We made a movie tonight!

It’s called, “How the City in Which We Reside Totally Screwed Up When They Replaced the Main Sewer Line Outside Our House, Which Caused Our Home Sewer Line to Back Up Through Our Drains, Flooding Our Laundry Room, 2nd Bathroom, Part of the Guest Room and 1/2 of the Family Room, And Here’s The Plumber’s Snake Cam Footage to Prove It.”

Now on DVD. Coming soon to a theatre near you.

Today the Wooden Spoons celebrated Beltaine with a ritual at my home. The Spoons decided at our last planning meeting that instead of planning all of our rituals as a group, each person in the group would volunteer to create one sabbat ritual for us to do. I chose Beltaine… which was strange, because it’s a sabbat that has always been hard for me to connect with. But when it came down to the creating the ritual, everything really just fell right into place, which surprised me.

Being that it was Beltaine, I wanted the ritual to be done outdoors, and the weather was absolutely perfect for it. Thank you, Mother Nature! Amaset and I decorated the maple tree in the back yard with ribbons and colorful scarves… my version of a Maypole.

The altar for the ritual was fairly simple. The main focus was the stang (forked stick) with the floral circlets hanging on it. There were also the quarter candles for the elements, a broom (for the Goddess Blodeuwedd) and…

… a statue of the Millenial Gaia (she hadn’t arrived yet when I took the first picture). The envelope tucked in behind her contains a sympathy card for two members of the Spoons who were absent today because of a death in the family. Another member was absent due to injuries from a car accident she was in a couple days ago. You can’t see them in the picture, but we chose some stones/crystals to charge with healing energy during the ritual to give to each of our absent friends, and those are on the altar as well.

My ritual honored the Welsh Goddess Blodeuwedd, the Flower-Faced Maiden and Queen of the May, and was also about honoring your passions and the Divine within yourself.

Special items for the altar:

a stang hung with floral circlets, one circlet for each ritual participant

a broom (for the Goddess Blodeuwedd)

sage for smudging

Sweep the aura of each person with broom, then smudge each person with sage before s/he enters the circle.

Sweep & smudge circle.

Cast circle in the manner of your personal tradition.

HPS says: Welcome to our Beltaine ritual. Gather this circle around, and I shall tell you a story. This is the tale of Blodeuwedd, the flower-faced maiden, Queen of the May, Ninefold Goddess of the Western Isles of Paradise– and she speaks:

(poem by Robert Graves)

“Neither of mother or father,
When I was made,
Was my blood or body;

…When I was made,
Of the blossoms of the nettle,
Of the waters of the Ninth Wave,
I was spell-bound by Math,
Before I became immortal.

I was spell-bound by Gwydion,
Great Enchanter of the Britons,
When he formed me from nine blossoms,
Nine buds of various kind:

From primrose of the mountain,
Broom, meadow-sweet and cockle,
Together intertwined,
From the bean in its shade bearing
A white spectral army
Of earth, of earthly kind,
From blossoms of the nettle,
Oak, thorn and bashful chestnut–

Nine powers of nine flowers,
Nine powers in me combined,
Nine buds of plant and tree.
Long and white are my fingers,
As the Ninth Wave of the sea.”

(This is the story in a nutshell, I added more of the finer details as I told it.)

The goddess Arianrhod, mother of Lleu Skillful Hand, vows that he shall have no name, bear no arms unless she gives them to him, nor shall he ever have a wife “of the race that is now on this earth.”

And so, Blodeuwedd was created from the flowers of oak, broom and meadowsweet by the magicians Gwydion of the Magic Harp, and Math, Son of Mathonwy, to be the biddable bride. She is married to Lleu without her consent and without her love.

It is when she meets Goronwy that she feels her first human emotion; love. She transforms from magical creature to woman– a maiden or virgin Goddess who chooses her own lover.

She conspires with Goronwy for a year and a day, and discovers the means to rid herself of Lleu. When Lleu is struck with a magical spear, he transforms into a golden eagle, and flies away.

When Gwydion hears what has happened, he seeks out Lleu and breaks the enchantment. Lleu in turn slays Goronwy.

Bloddeuwedd flees and is chased far into the mountains. When she is caught at last by Gwydion, he says, “I will not kill you, but I will do what is worse: I will let you go in the form of a bird. Because of the shame you have brought on Lleu, you are never to show your face in the light of day, rather, you shall fear other birds; they will be hostile to you, and it will be in their nature to maul and molest you wherever they find you.”

And Blodeuwedd was changed into an owl forever.

HPS says: Many who hear the story of Blodeuwedd see her as a cold-hearted, cheating, murderous woman. But consider: she was created without love, and given without her love or consent to her husband for the sole purpose of being his biddable bride. Only when she discovered her true love and passion did she become a truly living, loving and Divine creature.

Blodeuwedd teaches us that we must choose our own passions, choose our own loves. We must acknowledge that we are Divine and this is our Divine right. This is the time of year when all our passions are aroused– What do you love? How will you choose to direct your passions? How will you honor the Divine within yourself? Consider these questions as we raise energy and direct it towards the stang on the altar.

