A Patchwork Harvest

Bean Field

If you could describe a week as a patch work quilt, this would be that week! Bits of this and bits of that, up and downs, celebration mixed with mundane. If you could sew it all together it would definitely resemble patchwork, just like the fields around me - green, orange, yellow, brown, rough, smooth, bursting with crops or silent and stripped. Just about sums up life really now I think of it, those empty fields will fill many fridges or larders and will regrow next year as part of the cycle, just like my empty nest I've had this week - our son has been away on holiday and our daughter house sitting with her boyfriend so it's been suddenly very quiet for a change - on the up side though at least Mark and myself have had some peace and quiet and some time for just us - particularly well timed as it was our wedding anniversary yesterday. 
Out came the 'special' bubbly glasses, a wedding

A little treat!

 present from friends and our treat was cava and strawberries, a custom  that has quickly grown into a yearly ritual. Another very recent addition to our own family tradition is the little Fruitful Blessings Ceremony that I created for the four of us at Lammas. After we shared a lovely family dinner, I asked everyone to take a thin shred of gold material (the same that covers both altars) that I had blessed with moonlight and sage, and then to tie it onto the Olive tree on my outside altar asking Ker for a blessing of fruitfulness for some project they were working on themselves and also a blessing for someone else. The olive tree was, among other things, a symbol of

Olive Clootie Tree

fertility and fecundity, particularly in Ancient Greece so I mixed this idea with that of the traditional Clootie Tree to create something unique to us, to ask Goddess for success in our endeavours. This has got me thinking about customs, ceremonies, traditions and rituals and their importance both personal and shared ones......yet another thing to add to my research/to do list!

Bean Field Selfie

This week if it involved wheels or technology, it really hasn't been my friend, hence I found myself having to walk the two miles to pilates this Wednesday. I decided to take the scenic route and was instantly rewarded with a multitude of sensory delights from the heart of Ker Herself. The foals were playfully cantering round the field and racing each other so quickly that I couldn't catch a decent photo of them. The bean field will surely be harvested any day now, hopefully the large numbers of butterflies that were flying past me for nearly every step of the way will find a new home first. The hedgerows are humming with busy insects and are already full of ripening blackberries and damsons, I'll need to get

Plumping up nicely...

down there again next week to start to collect them for my jam, jelly and wine making that has unconsciously become a yearly kitchen ritual of smell and taste since we moved up here nearly 6 years ago. Friends and neighbours are well accustomed to bravely volunteering to be testers for my latest concoction or recipe following the hedgerow harvest! I did make it to my pilates class - eventually!

Village Sign

I took advice from the lovely poem Leisure  I mentioned about a month or so ago and took time to stop and stare. For the first time I noticed the picture on the village sign I passed, a farmer by a field full of harvest hay stacks, declaring the history and culture of the area, as well as stopping and staring up at old trees, their trunks splitting and dividing, increasing and diversifying, new generations of growth, passing their silent and secret knowledge on. Motherline, they whispered to me.... this to do list is getting longer daily!

Matryoshka Dolls

Today has been a busy day, getting dinner prepped, then Mark had a hospital appointment about an ongoing problem with his knee (hopefully a clootie blessing will be bestowed soon and he can return to work) and then a frantic but ultimately timely drive to Gatwick to pick up Dan and friend from their return flight from a holiday in Russia. So glad to have him home safely - one hard earned trip and project successfully and safely completed, thank you! Of course, he bought his Mum a present back - and of course it was a Russian Matryoshka doll, the traditional nesting dolls that are also known as Babushka Dolls, Babushka meaning Grandmother or elderly woman and synonymous with Matriarchal families ...... 
I don't think I could get a greater visual symbol for mother line if I tried! 


                                Have a Fruitful Week In All You Do x x 

Lammas Journeys

Kentish Wheat

Continued Lammas blessings from sunny Kent!

We've had another beautiful week of lovely weather here that magically hasn't turned to rain the minute the weekend arrived. My journey to work takes me through the country lanes that zig zag across an area known as the Weald, an old English name meaning forest which it once was, now villages and farmland both agriculture and live stock. 

