Prayer to Odin by Galina Krasskova

Since He decided to pop in for a chat this evening...

All Father, Victory Father, One Eyed Shaman King
Who wanders every land in search of knowledge,
Whose gift is power and the understanding of its flaws,
we call to You as the Hunt rides.
We praise You, God of warriors.
We praise You, God of poets.
We praise You, God of ecstasy
Seeker of all the might the worlds can muster.

Inspire us, guide us, grant us courage
and endurance and fortitude
such as You bore upon the Tree.
In return, let us strive to serve
and adore You,
ever wisely and well.

Hail Odin,
Hail Jul-father.
Hail.
Let this be our prayer
for Yule.

For Newtown, CT

I am no longer Christian, but I have always loved this prayer since I was a child. It seems extremely appropriate given the events of today in Newtown, CT.

Make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury,pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.


Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Santa is Odin!

Irrefutable Proof that Santa is Odin

Get yourself a glass of something good and go read this comic. You won't be sorry you did. I laughed until I cried, and my cats looked at me like I had lost my mind.

So glad it's almost the weekend. I feel Yule approaching at full speed. There's so much to do! Saturday husband is going hunting, and I am going to go to my mom's and bake.

Samhain Blessings and Happy Winternights

I worked last night, so I wanted to wish you all a Blessed Samhain and a Happy Winternights. Hail the beloved dead!

I also wanted to thank Magnolia and Tulip (again) for helping me out by leading my ritual for the Feast of the Einherjar, since I am not physically able to be there. I am hoping to have the ritual finished by the end of this weekend.

Le sigh

I have been in a very dark mood for the past several weeks, and I feel like I can't get out of it. I feel sad, angry, hopeless, and lost. I feel like I am stuck and can't move while everyone else is moving around me, and all I can do is watch them passing me by and wave as they do so. I am tired, but can't seem to get any rest when I sleep. I have no energy and very little patience.

I keep praying to the Gods for strength, try to focus on the positive, to push myself out of this funky, black emotional and head space I am in. The fall has always been a difficult time of year for me, even though it is one of my favorite seasons it is also full of chaos, loss, and death. My father and my grandfather's death dates fall within a few weeks of each other. This year I was not consciously aware of them although emotionally I felt like an atomic bomb ready to explode.

My partner at work is leaving in a few weeks, it is a good thing for her as she will be starting a new and better job and hopefully a new and better chapter in her life. Even though I will miss her, I am happy for her because she has gone through a lot of negative shit since I have known and been working with her, and she deserves to have something good happen in her life. They had interviewed and extended an offer to a candidate who seemed promising but I learned yesterday she didn't accept the position because the pay is too low for her. It made me laugh out loud when I found out. They have no other candidates scheduled to be interviewed. The whole mess leaves me feeling anxious and worried about what is going to happen. What will get dumped on me next to compensate. I can't take on anything else. I am already stretched so thin I can't keep up with everything I am expected to do.

Husband and I are leaving on Friday to go to Seven Springs for the weekend for his job. They are allowing him to bring me along. I am trying to look forward to that. Going to take a good book (I am currently reading 'The Help') or two and my crocheting project which I will not elaborate on as it is a gift for someone who reads this blog. Hoping I can get some rest and relax and try to recharge a bit.

Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep (Mary Elizabeth Frye)

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am in the star shine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I do not die.

(Be at peace, Granddaddy, and know that I love and miss you.)

Mead

I have been working on two batches of mead since husband and I are are currently out (well, we found most of one bottle of one of his batches which has mellowed quite a bit. But that's it). Tonight I bottled the Rocky Mountain Red:

I also racked the pumpkin cyser (racking involves siphoning the mead from the fermentation carboy into another container and rinsing out the carboy of all the residue produced, then putting the mead back in the carboy so it can continue fermenting. Like this:

The Rocky Mountain Red needs to age now for at least six months--I prefer closer to a year--before it will be drinkable. Technically it's drinkable now, but it's much better aged. I do think I will sleep good tonight though. A few sips and I am sweating with a fire in my belly. The pumpkin cyser will continue to ferment for awhile before it can be bottled. Now I have a clean carboy and get to decide what to make next. I'm thinking cranberry orange mead, for Yule. Oh yeah.

