas project onto a wire and decorated this old chutney jar to make another candle holder - Gee is there no end to my talent...and yes I do have to give it a shake to make it jingle every time I walk past! I even just grinned to myself and had to go and rattle it after writing about it!
I'd already treated myself to a miniature daffodil plant that was just about ready to burst into bloom which nearly completed the altar along with a green candle I was kindly given for Christmas and an old corn dolly that  I had made last year from raffia and banished to the top

Imbolc Altar

of my dresser that been mournfully staring down through the rest of the years Sabbats and a small bag of seeds that was a present from  my very first circle several years ago. To finish it off I found a beautiful green glass art deco style dish that had been my Nan's, then my Mum's - now mine and filled it with an offering of yellow and green sweets. An odd eclectic mix, but it works for me and represents Imbolc and the Maiden energy as I am feeling it this year, very young and childlike at the moment -those who know me personally won't be surprised! With the recycled items and older items I feel as though the maiden carries with her an essence of her Motherline and honours the departed Crone energy that has given way to make way for her.
A bit more research on the earthworks in the woods has also suggested that it was the site for a warning beacon during the Napoleonic wars and even further back when the threat of the Spanish Armada loomed over the land, this bright burning fire of wood and pitch would have been part of a series that linked the coast and London, as well as the South West, the distant fires would allow the warning to spread quicker than a horse and rider - this made me smile even more, how apt a huge blaze for the fiery Maiden energy of Imbolc/Candlemas, you really couldn't make it up! I really need to get to the local archives and delve a bit deeper.

Plans are being finalised for the Glastonbury Goddess Conference and being made for a new discovery day with my circle sisters again this summer, which made me both excited and wistful at the same time - I'll be delighted to see them all again, it made me realise how much I miss their energy and the strength of our circle when we are together. So for a while I felt very small and distant from that warmth and light, a flicker of doubt that I am not doing enough, that my childish altar isn't fit for my Goddess and the fear that I should be following a more structured path - maybe a proper training, where someone can guide me and can point me in the right direction, instead of 'pottering' about in woods and fields, staring at trees and hedgerows, admiring standing stones for hours on end and decorating empty jars with stickers and bells......
Out of the blue, but obviously a divine intervention - one of beautiful circle sisters messaged me her excitement about about all getting together again and so made me realise that it's not just me feeling the need to connect with a larger group every now and then,thank you Rity! Verbal and mental kick up the back side duly given to myself, my pottering along in my woodland and field pathways, is exactly where I should be walking. Walking the land so familiar and loved, discovering the old paths, listening to ancient voices that walked them, listening for new voices that walk them with me and adding my own steps and murmurs to them, a path of rediscovery that is my honour to walk, voices that are my privilege to hear and places that will be my joy to explore.

Have a Blessed Week x x