Local Hay Bales at Linton with
Oast Houses in the background 

Every day this week I have seen reminders of the start of Lammas harvests as the earthly gifts from the Mother come to fruition, and yes I mean tractors and combine harvesters everywhere! Some are heading off to harvest and some are piled high with hay bales, whilst I drive past busy fields where balers are at work or silent empty fields where huge log like bales wait silently like vast draught pieces waiting to be put away for the winter. This year as I have been walking with Ker, I have sat behind them as they chug along slowly with greater patience and interest than before, watching and anticipating the changes in the fields I have seen all my life with fresh eyes and a greater familiarity. What a beautiful county I live in!
As I have been calling Ker in at my altar I have been consciously asking for Her strength and blessings to bring all my projects successfully to fruition

An Unexpected
Harvest

or completion so that I can enjoy the harvest of my own personal labours as well as a literal harvest from the allotment. This includes an ongoing Diploma I am studying for at work which has been a bit of a slog, renewed with fresh determination I've managed to crack on with it and am making headway with it again, at last. I also had an unexpected but very welcome harvest - some Danish Schnapps and Beer given to us by our lovely neighbours Naomi and Gary for feeding their cat whilst they were away and ten minutes later another neighbour popped round with some strawberries and cherries a thank you for a long forgotten favour - how blessed are we? The schnapps is called Akvavit made from either potatoes or grain and flavoured with herbs (how perfect a gift for me is that?) which is traditionally drunk on festive occasions after a meal - that's a perfect excuse for us to get together for

Ker - Gold Woman

some kind of celebration! 
I've also felt a bit more artistic this week and stopped procrastinating and finally decided to draw an image I had in my head of Ker as a Gold Woman (as opposed to the Green Man) and started sketching, not even giving up when I found that all my water colours were dried up beyond redemption and finished the work in coloured pencils. Not bad for a first effort! Time to dust off the brushes and buy more paints maybe.....

Folkestone Beach

Yesterday I was heading to Folkestone for a belated Lammas ceremony with the Folkestone Pagan Circle, I decided rather than take the car, I'd take a train and have a different kind of  journey for a change. I took a book to read en route and managed to buy 4 more books that were calling out to me in a charity shop I wouldn't have passed had I been driving. With titles such as Native American Myth and and Mythology and The Ancestral Continuum, how could I resist? I also had time for a stroll round the harbour to eat some

Old High Street

lunch and people watch, before climbing back up the Old High Street in the Artist's Quarter to find the Pop Up Temple hidden below the Cauldron of Inspiration - literally! After a warm welcome, Laura our lovely priestess told us how she was inspired by workshops on honouring our ancestors and cave art at last week's Goddess Conference in Glastonbury and that our own mini workshop pre ceremony was indeed Cave Art. I don't know how many people have seen cave art of red or ochre hand prints? It's been suggested that they are hand prints of blood following childbirth, either form the mother or the grandmother or elder women presiding as midwives, or even hand prints made during birth with the wall as a support

Beautiful Altars

for the mother, ouch! I've also always wondered how they managed to get the effect of a hand outline in silhouette - hollowed out bones acting as paint blow pipes don't you know! After this we grounded or centred ourselves in front of these beautiful altars before a chanting ceremony to honour  the Mother and the Ancestors. As I've said before I'm really not much of a singer but I was happy to join in warbling away out of tune not even deterred by Jenny's wonderful voice next to me! As we decided many centuries ago everyone would have sung or chanted practically daily and with no way to record it, no one was really aware how they sounded, which was probably a good thing! Either that or our egos were less fragile........ 

I particularly enjoyed this simple chant:

A Gift of Gleaned Grain

 Ancient Mother by Robert Gass*

Ancient Mother, I hear you calling,
Ancient Mother I hear you song,
Ancient Mother, I hear your laughter,
Ancient Mother, I taste your tears

After a wonderful afternoon filled with chanting, art and laughter with people who once were strangers and are now becoming friends, complete with an altar gift of grain 'gleaned' by the highly resourceful Jason, I took the train home surrounded by cheerful American families and tourists who were remarking how beautiful our county was - watching out of the window as the train devoured the miles of track home, not for the first time this week I agreed with them, new treasures in paperback forgotten whilst I watched familiar fields and hills unfold before me. 

                           Thank you for sharing my journeys with me.