Gratitude

For a safe trip to Philadelphia and back today with my supervisor. For cooperative weather, also. We split the driving and it wasn't too bad. 2 cups of Starbucks and I am feeling pretty good. I am also grateful for the safe resolution of the hostage situation that occurred downtown today.

For the weekend! We are supposed to go to the Ren Faire tomorrow (weather cooperating), and then Sunday is the Mabon ritual for our local CUUPS group. I got some inspiration this morning at 4:30am as I was getting ready to head in to work to leave for my trip. My ritual this year is the Dark Moon, I think it's November 11--I want to do something for the Feast of the Einherjar (fallen warriors), since if I am correct that is right around Veteran's Day. I'm really excited, it should be good!

Gratitude

For the opportunity to sit, drink coffee, craft, and commiserate with other pagan folks (and geeky as well! :) ). Some of the lovely ladies I know through our local CUUPS group have started hosting a craft night once a month called, "Crafting the Craft," at a local coffee house. I had a great time, and got another color block done on my mom's Gryffindor scarf for Yule. It's coming along well, I think if I keep at it, it should be done before Halloween. So maybe I will have a different craft to take next time.

I also started another batch of mead yesterday, and it is already bubbling away. I discovered the wonderfulness that is South Hills Brewing Supply in Greentree. Got another gallon carboy for 5 dollars. This one is a pumpkin cyser (cyser is mead made with apple cider). I used EC-1118 so it has the potential to pack a major punch alcohol-wise. We shall see.

On Thurisaz/Thorn

This was a part of The Turning of the Wheel E-Newsletter that Hex magazine sent out for Autumn Equinox 2012. It struck me so deeply I had to share it:

Thurisaz

Old English Rune Poem
Thorn (Thorn) is extremely sharp, for any warrior
to grab it, evil; excessively fierce
to any man who among them rests.

Old Icelandic Rune Poem
Thurs (Giant) is woman’s illness,
and a cliff-dweller
and a Vardhrun’s husband.

Old Norse Rune Poem
Thurs (Giants) cause women’s sickness;
few are made cheerful by adversity.

~ Rune poem translations by Sweyn Plowright
http://www.mackaos.com.au/Rune-Net/Primer/

The process of personal, psychological, or spiritual growth is not linear. Nor is it particularly logical, logic being largely alien to the domain of the deeper psyche. The expectation that one’s progress be secure in the arc of predictability is a sure means to achieving frustration and discouragement. Fits and starts are the order of the day.

If our flaws and weaknesses are the thorns in which we lie then they can be seen in two aspects. First of all, of course, as scourges, wounding forces which pierce us, weaken us. We become entangled in their clinging vines. Thus the familiar refrain of the person in suffering: “why is this happening to me again?”

Second, however, those same thorns are forces of wakening. The pain becomes so severe that it changes something inside. We become willing to break out of the comforting straightjackets of habit and grim expectation. The thorn breaks the skin, and eventually we take this as a pointing finger, calling on us to examine ourselves.

Thus the thorn, the pain and suffering that harries us through life, becomes an agent of its own healing. The stinging nettle stands out as a symbol of this process: its fine needles may hurt the skin, but they also stimulate the immune system and ultimately make their victim stronger.

Thorn therefore gives us the gift of willingness, contained – concealed – within the armor of hurt. In breaking us down, it can also refine and condense our spirit.

The old Heathens knew that things move in cycles. And so, finally, we hit bottom, in whatever form it takes. Sometimes “bottom” really isn’t that bad, and sometimes it is disastrous, but whatever moment it comes, it is the point of rebound, where we no longer acquiesce to business as usual and become willing to stand out into the uncertainty of change.

And so we begin to claw our way clear of the thorn bramble and its cruel ministrations. We begin to admit to ourselves the places where we too share responsibility for our suffering, even if only through our inaction, innocence, or confusion. We come to recognize that we must change ourselves, because it is impossible to rid the world of all thorns, and crazy-making to arrange our lives to avoid every single briar patch.