CHANT:

Maiden, Mother, Crone; I am She,
Come my love, and dance with me,
As we will, so mote it be,
As we will, so mote it be!

Warrior, Father, Sage; I am He,
Come my love and dance with me,
As we will, so mote it be,
As we will, so mote it be!

HPS takes stang of floral circlets and goes to each participant in turn and asks:

Do you accept and acknowledge the passionate and Divine being within yourself?

If participant answers YES, HPS responds:

Then I crown you Queen/King of the May; wear this circlet as a symbol of your passionate and Divine self (HPS crowns participant with floral circlet).

If participant answers NO, then HPS responds:

Nevertheless, I shall crown you Queen/King of the May, and let this circlet be a reminder to seek out your passions and the Divine within yourself (HPS crowns participant with floral circlet).

After all participants have been crowned, HPS says:

Remember what Charge of the Goddess says: “All who seek to know Me, know this: all your seeking and learning will avail you nothing, unless you know the Mystery– for if what you seek you find not within, you shall never find it without.

Therefore, in the name of Blodeuwedd, the Flower-Faced Maiden, I bid you to follow your passions, choose only what you love and always honor the Divine within yourself.

Blessed be these passionate and Divine Kings and Queens of the May who stand before me now! So mote it be!

Follow with the blessing and sharing of the cakes and ale.

Open circle.

May! Queen of blossoms,
and fulfilling flowers,

With what pretty music
Shall we charm the hours?

Wilt thou have pipe and reed,
Blown in the open mead?

Or to the lute give head
in the garden bowers?

~Lord Edward Thurlow

When I was a child, I always loved May Day. I had learned somewhere that the proper way to celebrate the first of May was to make simple little May baskets filled with flowers, candy, maybe even popcorn. Then you were to hang the basket on someone’s front door knob, ring the doorbell and run away before they caught you. The May basket was an anonymous token of love that you left people. I don’t know that anyone follows this tradition anymore, but isn’t it a lovely idea?

I also remember one May as a child, when “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree” by Tony Orlando and Dawn was such a popular song, that I went over to my Gram’s and she had a huge yellow bow tied around the tree in her front yard. Maybe that is when I started associating May Day with trees and ribbons… my version of a Maypole.

One of the things I love about paganism is discovering that childhood memories like these stuck with me for a reason– because I was a pagan at heart! And now I get to relive these memories and re-incorporate these traditions into my life. How great is that?

However you choose to celebrate it, have a beautiful and blessed May Day!

So guess who offered to create a Beltaine ritual for the Wooden Spoons? Yeah, that would be me.

We’ll be celebrating on Saturday, which is good actually, because there is rain, wind and snow predicted for tomorrow, May 1st, and I designed the ritual around being outdoors. Hopefully by Saturday, the weather will be much nicer!

The ritual involves lots of flowers and ribbons, a broom, the goddess Blodeuwedd, storytelling, singing, the Divine within and… honey oatmeal cake. Details to follow.

I sure hope I can get everything ready in time. Whose bright idea was this, anyways? Oh yeah. Mine.

It’s that time of year again. Time to sit out on the patio in the evenings and drink in the sounds and sights of tranquil evenings. The maple tree is beginning to bud, the birds are merrily singing their evening songs, the sun is warm and mellow as it slowly dips below the mountain tops. I am an evening twilight person. It is a magical time for me.

I never used to be a geranium person but in the past couple of years they have really grown on me. My heart gave a little jump of joy to see their bright red faces when I went out onto the patio this evening. They are so cheery and evoke such a nice sense of “happy home”. I decided to see what other information I could find about their magical properties; here is everything I’ve found so far:

Geranium (geranium maculatum, pelargonium maculatum)

Gender: Feminine

Planet: Venus

Element: Water

Astrological: (primary) Libra, Taurus, (secondary) Cancer, Pisces, Scorpio

Powers: increase fertility (white), strengthen health, protection (red), love (pink)

Flower language meaning: consolation, comfort (scarlet), love (pink), fertility (white)

All types of geraniums are protective, whether grown in the garden or in pots or fresh cut and placed in water. They will protect house and yard from all kinds of negative energy.

Red geraniums planted near the home can warn witches of impending visitors by tilting toward the direction from whence the visitors will come.

Protection against snakes: “snakes will not go where geraniums grow”

Rose geranium (pelargonium graveolens)

Gender, Planet, Element, Astrological: same as above

Flower language meaning: preference, devotion, elegance

Can be grown and carried for protection. Rub the fresh leaves of rose geraniums on door knobs and windows for protection, or place in protection sachets.

Essential oil of rose geranium may be used to heighten sense of romance in women; however, it may reduce sexual desire in men.

Current moonphase: waning gibbous

Current temperature: 56* F

Mostly sunny, mild.

Today was a gorgeous day; it got up into the mid-60’s. Firehand and I got out into the backyard and did some work.

Firehand raked and spread grass seed and got things watered. I worked on weeding the bed that will become my potager (kitchen garden). I also weeded and cleared out last year’s dried leaves and stems from the Goddess Garden. We moved the bench that was in the GG up to the patio again, so that it’s with it’s mate; one on each side of the patio. What can I say, I like balance.