Have a Blessed and Fruitful Week x x 

         

     Naomi's Lammas Basket

Folkestone Harbour

If you haven't already please feel free to join me or contact me at  https://www.facebook.com/walkingwithmygoddess  

*http://thepaganjourney.weebly.com/chants-and-songs.html

A Laid Back Lammas

Mother Goddess
 By Wendy Andrew

Happy Lammas!  
Or Lughnasadh or Lughnasa - depending on where, when and how you celebrate..... 
Most customs involve celebrating yesterday, however I've discovered that for some groups it was traditional to celebrate after the first harvest, so the date was changeable, or you could be like me and celebrate today as nothing went to plan yesterday, again! 
I love this picture by the talented Wendy Andrew, it's her work and  my photo of a card that's on my altar - It just completely depicts Ker as I see Her. When we started our journeys with our individual Goddesses in a Discovery session, many moons ago, after a meditation journey we sketched what we had seen. Apologies that it's not very clear, but below is what I saw, I thought it would be Bridie

A Hasty Sketch of My
Meditation Journey

and had heard very little about Ker, so was totally confused about what I had envisaged. After I had researched the symbols and meanings I came across Wendy's art complete with corn, poppies, deer and mice and knew I had found what I was looking for. 
So, here we are - Lammas, 'home' of the Mother Goddess and the archetype I generally feel most comfortable with, so that probably means I need to fasten my seat belt and be ready for the unexpected! Even as July closed, it was becoming apparent that the plans were about to change. By now that just means I am prepared to go with the flow and see what opportunities present themselves! This meant that the planned Friday Moon Lodge and preparing something for my daughters birthday didn't happen as planned, but hey there's plenty of time for that! Instead as it happened other projects were started and other questions answered.

Kitchen Altar

On Saturday morning I cleansed the space around my kitchen altar and redecorated it for Lammas and the Great Mother. I chose yellow roses and put them in a vase that had been my Nan's, what I forgot to say the week before last, is that when I visited my Nan's grave there was one single and somewhat random yellow silk flower that had made it's way to her headstone, so we left it there with flowers we had taken. Also on my altar is an orange candle that smelt 'summery', a  corn dolly that I made from raffia, a Mother Goddess Card, a beautiful yellow stone candle holder that my circle sister Michaela gave me and a precious knitted doll to represent me in all the earth colours- yellow, orange, green and brown that another dear circle

Garden Altar

sister, Tina made and gave me at the end of the first discovery course. As well as this I reorganised my garden altar, added yellow candles and  today as managed to get round to making another larger corn dolly and found some beautiful fabric that screamed Ker, Lammas  and Harvest to me to make it feel more special and homely.
As I said, this was going to be finished yesterday so that after a busy afternoon at my drumming circle I could find a quite moment to make a flower circlet for my hair before picking up my daughter and her boyfriend from work to go out for my lovely Dad's birthday meal or at worst case scenario have a moonlight ceremony and meditation afterwards...... Like that was all going to go to plan!

My drumming circle was a revelation in itself. The lovely lady who leads it, Theresa works very closely with Native Indian Spirits and all sorts of positive Earth, Angel and Goddess energies. If you live in Kent and are interested in shamanism, she really is your woman! After a beautiful and powerful drumming session, followed by a deep meditation, Theresa passed a message to me from her spirit guide. Now let me explain here, this lovely lady is not medium or a clairvoyant, nor does she pretend  to be, and yes when I first experienced these energies, I was open minded but sceptical and prepared to question everything I was told. However after now knowing her for sometime, when she told me my message was that it was time to share the wisdom I had learned and that it was in my bones and that she had been told by her guide that there is an ancient woman with me who carries a basket of herbs and that she was showering me with yellow rose petals, for once even I was, as they say 'gob-smacked'!  No one knew about the yellow rose in the church yard apart from my husband, no one else knew that I had bought yellow roses for my altar and silk ones for my hair circlet. Add this to the fact that I have started reading and researching about the Motherline with a view to one day writing a book/celebration/workshop and am just about to sign up for a herbalism course, which no one at all knew, apart from Ker herself and I think you'll agree that's a pretty cosmic 'go for it!' 

I do love a flower circlet
- bless me!

When I finally got to sit down in the garden last night, after a delicious meal and fun filled evening full of laughter with my family, a pretty simple yet fitting Lammas Celebration of it's own, as hard as I tried I couldn't block out the loud but rocking music drifting up from a party at one of the local farms I think (how appropriate!) and then also from a neighbours dog who had taken a long and sustained umbrage at someone or something, probably one of my cats! Undeterred, I left my celebrations to the unhurried peace  and quiet of  this morning. I cleansed the whole house and garden with white sage, before grounding and calling Ker in at my outside altar, which felt more appropriate,  I enjoyed a 

Altar Corn Dolly

tranquil, yet intimate and powerful  unhurried noon ceremony with just the sun and sleepy cats as my circle.  After this I went indoors and blessed my kitchen altar, both thanking Ker and asking for Her blessings in all aspects of our lives. I also managed to find time for a meditation in the sun/snooze on a blanket in the garden, where I either journeyed or dreamed but either way there were distant noises and voices and the light was filtered, I could hear and feel a curiously strong rhythmic heart beat that made me feel safe and very loved, before I awoke or drifted back to the now, I'm really not sure which and found I was curled up in the foetal position with a cat (what a surprise) staring at me, before she yawned, rolled over and started snoring - thank you feline guardians!
A weekend of beautiful and simple celebrations, minimal planning and just being at one with Ker, myself and the world - pretty perfect!