This is the gift of Thorn! We come to regard ourselves, to work on ourselves, to deepen ourselves. It inspires us to become human.

Yet as I mentioned, often the process of rising up from the thorn bed, of becoming resistant to the barb and the dart, is neither linear nor sure. We make advances, our hope and confidence swelling. Then a set-back strikes, and brings with it all the old stories of inevitable pain. Our precarious faith topples back into the abyss.

Here, then, is the fine art that the Thorn teaches: learning to let go of how we think things should be. Because if I do not expect my process of change or healing to be a perfect, smooth, ego-gratifyingly linear experience, I will hardly be disappointed when it reveals itself to be rocky, circuitous, and turbulent. I will realize that set-backs are a normal part of my spiritual progress. They are a sign that I am on my way.

Everyone faces adversity at some time in their life; soon or later we all lay ourselves down on a thicket of sharp points. Looked at in this way, the rune Thurisaz is simply a reminder to us, a helpful sign and warning of the dangers of living. It is neither good nor bad; like pain, it merely is, and we are the ones who must decide how it might affect us.

If the Norse and Icelandic poems’ references to women’s sickness or illness are indeed an allusion to morning sickness, then that seems a wholly appropriate image for the rune. It tells us that Thurisaz makes mothers of us all; our suffering impels us to give birth to new growth and new life.

I may not recommend that anyone rush to grasp the Thorn’s cruel point...but we must not forget that even when things seem dark, the very fact of our struggle should be cause for renewed optimism and faith for a different day ahead.

And although his connection to the rune seems historically tenuous, from a poetic perspective this might be the moment when Thor, that god of cataclysmic healing, enters Thurisaz’s story.

If you enjoy my runic articles please consider visiting my website at http://www.findrune.com and booking a reading!

~ Henry Lauer

Gratitudes

For having a day off after working 21 hours of the last 48. For emotionally intelligent, kind people who don't condemn me for having limits (like having serious anxiety about driving on the highway in the dark during torrential downpours). For the opportunity to rest. For creativity.

Gratitude

For the patience of my coworkers in helping to de-escalate a crisis. For things being on sale when I need them. For this beautiful fall weather which I hope stays with us through next weekend when I am not working and can be out enjoying it. For family, new homes, and humor. For the sweet laugh and smile of my husband's cousin's 1 year old son while we were moving his uncle. For the opportunity to play fetch the pinecone (it was his first encounter with one and he was quite enamoured).

Gratitude

For health. For days off, for beautiful weather, for dear friends, for laughter.

Gratitude

Today I am grateful to be feeling better after having a nasty, sore throat yesterday. I drank 3 or 4 huge mugfuls of tea with honey and took it easy. Unfortunately today husband is coughing and not feeling great. Hopefully his will pass quickly too.

Gratitude

Today I am grateful for self-restraint. For the ability to hold one's tongue. For the sympathy of others, even when it doesn't make a situation any better, it's nice to know someone feels for you.

Gratitude

For a wonderfully fun and enjoyable weekend!

Gratitudes

Today I am grateful for quiet moments, like early morning in the house. It is thunderstorming outside, I can sit in silence, quietly feeling the power and presence of the divine, and take joy in little moments, like my cat rolling over to show me his belly, the sound of my husband shifting in bed upstairs, the gurgling of the coffee pot signalling it is finished brewing, the rumble of thunder and the flashes of lightening.

Grateful

Today I am grateful husband had a good first day at his new job. I am also grateful they are welcoming me to join him at a conference at Seven Springs at the beginning of November--I think we're going to have a lot of fun, never been up there. Finally I am grateful for the anniversary card I found when I got home last night after a 16 hour workday--it was very sweet. I love you too (even when you are being a dick). :)

Gratitude

Today I am grateful for and celebrate three years of marriage. I am also grateful that today is husband's last day at his current job where he has not been so happy, and tomorrow he starts his new position, which will hopefully be a happier place for him. Happy Wodensdaeg!

Gratitudes

For thoughtful people, for music, for cooperative weather, for long weekends!