Out in the GG, my herbal green friends are beginning to show their faces. Lemon balm, sage, lavender, yarrow and hyssop are all doing well. Plus, it looks like the sweet woodruff and echinacea I planted last year are coming back. Sadly, I’m not so sure about the variegated lemon thyme or the Roman (perennial) chamomile or the bleeding hearts. Either they didn’t survive the winter or it’s just to early in the season still.

Our rake broke while we were doing yard work. This is the second time. The first time we were able to fix it. Not so lucky this time. So we went to the garden center and got a couple new ones and I got some red geraniums. The two benches that are now on the patio have little planters built in on each end of them, so I planted a geranium in each and I’ll add sweet alyssum later (they didn’t have a color I liked today).

Geranium (geranium maculatum, pelargonium maculatum)

Gender: Feminine

Planet: Venus

Element: Water

According to Scott Cunningham, all types of geraniums are protective, whether grown in the garden or in pots or fresh cut and placed in water. AJ Drew adds that they will protect house and yard from all kinds of negative energy.

I said a little chant as I planted mine and thanked them for their beauty and protective powers.

Sacred Suzie gave me (and a whole bunch of other bloggers) the inspiration to create a dreamboard this past full moon.

I have been sick with the sinus crud yet again, and am extremely run-down. My days lately have pretty much consisted of dragging myself to work, coming home and making dinner and crawling to bed. I absolutely hate it. I want the energy to enjoy my life again.

I love my job and I want to be able to enjoy my days at work. I love spring and I want to be able to be outdoors and be active in this wonderful weather we’ve been having. I want to have the energy to get out in the backyard and take care of my herb garden and prepare my potager garden for the growing season. I want to put air in my bike tires and go for a bike ride around the neighborhood to see what’s blooming. I want to go on evening walks with Firehand. I want to do more yoga than just 2 or 3 asanas during breaks at work.

I want my life back. I need an energy boost!

OMG– HILARIOUS! I’ve been Rick Rolled!

What does it mean to be “Rick Rolled”? According to the Urban Dictionary it means:

To be tricked, through any method, into clicking a link that takes you to the Rick Astley video “Never Gonna Give You Up”.

For those of you too young to remember, Rick Astley was like the Josh Groban of the 80’s. Skinny little guy with a big, beautiful, deep voice. He was so totally 80’s and I so totally adored him. So of course nostalgia set in after watching “Never Gonna Give You Up” and I had to watch several more of his videos.

And so, in honor of my first Rick Rolling, I shall leave you, dear reader, with this– my absolute favorite Rick Astley song…

Current moonphase: waxing gibbous

Current temperature: 59* F

Sunny, mild, very light breeze.

I hosted a Book of Shadows workshop for the Wooden Spoons a couple of weekends ago. Basically, it was an opportunity for us to talk about our BoS, share them if we wanted, spark some creativity, and have a chance to do some work on our BoS.

It turned out to be a wonderful afternoon. I loved seeing all the different approaches each person had for their personal BoS and all the different, lovely books themselves. Everyone was so amazingly creative!

My “working” BoS is a compilation of poetry, prayers, rituals, and spellwork correspondences that I’ve collected over the years, typed up on the computer, printed out and put into a regular 3 ring binder. Now, my goal is to artistically recreate those pages. My current idea is to use stamped letters and images, colored pencils and my calligraphy pens to creatively personalize all the pages in my BoS.

So… here’s what I’ve gotten done so far…

I stamped the images with black ink and have been working on coloring them in with layers of color with my pencils. Most of the images have at least 2 layers of color, some up to four different colors on top of each other. As you can see, I’m still working on ‘em.

The majority of the images are DeNami Design stamps, my favorites. I had quite a few in my collection that seemed appropriate for different sabbats or elements: the leaf for earth, the seashells for water, dragonfly for air, sunflower for Litha or Lughnasadh, tulips for Ostara. The others I chose because their style is similar to DeNami Designs– the sun for sun or fire and the bird for air. Ducks in a Row is the company that designed the bird and the two lovely stamps with the human figures. I thought that the one with the man and woman and all the flowers and vines would be nice for Beltaine and the woman with the sun and moon would be neat to use for the equinoxes.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this project from here. Probably I will begin writing out the pages that I want these images to go on. Then maybe do some framing of the images with a nice contrasting paper color and paste them where they need to go.

I’m just taking it slowly and letting the ideas unfold as I go along. I want this project to be a labor of love. I don’t care how long it takes to complete. The journey will be half the fun.

Your Score: The Basic Feminist

You are 79% on your way to being a Feminist!

You’re a Feminist! Congratulations!

You have a good idea of what sexism is, how to avoid it, and how to stand up for women and/or yourself. You might have read some basic Feminist literature or thought in passing, and thought that it was pretty good. Sometimes you baulk a little at overtly identifying yourself as a Feminist due to the negative stigma. Don’t be ashamed of being right! Just keep on doing what you’re doing and exploring more ways to treat everyone with respect because of their humanity, not their parts, and you’re helping to fix the problem!

Yeah, I’d say that’s me in a nutshell. I’d like to speak up more when the situation arises. Have to work on that.