I hope you all had a beautiful Lammas,

 - however and whenever you celebrated

 and wish you all a fruitful and blessed week x x 

Looking Inwards

Altar Candle

Well I don't know about anywhere else but it's more like Autumn than Summer here today! All this water has certainly reflected my need to go with the flow over the last few days - I had lots of Goddess activities planned for this weekend after a really long week which just about left room for daily devotions but what a surprise - all change! First I had a migraine from hell which meant that I needed to take myself off to bed for a couple of hours instead of attending a Holistic Fayre organised by some friends where I was going to be doing some drumming as well as hopefully getting some divine inspiration and then due to circumstances beyond our control we've had to cancel our Maidstone Pagans moot today. 

Well worth a read..

So, what to do with myself instead? Listen to my body for starters - as Michelle my Discovery Course Priestess always told us, you cannot serve from an empty vessel. Cue for plenty of sleep, lots of snuggly cat cuddles and time to catch up on some reading! I spent a fair amount of my weekend reading this - Stolen Images by Peter Knight - a fascinating look at Pagan Symbolism and how it became part of Christian worship...well worth a read.
As my lovely friend Lu pointed out this morning the rain had a curious effect - it was as she said very 'still' this morning - less cars and people about even in our quiet neck of the woods, perfect quality time in an empty house to talk with my Goddess, do some chanting, and indeed maracas waving followed by a fabulous rain inspired meditation - which  led me deeper into my

My Kitchen Window Altar

journey that yet again had a healing theme that darted backwards and forwards through time so vividly it was like watching a film. 
I thought I'd share some photos of my kitchen altar, from day one it felt like the most natural place to have one for me. My kitchen is multi purpose room at the front of my house - the first room you enter, complete with large dining table, comfy rocking chair, plenty of snoozing cats and a dresser to hold additional kitchen and 'Goddess' stuff; books, candles, incense, altar bits - you name it! It has always been the central room in our house, full of smells from the oven; cakes, jam/chutney or wine making, as well as focal point for homework, family and friends

chattering and celebration planning. More recently adorned by headdresses, drums, rattles and sewing bits! Perfect place for me  to celebrate Goddess. Most of the items on my altar have a special significance.  I bought this blue glass star fish in a charity shop after asking Goddess for something watery and have filled it for Litha with pretty pebbles from beaches that we have visited this year.

The candle at the of the page is one myself and my daughter chose, originally to decorate our water themed bathroom, whilst the shell was a present from a much loved cousin's visit to the Bahamas and the jewelled dragonfly (a life long totem of mine) was a 'just because' present from my other best friend Tracie who knows how much I love them - so much so that they were the theme at our wedding. I also have this postcard of the Yorkshire Moors, which was actually sent to me by Friends of the Earth asking me to support a cause they were fighting

- particularly relevant to the warrior/protector energy of Kerah as I feel Her, as well as a gorgeous rose quartz heart given to me by my friend Diana, many years ago, in the very early days of my journey. To me all these items represent love in its many forms and guises, perfect for my altar.

This weekend I've also taken the opportunity to get jam jars and bottles ready for the coming harvest of

Apple Wine ready
 to go....

fruit and veg for jams, chutneys, curds and wines of every variety! I even 'found' 5, yes 5 demi johns of apple wine to bottle to add to the other 60 plus bottles maturing in the corner of the lounge of wines such as nectarine, blackberry, peach and apricot as well as some experimental cucumber wine smells like melon, tastes like gin and  marrow rum which is very sweet and almost chocolatey! I'm pretty sure we'll be adding to that this year too from the allotment and hedgerows, as well as gifts of gluts from elsewhere.

