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Showing posts from 2018

Ancestral Paths

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Samhain Blessings to You All! I don't know about you but these long, dark nights really intensify the thinning veil at this time of year for me. The brooding dark skies with their fiery colours of Samhain streaked with dark swirls make me think of restless spirits waiting to cross back over, seeking loved ones. Hopefully some of mine are drawing near! This year as always they have been around me throughout the year, not merely lingering patiently in some celestial waiting room for just one night of visiting.  October Sunset What I have noticed is their quiet presence throughout the year; with it building and becoming more apparent at certain times, depending on where I am, whose company I am in and what we are doing - including the evening when my wonderful, gifted friend Naomi asked me who the old man was in my front room during a Moon Circle and my equally fabulous and gifted friend Shirley agreed and said how much he looked like me. This came just days after the real

The Mysteries of Mabon

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Autumn Sunset on Orkney What is it? Mabon or Second Harvest or Autumn Equinox...  When  is it?  21st? 22nd? 23rd  For some people it's a 'one sabbat fits all' kind of affair which is completely cool, for others there is a more strict observance of a particular date or an event. This year the 'true' equinox here in the UK was at 2.54 am this morning 23rd September - a huge round of applause for anyone who got up to mark that exact point when the sun crosses the imaginary line of the equator on it's journey from North to South, I for one was sound asleep and probably snoring like a hibernating bear. That said, today is the day that I particularly mark, taking extra time to reflect on the year, to celebrate what I have and to let go of things that no longer serve me. Some extra time communing with my Goddess, preparing a lovely dinner for me and himself to enjoy this evening and we have special drinking ware that we use for Sabbats. Tonight's Libat

Remembering the Winchester Geese

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Nestled just a road or two off the main bustling thoroughfare in Southwark,  close to the world famous Borough Market  is  Cross Bones Graveyard   a place  that had escaped my radar until a few years ago when I was shocked to discover it's haunting story and existence so close to the razzmatazz and wealth of the city. In The Shadow Of The Shard Forgotten and neglected, it was a sad and forlorn final resting place for the  brothel workers and the unloved destitute of London's post medieval slums until the mid 19th century when it was built over. Ironically the prostitutes who  were known as The Winchester Geese,  as they were licensed by the Bishop Of Winchester to work the surrounding area which was known as The Liberty of The Clink; full of bear pits, taverns and brothels or 'stews' as they were called, but they were typically and hypocritically abandoned, unloved in unconsecrated and unmarked graves along with the unborn or stillborn proof of their sin. Histo

The Enigmatic Lady Of The Woods

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As well as meeting for pub moots and online moots, this summer we have been regularly getting together for a walk through the countryside usually to a place of interest such as Sittingbourne Wooden Henge or more recently to The Lady Of The Woods Statue at Otterden and of course we usually find a nice pub for a refreshing beverage or two. An Idyllic Country Scene The lovely Jenny  from Pagan Federation Disabilities team asked me if I would do a sort of audio blog about our latest escapade as part of the Pagan Federation Lammas Online Festival…so here it is! I had to wait a bit to publish this but luckily you don't get to hear my dulcet tones.... So this is the story of our quest to find The Lady of The Woods. A few weekends ago our intrepid band of heroes and heroines, met at a lovely old Pub - The Harrow, high above Lenham on the North Downs and yet again put their slightly misplaced trust in my sense of direction….   I have a bit of a track record of getting los

Simple Smudge Sticks

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I thought I'd share the information sheet I made for the workshop with you, just in case anyone is getting as obsessed with DIY smudge sticks as me! Gather a good handful of herbs, flowers and some foliage like the ones described below, keeping all the stalks to one end.  Don't worry about them being wet or green, they are easier to work with like that.  Sometimes I use bamboo leaves as an outer layer. Measure a piece of twine/string that is safe to burn to about 5 times the length of your bundle. Use an elastic band to secure the stalk end of your smudge stick. You can remove it or cut it out later. Fold the twine in half and make a loop about an inch or two long to hang it with.  Secure the looped part of the twine round the back of the elastic band end, tie and re-tie very firmly. Take the twine and cross over from behind all the way down the body of the smudgestick at regular intervals so that you form a criss-cross diamond pattern. Pull  the twine as hard as p

The Legend Of Fred the Bat and The Unbalanced Chakra....

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Anyone heard the story of this wondrous tale before?  No?  Well that's a shocker!  Certainly the stuff of legends, or maybe nightmares.  It started innocently enough.  Picture the scene... it was a bright summer's  morning, sun shining, bees buzzing busily, birds chirping merrily... Sadly not my Garden! Enter stage left, a certain Goddess loving blogger, all organised and packed ready to explore the woodland charms of Walmer with Folkestone Pagan Circle for their Summer Camp. As she ventured dreamily into her garden all Disney Snow White-Like, singing softly to herself, gathering lemon balm, honeysuckle and hyssop for the smudge stick making craft session she would be lovingly facilitating later (I know they are becoming an obsession) she stopped in horror at the fearsome sight under the gazebo and cried in terror to her handsome luminous yellow Hi-Vis clad warrior - "Mark !! Those bloody cats have left a half mauled bat on the grass." Cue Screeching sou