EmKat Creations Giveaway: Elder Futhark Pillow Runes

EmKat Creations is holding a giveaway for an incredible set of Elder Futhark Pillow Runes. The creative mind who created these is Dana Ayers, owner of the Etsy shop By Land Sky and Sea. Dana can also be found on Facebook and has a blog By Land, Sky, and Sea, which I am now following. This giveaway ends in two weeks at midnight on 14th September 2012. All winning entries will be verified. If a winning entry cannot be verified a different winner will be chosen. The Winner will be notified by email and has three days to reply or another winner will be chosen. To enter visit EmKat Creations. Please do not attempt to enter the giveaway on this post, because your entry will not be counted! May the odds be in your favor!

Gratitude

Today I am grateful for the sharing of information. Such as where I can buy Southern Tier Pumpking. And the joy of finding that which one has sought. And putting 3 away to enjoy later. And drinking one to savor my victory.

Gratitude

I am grateful a friend shared with me that Neil Gaiman is coming to Pittsburgh in November so I could buy tickets. I am SO excited! The VIP 'meet Neil and have a book signed' tickets were sold out, but that's okay, I'm just really excited to hear him speak/do some readings (likely from Stardust, as the event is called, 'Neil Gaiman and an Evening of Stardust').

Gratitude

I am grateful for the smell and feel of the cool morning air today. Husband went out to his car to get his travel coffee mug and decided to leave the door open. It feels absolutely wonderful. Gathering the energy to get dressed and go to the gym is going to be a challenge!

Gratitude

I am grateful for the opportunity to learn new things, to become more aware of others and myself, to be a more mindful and aware individual, to recognize how despite our differences we are truly all connected in the web of Wyrd.

Gratitudes

Yesterday: Grateful to have a day at home. I didn't get as much done as I'd planned, but I did manage to do all the dishes (which hadn't been done in 2 weeks) and cook for 4 hungry guys and myself. Made 2 kinds of chili (chorizo chili in the crockpot and smoky spicy black bean chili in the dutch oven), honey cornbread muffins, and Ghiradelli double chocolate brownies. Ayum. Tonight's dinner: chili dogs! :) Today: Grateful my cats didn't decide to consume said honey cornbread muffins during the night. They love carbs. As in, will chew through a bag to nibble on bread.

gratitude

Today I give thanks and praise Thor, who sent me exactly what I needed when there was just a brief sprinkling of rain while we were at the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival today and I was becoming as red as a crabby. It cooled everything off and was so wonderful. I am also grateful for the apothecary shopkeeper who had a big basket of mugwort smudging sticks, which is a more rare variety that I sometimes prefer to use to sage (although I do love my sage too). I'll be using this one for a ritual I am leading this fall. Huzzah! And praise Thor!

Gratitude

Yesterday's gratitude was that Wednesday afternoon, HR *finally* called husband and offered him the new job he was waiting for, after like 5 weeks of waiting, *AND* they offered him more money than he thought. It's really nice to see him so excited and happy when his employment has generally been a source of misery for him. Today I am grateful for coffee with chicory. And that it's Friday. :)

Gratitude

Today I am grateful that my husband is not allergic to bees. Yesterday he either ran over or disturbed a yellow jacket nest while trying to mow the lawn. He was stung several times before he realized what was happening and made a mad dash for the house. He fell down the back steps, but he's doing okay other than being sore. I am also really grateful for my mom's exterminator recommending someone to us (Bugs Be Gone) who is coming this morning to remove the nest for 60 bucks.