Finally, as I was waiting to pick my daughter up from work tonight, I was mulling over my lack of exciting 'Goddessy' stuff AGAIN this week and wishing, not without a considerable amount of envy, that I was able to get to conference in Glastonbury this coming week or get to a Lammas celebration, when with sudden clarity it occurred to me that my upcoming 'mundane' week of work, pilates, swimming, a night in with the girls, while we plan something special for my daughter's 18th birthday and less mundane highlight of my lovely Dad's birthday meal on Saturday are all in their own right real life celebrations and workings of my Goddess! Safeguarding and protecting at work, nurturing my vessel, planning a rite of passage for my beautiful girl, a very special moon lodge and a fantastic celebration of fruitfulness - a birthday meal at Lammas for a wonderful man with his wife, children and grandchildren as he reaches 73...... With a massive 'Doh!' I realised that I don't need to worry about planning Goddessy things, they happen anyway, She is such a part of my life that in my celebrations I am already honouring Her and that I am 'living it' authentically without having to wave a flag or bang a drum to prove it. Valuable and thought provoking lesson...

                  Wishing Everyone at Conference a Fabulous Week!

           Have a Blessed Week, However you Celebrate Lammas! x x

Realising the Mother Line

It seemed such normal
drive to work...

After a busy but mundane week, nothing out of the ordinary, I was beginning to wonder what I would find to write about in my blog. I have however learnt by now that if nothing else I should expect the unexpected, I asked Ker for inspiration and imagination in my daily conversations with Her, trusting and content in the knowledge that something would inspire me! Still it was a surprise when I had a rather odd thing happen to me on Friday morning. I  was coming along the main road when I could see a couple in a dark blue Jaguar waiting to pull out of Oatfield Drive, where I wanted to turn into. As I was slowing down I flashed my lights and waved them out. The lady who was the passenger, smiled, waved back and turned to who I thought was probably her husband, when he didn't  pull out I flashed my lights again and waited patiently, again the lady smiled, waved and turned to the man, yet he still didn't move. I decided to move forward and turn as there were cars starting to queue behind me. As I came past the car I looked to grin at the lady, roll my eyes in an "honestly, men" way but  to my surprise she had gone and the chap was sitting alone in the car! After a double take I finally managed to convince myself that she really was no longer  there. It's not the first time I've seen spirits but never in a car before.... When I got to work, I told to my lovely friend Liz (who is an absolute font of knowledge about all things weird, wonderful and spiritual) about it  and was interested to hear her view that it was lovely to think that a spirit was staying close to someone and looking out for them compared to my "well that was weird" point of view. I hadn't thought of it like that before. It made me wonder who is with me at times, unseen and unheard.

I'm sure Mark is growing his
own Cider Orchard!

On Saturday we went the allotment and were shocked at how much everything had grown over the week, particularly the wretched weeds. As luck would have it according to the lunar calender, this weekend was particularly auspicious for weeding, tidying and maintenance!  With a bit of help from our neighbour's petrol strimmer and plenty of elbow grease we soon had it looking better. The apples are growing quickly now, the early potatoes are ready to dig, some of the peas were ready to pick and the dwarf beans are looking a bit more lively. The three sisters planting is looking great, the bean plants are flowering in white and purple and the corn appears to like having such close companions, I decide against buying  

Sun through the Pear trees

and putting squashes and courgettes in yet as I thought I'd make sure the corn and beans had a chance to take off first, so they will hopefully go in next weekend as well as some more peas in a nearby plot. Whilst we were there I lit a candle and an incense stick and asked for simple blessings of sun and rain on the land as I have before. I was hoping to meditate but it was starting to get busier, it wasn't the people that put me off it was the increasing noise and some very active crickets that pervaded my thoughts and made me laugh. It was beautiful to just sit and listen to the busy insects and allotmenteers alike.

Honouring my Motherline

After that, we spent a lovely chilled afternoon with my Mum and Dad, after lunch Mum and I ended up looking through loads of old family photographs and chatting about family history. Now this in itself is far from uncommon, Mum has traced the family history many generations back in all the branches of the family tree that she could since I can remember and before the wealth of internet information became available, I accompanied her on many a grave finding mission or parish register search throughout Kent, where my ancestors have lived for centuries. On Saturday I was telling Mum how when I had seen my Uncle last week he had told me that I reminded him of their Mum and he could see a resemblance  and mannerisms, which no one has ever told me before! All of that side of the family were/are short and petite with dark hair and eyes - (think Pictish!) whereas I have always been tall, fair skinned blue eyed and well, sturdy - far more Anglo-Saxon! This led to us looking at photos with fresh eyes, Mum telling me more about my Nan's life and agreeing with my Uncle that there are likenesses. I always felt I was far more like my Dad's family. I was still struggling to accept that this was what I was learning this week from Ker, all the 'it's too early for the Mother archetype' arguments and 'save that for Lammas' etc. 

However, you know when you know....?! 

Last night had me researching the Mother Line theories and thoughts and I tried, I really did, to understand mitochondrial DNA ie what is passed down through the Mother Line, and if I've got this right we all in theory inherit from all four grandparents but proportionally more from our maternal grandmothers as that

Aylesford -home to a century
of my Mother Line 

can only come through the female line and not so much is received from our paternal grandmothers as it is not passed on in it's entire complexity through the male line. Anyone who knows more - please feel free to correct me! It inspired me to start writing poetry last night, something that I have always done in secret, which I will share maybe next week when I have 'completed' it as much as you ever do, this again made me look at my lovely Nan again, who was quite a prolific writer in her own way, despite her being a quiet private lady, we have a huge amount of letters that she wrote throughout her life, particularly during the second world war to her many brothers and my Granddad. Nan passed away when I was expecting her eldest great grandchild, my son Dan - who is more like her than anyone else!

Today I took flowers over to the family graves in the church you can see above in the picturesque village of Aylesford that was home to a century of women in my Mother Line and there are 4 generations at rest in the churchyard and whilst I didn't feel it was totally appropriate to do anything 'Goddessy' there, I placed flowers - pink, white and purple  carnations on all their 

Village Sign Depicting the
Local Ancient Stones at
Kits Coty

graves, remembered them and their names, thanked all these mothers in turn for their unknown blessings and gifts to me. The cottage Nan and her parents lived in is also in the above photo right by the famous and much photographed Aylesford Bridge. The village sign also depicts the local Standing Stones - Kits Coty that mean so much to me. 

So, I have books ordered to learn more about the Mother Line and ponder on it's importance to me, I have a poem to complete to share with you next week and I am beginning to understand the energies  flow, shift and alter, they don't always just begin and stop, whether that be Goddess or Sabbat energy or the flow of a bloodline or Motherline, I'm sure that Ker has plenty to share with me as I walk with Her as she did with all my Mothers that went before me and worked the land. I am writing this listening to Loreena McKennitt - and a particularly mournful but beautiful tune that sounded (if you will excuse my stereotype) very Jewish has just played - I just checked and it was called 'Sacred Shabbat' and is indeed Jewish in origin, interestingly a religion that measures the degree of a person's historic Judaism through the Mother's blood line and it's not lost on me that last week I visited a shrine dedicated to Mary, Mother of Jesus whilst we were on holiday.... I have much to learn!

Whilst I name and remember my Mother Line that I know of, that goes back to 1780 and is now Sophie, Claire, Margaret, Doris, Lily, Jane, Eliza and Mary...

                             I wish you all a Blessed Week x x 

Travelling Further Afield

Beach Altar - First Attempt

We've just come back from a beautiful couple of days in Norfolk, right by the beach just above Caister, in the unromantic sounding village of Scratby to be precise. Fortunately it was a lot nicer than it sounds- a beautiful unspoilt sandy beach, with the bare essentials of facilities and plenty of space. Apparently it's a Norse name- Skrauti meaning someone given to display* and 'by' meaning settlement - so now we know! (Sorry, I've always liked to know the wheres and whys!)
It was the first time I've been away for any length of time since I started my journey, so I had been wondering what to do about my altar - pack it up and take it with me or make a new one up there?

Stacking stones from
my second Altar

 
I decided to do the latter. So I dragged my long suffering husband  off and chose a quiet spot on the beach just as the sun was starting to set and we made a stack of flattish pebbles and simply surrounded it with two rings, one of white pebbles and one of blue. I did try with tea lights but it was a bit too windy, undeterred I grounded myself with the local elements and called Ker in as Kerah, adjusting my usual invocations for fruitful land and crops, to a fertile fish and sea life population and also a good catch or harvest for local fishermen.
I particularly liked this beach as there were dunes and sea grass and plants which looked gorgeous and helped me to feel I could tie it in with Ker as opposed to it solely being the preserve of watery or sea Goddesses.

Second Altar Selfie

Later in the week, on our last evening I went back to the same beach on my own and made a second altar this time a bit more ambitious - a spiral this time in the blue stone that was so readily available. A few people looked curiously as they walked past, but it was their dogs who came closer for a proper look, although once  I left, I looked down from the cliff and saw a few people wandering over to see what I had made and much to my delight took a photo before leaving it as it was.
Whilst  I was sitting there mulling over all the things

Beach Art

that She had shown to me and shared with me that week,  I realised that I was drawing on a black stone with a bit of flint and whilst I'm not expecting any awards or an exhibition at the Tate any time soon, I had managed to carve/mark a symbol of Goddess on it. Originally I was going to leave it there but after a bit more contemplating and meditation, I asked Goddess for Her blessing to take it, a lovely piece of quartz and a few pretty pebbles I had found whilst searching for my spiral stones home with me to adorn my altars at home in my kitchen and in the garden. I bathed them in the sea one more time and thanked Her for Her gift.