Gratitude

Yesterday: I am grateful for the health of my cat. We had an emergency vet trip yesterday and they thought he might have a blocked bladder, which is a life threatening situation. They did x-rays and said his bladder looked full and they wanted to cath him and express it just to be sure he could pass urine to rule that out. If they couldn't express him it would mean he needed immediate emergency surgery to remove the blockage. They also gave me the option to take him home and watch him, but I opted for the procedure so we were sure. Thankfully they were able to express his bladder, although they said his urine had a lot of blood in it and they ran it on a PH strip and said basically they thought he might have an irritated bladder, likely due to stress. Which I probably caused by going away for so long, even though we had a friend watching them while we were gone. He is very much a momma's boy. My poor Finnegan. I am just so glad he's okay. He was pretty drunk last night from the sedation so I had to bring one of the boxes up to the kitchen and close the basement door as the vet cautioned that we needed to watch him and avoid things like stairs, etc. He has pain meds, and a medicine that basically helps dilate the bladder to help him pee. Which leads me to today's gratitude: Today: I am grateful for canned tuna, and not having to pill my cat. :)

Gratitude Project

I know I am a few days behind. I'm actually in Indianapolis until Sunday so I will catch up when I get home. Today I am grateful for adventure. To have the opportunity to try and experience new things.

Gratitude Day 11 and 12

Day 11: I am grateful that the rain mostly passed us over, and that husband's annual birthday cookout was a success. Day 12: I am grateful for music.

Gratitude Project Day 10

Today I am grateful that it is Friday, and that I have the weekend off. Tomorrow is the husband's annual birthday cookout/bash, so tonight I'll be taking a jaunt to the store for foodstuffs.

Gratitude Project Day 9

Today I am grateful that I had the opportunity last night while I was driving home from work to witness the lightening storm. It was a little frightening at first, but also beautiful and a reminder for me of the power of nature. By the time I got off the parkway my fear had melted away and was replaced by a feeling of calm. Once I got home I actually stood outside watching it for a few minutes before I went in the house. Hail Thor!

Gratitude Project Day 6,7,8

Day 6: I am grateful for the chance to rest when I need to. Day 7: I am grateful for the understanding of others, as in not making me drive to another state when I have menstrual cramps that have me dry heaving in my car on the way to work and once at work, curled up in the fetal position on the couch in my office. Day 8: I am grateful for my wonderfully comfortable bed, and for the makers of Aleve, when my body decides it will let it work.

Gratitude Project Day 5

Today I am grateful for the internet. I know maybe that sounds like a silly thing to be grateful for, but it has connected me to so much wonderful information, creativity, humor, and human expression. Like anything else, however, it is a tool that has to be used responsibly.

Gratitude Project Day 4

Today I am going to my mom's to spend the day with her. Her 62nd birthday is tomorrow. We are going to make beer butt chicken (I am providing the beer and the cooker), a really good salad with my grandmother-in-France's vinaigrette (made with Dijon mustard and lots of garlic), and some good crusty bread. Today I am beyond grateful for my mom. As some of you may or may not know, my father died really suddenly and very young (at age 36-he was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia and died about 2 weeks later). I was 5 years old when he died, my sister 8. My mother never remarried, and she raised us by herself. Regardless of our issues, of anything I ever did as a rather challenging teenager, my mom was and is always there to support me. She has never judged me, she has always loved me unconditionally, she has sacrificed much to ensure my success, and she has been eternally proud of everything I am and that I have tried to do. She taught me the power of forgiveness, of laughter and finding the humor in painful and difficult situations, of letting go, of finding value not in what you have but in who you are, how to see the good and the best of people, how to truly listen, and the meaning of being a deeply thoughtful and grateful person and finding joy in the everyday pleasures that life gives us, the things most people often overlook.

Gratitude Project Day 3

Today I am I am grateful for the care and support of others. It has been not such a good week either for me or for husband, and I am grateful to have caring, supportive friends ready to offer a hug or an encouraging word, or to verbally tear somebody up(even if they can't, I appreciate their willingness to do so).

Gratitude Project 2012

The Gratitude Project runs from Lammas to Mabon. It entails you being mindful of whatever brings you Joy and you journal "the something" you are grateful for each day between those Sabbats. No repeats - you can be grateful for your spouse/kids/job/friends, but the reason for the gratitude needs to be different for each entry. It can BIG or not, your journal/blog entry can be long or short. It can be on paper or in pixels and public or private. I was so angry and upset yesterday. To make a long story short, it was not a good day--I had to work a double shift and will likely not be able to comp my time this week due to being too busy and behind, and I was yelled at and pretty much used as an emotional punching bag multiple times throughout the day. The day as a whole left me exhausted, angry, and in tears at times. Despite having been in this situation many times before and I'd imagine many times after, it still affects me. So since I worked late and missed my first post for the Gratitude Project, I will start by saying I am grateful for my sensitivity. Despite it meaning that I am easily upset and at times can be overly sensitive, I think it is one of my greatest strengths, as it allows me to connect to people and understand them (and hopefully be able to help them, since that is my vocation). I think it also helps me from getting too jaded, it lets me know that I still care, and reminds me of my own humanity and feelings, because sometimes to do what I do every day, I have to shut that stuff off. Today, as horrible as yesterday was, I am grateful for my job, I am grateful that I am employed, when there are so many people here in our country and elsewhere in the world who are unemployed and cannot find work, who are struggling and starving every day. Hopefully today will be a better day! :)

MmmmmMead...

Rocky Mountain Red Metheglin. Spiced with orange peel, cinnamon, clove, and red zinger tea. May the Force be with you. Should be ready to bottle in about 6 months, and ready to drink next year this time.

WaneWyrds Midsummer Magic Blog Giveaway

Cena over at Wanewyrds is giving away some very cool items. Check it out at Wanewyrds.

Emppu!

As you may (if you know me) or may not (if you don't) be aware, Nightwish is one of my very favorite bands. I love all of them, but I am especially fond of their guitarist, Emppu Vuorinen, and their bassist Marco Hietala.

Nightwish finally came to the US on their last tour for their album Dark Passion Play and we drove to Cleveland, Ohio to see them. My husband and I were right up at the front and we agreed that they are one of the most charismatic and good looking bands we've ever seen live. As he said, "I'd fuck any one of them." And they rock. They will rock your socks off.

Emppu was right in front of where we were standing for most of the show. He's an outrageous flirt when he's on stage. He winked at me. I thought I was gunna have a heart attack.

Here. Have some Emppu. It will make your Monday better.

C is for CUUPS (PBP)

(I apologize that this post is a day late and rather short--I am working this morning. I'll just say it's been a hell of a week and leave it at that.)

CUUPS stands for the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans. The following comes from their website, which can be found here: CUUPS is an independent affiliate of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) honoring goddess-based, earth-centered, tribal and pagan spiritual paths. UU Paganism is a liturgical and theological community under the umbrella of the Unitarian Universalist Association. Membership in CUUPS is open to Unitarian Universalists and those in sympathy with Unitarian Universalist Purposes and Principles.

Years ago, my husband and I moved to an area where there was a UU Church (The Unitarian Universalist Church of the South Hills, AKA Sunnyhill). I had been a solitary for many moons and was rather lonely and wanting a spiritual community to be a part of so I decided that I would check it out, knowing that there was an active CUUPS group (Spiritways) within their congregation. I am now a friend of that church, and have been attending and leading rituals and Lifecraft classes as part of Spiritways for several years now.

I am the only Norse/Northern Tradition pagan in Spiritways currently, but these folks are quite welcoming (as UU's are notorious for), so I feel very comfortable there.

Imbolc/Brigid altar (Pagan Blog Project)

Blessed Bridget, comest Thou in
Bless this house, and all of our kin
Bless this house, and all of our kin
Protect this house and all within

~Imbolc/Lisa Thiel

Funnies for Wodensdaeg

Hope everyone has a blessed Imbolc. If I don't crash after work, I will post some pictures of my fire-y altar for Brigid.

A message

So tonight was the Imbolc ritual for my local CUUPS group. It was lovely. We were led in a candle meditation and encouraged to open ourselves to whatever message was intended for us. Then we actually made our own candles out of beeswax sheets, which was awesome. Mine's going on my altar along with all my other goodies for Brigid and Imbolc, which I'll be posting pictures of later this week.

My message was from Brigid, who has always spoken very directly to me. The message was three words, as I stared into the flame of my candle: Create...grow...become.

I still get a shiver thinking about it. I'm looking forward to seeing how this message manifests in my life in the coming year.