Wild Flowers by
 a Wheat Field

Whilst driving about in Norfolk there were plenty of signs for windmills but unfortunately we were never really close enough to one for me to get a photo or it was absolutely bucketing down and the shot was too blurred which was a bit disappointing. However Ker's presence was all around me all the time, first on our trip up to Blakeney Point to go on a boat trip to see the seals, as we drove through field after field of barley, oats, corn and wheat and then again as we drove on to Walsingham as we headed to the shrine there. 
We were just pulling out of a junction, amidst a blanket of fields when Mark pointed out this mural below, to me painted on the roadside of an empty looking house that was up for sale. Of course, I made him pull over so that I could have a look at it! I'm not entirely sure where we were - possibly between

between Holt and Brinton and I'm equally unsure what it's of exactly but it certainly caught my eye! It looks like Stonehenge in the back ground but  I'm not sure if it's a man or a woman - opinion is mixed here.What is the importance of the dragon, black wolves and a horned headdress, the snow, a staff with a sheep or goat skull(and jesters symbol?) as well as the musical instruments - a horn and a lyre? Not to mention the glowing necklace! As you may have gathered it has totally enthralled me, if anyone has any clue at all I'd love to hear it! I'll try not to be disappointed when it turns out to be an art student's flight of fancy!

Holy Well in the Shrine

After that excitement we headed to Walsingham to see the shrine and the holy well, both of which were beautiful. I wanted to visit as I was interested to see how old the original well was, as I suspected that this had been there long before any Christian shrine and possibly had pagan, maybe even Goddess roots. Unfortunately it was raining so much that we didn't brave the Abbey Grounds so I only managed to see the 'newer' well at the actual shrine which according to the visitor centre, dates back about a thousand years ago.

Shrine of Our Lady

The original shrine was built after a local wealthy widow, Lady Richeldis de Faverches had 3 visions of the Virgin Mary telling her to reconstruct the stable where Christ was said to be born, before being lost in the reformation and finally restored last century. The atmosphere in the shrine was amazing, I was lucky enough to have it to myself for a while and distinctly felt that the there was a very strong energy mingling with the incense and the smell of the candles. With no wish to offend any Catholics or Anglicans who may be reading this, I couldn't help concluding that our travels in mediation journeys and signs we receive from Goddess now and such visions that women like Richeldis had were really one

A Little piece of
Glastonbury in Norfolk!

and the same thing, only seen through differently conditioned hearts and minds, ours having been reopened in latter years by Goddess. 

It's a beautiful place to visit and I'm very glad that Richeldis was brave enough to push forward with her plans in such a male dominated era and build it, whoever she felt it was for. As I came out of the Shrine Chapel my eyes were pulled to a small plaque on the wall that said 'Glastonbury' - of course all the Abbeys that were at any point connected the shrine where there, but it was the one I saw first!

On the final  part of our journey home we stopped in Essex at Manningtree to have some lunch and then drove through Mistley as well. I had a headache when we getting close that didn't lift until we had left. We sat by the river as we had our lunch and I couldn't help but think of all the women

Once Places of Dread

who had lost their lives in the campaign of terror - the Witch Trials of Essex, Suffolk and as far as Norfolk in the mid 17th century, led by Matthew Hopkins. I was angry and sad for these women, who were in the main innocent of any crime other than being old, having cats or being healers or midwives, anyone following our paths would have been instantly guilty. I said a silent prayer for them as we sat overlooking the River Stour, a tidal estuary of boats forlornly marooned on mudflats and wondered if some of the local women managed to row or swim their way to safety before being captured. I hope so. It feels like there is a story in there somewhere!

So, back to Kent and back to work, and I'm sure there's plenty to do on the allotment this week, just to keep me busy.

                                       Have a Blessed Week x x

The Stour Estuary
at Manningtree   

Mistley Towers

* Reference: http://www.rosieandglenn.co.uk/TheLibrary/Places/Ormesby.htm

Making Sense

Greetings from a beautiful sunny Kent! 