B is for Baldur (PBP)

Baldur (also Balder, Baldr) is a god of light, purity, joy, innocence, beauty, and forgiveness in Norse mythology. He is the son of Odin and Frigga. His wife is the goddess Nana. Their son, Forseti, is the god of justice. Baldr was beloved by both the gods and men, and was considered to be the best of the Aesir.

Go here for the story of Baldur.

PBP: B is for Brigid

(Artwork by Susan Falcon-Hargraves)

Brigid is the patroness of healing, poetry and smithcraft. She is also called Brigit, Brigid, Bride, Brighid, Bridget, etc. She comes from Ireland but is a pan-Celtic deity who was so widely honored and beloved that the Catholic Church canonized her as St. Brigid, Her name means, "bright one," or, "bright arrow." She is the daughter of The Dagda, or, "The Good God." Brigid is a triple goddess. Her festival is Imbolc. She had an exclusive female priesthood at Kildare and an ever-burning sacred fire. She is a goddess of fire, fertility, the hearth, arts and crafts, martial arts, healing, agriculture, inspiration, learning, poetry, divination, prophecy, smithcraft, animal husbandry, love, witchcraft, and wisdom.

Some of the symbols and associations for Brigid include fire, rowan, blackberries, shamrocks (which represent both Ireland and Her triple nature), milk, lambs, shields, wells, and the heart. The symbol most associated with her, however, is Brigid's cross:

I plan on changing my altar this weekend in preparation for Imbolc and will post a picture after it is finished and talk a little more about my experiences of working with Brigid. I have a beautiful depiction of Her by the artist Emily Balivet.

Pagan Blog Project 2012

The Pagan Blog Project 2012. I'm doing it.

Garden dreams

So most years I don't start really fantasizing about my garden until after Imbolc but this year it started right after New Year's. I guess it's like how the Christmas decorations seem to be making their way out in stores earlier and earlier every year. This year I was seeing them around Halloween.

Anyhow, I got a coupon in my email from Burpee for 5 dollars off any purchase of 30 or more. I've never ordered live plants from them but they had a couple varieties I can't find in garden centers around here so I figured I'd give it a whirl. So I bought two three-packs of plants and they promise to ship them in sync with the last frost for my planting zone (which is 6 here in lovely western PA), so they should go out around the end of April and get to me shortly before my birthday. I got a variety of tomato called 'salsa' which is supposed to hold up nice and non-drippy for fresh salsa and bruschetta, and a new hybrid of jalapeno called, 'big guy,' which I think is self-explanatory. And a pack of seeds for their heat wave lettuce varieties. I didn't find any appealing lettuce plants last year locally.

I am so excited to get into the garden and plant and grow stuff. It is my therapy. It is my ancestor time. My grandmother was a gardener. My mother is a gardener. I am sure it goes back further, too. I can feel it. I still need to finish cleaning out my raised box from last year's crop. I got a little too excited last year and my garden got way out of hand. This year I think we're going back to basics. No tomatillos. No weird shaped chinese eggplants. No pickling cucumbers. I did enjoy growing kale, and got a nice crop last year, so I might consider that. We'll do tomatoes and jalapenos. I've never had much luck with sweet peppers or zucchini and they're cheap enough to buy in the summertime and freeze. I always make a huge batch of my grandmother's zucchini soup. It's like having your veggie garden in a bowl. I eat it cold. Gods it is wonderful!

My favorite things to grow, however, are herbs. In fact my birthday present from my mother every year largely consists of herb plants. The side of my house is full of them. Oregano, thyme, tarragon, chives, St. John's wort, lavender. Gods, I have lots of lavender. It's my favorite. I get basil, parsley, and cilantro every year. Last year we found cinnamon basil and that was fantastic. Hoping I can find it again this year. I also always grow rosemary, although I can't get to winter inside. It always dies, and I always end up starting over the next year. Herbs, herbs, herbs. Herbs in my cooking, in my baking, in my tea, hanging in bunches on my wall, stuffed into sachets, dried and used in potpourris, stuffed into bottles and covered with vinegar and olive oil.

I might make it through this winter, yet.