I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of days this week hands on as staff as opposed to being stuck in my office as the boss, which meant I got to spend time with some of the amazing 'service users' (- I don't like that term, personally I prefer to say clients - as we work for them, but that's not the PC buzz word!) and to share a chilled picnic with them under this tree whilst watching a fountain spray from the middle of the pond at Goudhurst, just a couple of miles from where we work. It never fails to ground me and remind me why I do my job. 

I also attended a seminar on Safeguarding and the new Care Act this week, which had me wondering mid power point, how I had managed to overlook the fact that most of my work is based around protection and looking out for people's rights when I was struggling to interpret the energy of warrior and protector I have been feeling from my daily practice and conversations with  Kerah - no wonder I felt that energy so strongly! Talk about the truth being right under my nose. Finally, after another hectic week, tying up loose ends, I am now off for a whole glorious week...

I read a post on Facebook this week by a lady who is part of our ever growing Discovery circle whom I have yet to meet, but her chance 

post about feeling strangely connected to particular areas and places some due to  her family history  and others apparently randomly resonated strongly within me and made me reconsider my own favourite places and question what makes them so important to me - thank you 'S'. Since I was a little girl  I have always wanted to live in a windmill- not really surprising for a daughter of a Corn Goddess! I even wrote a piece of creative writing about the museum of my life (which was the theme of that particular class - not my ego!) called Windmill Cottage.  Also my own personal journey with Goddess and in particular with Ker has gained momentum over the last few years - not surprising when I see this road sign every morning as I arrive at work and drive past fields full of the fruits of the Goddess nearly everyday of my life .

Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, where my husband took this photo of me on our honeymoon has to be one of my favourite places ever. We were there for hours, and I mean hours - good job he loves me! I have no known connection at all but felt as though I knew it with all my heart and didn't want to leave. Apart form the obvious sounding name Cornwall or Kernow as it is known locally which apparently has no recorded connection with Ker or any Grain/Corn/Wheat/Oat even harvest Goddess that I have been able to find as yet. However the original tribes of Cornwall according to Roman historians were called (by them at least) the Cornovii - it's Latin translation being 'the people of the horn' which could relate to a peninsula - which it is, a cornucopia - quite possibly Goddess like or relating to Cerunnous the Horned God - so I haven't given up researching yet!

Cornwall 2011

I have been calling Kerah in nearly every morning, lighting my candles and incense (currently I am using white sage which curiously somehow reminds me of the smell of the sea!) on my kitchen window altar complete with shells and a fabulous starfish shaped blue glass dish I found in a local charity shop, all to represent the bounty and harvest of the sea to celebrate Litha as I work through the Goddess Wheel of the year. Afternoon devotions still have a different feel to them for me, more vivid maybe. We're off to the Norfolk coast tomorrow for a few days and instead of taking my altar things with me,I am going to make a small altar based on what I find at the beach or out and about, as well as making a few offerings.

This morning when I woke up and the rain was pouring, after a split second of irritation, my thought was 'YES!' the allotment would have the water it so badly needs - there's hope for me being a farmer yet! I decided to try to mediate with the sound of the rain instead of the rays of the sun or the moonlight which have proved so effective previously. I reasoned that as I had asked Ker to bless my  land with Sun and Rain, it  must also apply to me  too - a 'Goddessing Blessing' as we have come to know it in our house!  To my amazement I was quickly in a deep meditation journey and was once again in the cottage with a fire raging, pot or cauldron steaming whilst 'we' made pots and bottles from clay and ground plants in a pestle and mortar. Comfrey and lavender came to mind from nowhere as well as a 'wort' of some kind - bladder? rag? - I couldn't catch the full name. Again, I had the curious feeling of watching myself whilst people came and went bringing a basket of apples and a bottle of something- possibly mead, then 'we' worked up a poultice for an infected leg wound before I felt myself leaving it all beneath me as I drifted up and opened my eyes to find my  faithful old George at my side, purring and watching me intently. Any  ideas on herbs and poultices anyone? 

I did Google these plants - Lavender has antiseptic powers and Comfrey was used to fight infections..... Ragwort can be poisonous but has been used for wounds as has Bladderwort - not that I recommend this concoction to anyone for anything! Logic tells me that I could have easily read about any of these plants and poultices in the many historical novels I have read over the years, but it was pretty specific. It looks like yet again, I'm being pointed in the direction of herbs and healing, even if just to learn a little more.

So, I'm off to Norfolk in the morning with the family, it will be interesting to see what Goddess has for me to discover there!

                                       Have a Blessed Week x x