You need look no further than the people who surround you.
Bond with them, join them, re-connect.
Give up hidden judgements and grievances that stop you bonding.
Let communication replace them; start healing your lost bonding of the past.
Allow yourself to be inspired, experience vision, hear the voice of Mother Nature, connect and be a part of the Oneness.
Out of your shell and eating again….
Snail munching on a Gazinia Flower…..
Just like a very dear friend who has been very ill, candle lit, ancestors called in, magic done, healing sent…and this afternoon they are feeling better and have had something to eat, and this girl is very much relieved, smiles at Her special Man.
In memory of the beautiful Gillian Jetson, the woman who rides the dragons, with deep love and fond smiles.
For those of us that observe the planetary moment of Samhain today, blessings to you, and a Happy New Year.
At this Sabbat Feast of the Dead & Transformation we honor the Old Ones of this Land, still knowing, still growing, kin to us, for we are here.
Here the Songlines and the Dreamings merge. To the Blood Light and Green Lore of all our Old Ones, The Grandmothers and Grandfathers, the Anzacs,The Ancestors of Past and Future, The Unborn and the Dead, We Give Greeting.
Magpie Fly, Serpent Skin Die, Platypus Swim, Goanna Bring.
Out of the Spirals, Out Of the Mist Nungeena Tya take me in
let me be reborn.
Unweave, Unwind, Leave unwanted shapes behind.
My happiest moments are those spent in Nature. Always was, and always will be. There is nothing so invigorating for me to spend time with the wild and in the wild places. I have spent hours of my life connecting to the wildlife in all its forms, and learning the lesson of its spirit, its totem.
I have with love and endurance tamed the wild, to the point of great risk, like laying my head on the belly of a wild beast as we lay in a paddock together, to having wild birds take food from my hands and even walk into my homes, to patting possums, squirrels and having conversations with snakes and goannas, I have even had a bull race to a gate I was leaning on and kiss me on the lips, with thank fullness and passion, and that is a true story!, I’ve grieved with cows when their young have died, and have gone through that process with them for days, and helped them to give birth, so many very special moments, swim around in my head.
Yet nothing quite prepared me for the random encounter with a visiting native sugar glider, the sweetest little animal I have ever connected with. This little one arrived onto the verandah and came consecutively for a week or so. It took banana and grain filled bread from my hand, it stared at me with its huge eyes and its essence was one of the deepest trusts I have ever experienced, I patted her, spoke with her and she was not afraid. I adored her little feet and hands that had the extension of skin that helped her fly. She was such a polite little eater, and grateful for the food I offered her. Her fur was beautifully soft and I could have got lost in her huge soft eyes.
Something so small and vulnerable taught me its energy, one of trust and faith, this little mammal, takes off, spreads its arms and legs, into the darkness of night, takes a leap of faith, and lands safely due to its skin that is designed to help it parachute through the air. Its message was clearly one that life totally supports me, so whenever I need to hand over my trust, this little angel of the night reminds me, like her, to take a leap of faith, and know that I will end up exactly where I am mean too. Thank you for visiting me, and teaching me about vulnerability, trust and faith.
~ © Astarté Earthwise
To honour the balancing time of Water at the Autumn Equinox two Pelicans have taken refuge here for the last week here on the farm, moving between dams down beside the river. Their arrival in this time of Water on the compass shows me across the divide also the opposite of all things in Air. Often our best insights are taken across the wheel of the year rather than around and around were you can become dizzy with the same old same old. Because pelicans are both air and water creatures, there is an interesting symbolic-dynamic of thought and emotion. If the pelican flies into your awareness, it’s a good time to contemplate variables between your heart and mind. How often do we understand situations intellectually, but lack emotive understanding (or vice versa). The graceful swoop of the pelican as she over-fills her bill with water and spray reminds us to reconnect with our emotional sea and receive its sustenance. You too can dive impressively into deep waters to capture fish. This is symbolic of ourselves taking a bold nose-dive into our own emotional waters to seek value. This balancing time has been difficult for many of us, only now can we take the lessons of those emotions and thoughts and move forward on our journeys. Thank you Pelicans for both soaring and swimming into my life at this time.
We have experienced our rattling perennial August winds here at the farm for the last couple of weeks. At times it’s been difficult to be outside in it, especially as we have the William’s river all around us in almost a circle, it blows even harder.
I am always looking for opportunities from Nature, and this annual blustery event is perfect for harvesting.
This morning on my walk, I bent to reap a basketful of naturally fallen leaves. I gathered up some red river gum leaves to use for smudging and smoking ceremonies.
I will go back later when time is available and gather the fallen branches also for wand making.
Part of the path of my spirituality is always being aware of what’s laying around on the ground near you.
Make time when you can to get outside take a walk and see what Nature has gifted you on the Wintery winds.
Now is the time to harvest your native smudging leaves for the year ahead, take advantage of this time!
Maybe start making some fire wands from fallen branches and take the time to be creative and gift them to like minded friends or people in you coven for Litha – Summer Solstice (Christmas gifts).
You could use Natures Calendar to start the work at Spring Equinox (when the sun moves into the sign of Libra), charge them at the cross quarter holy day Beltane (when the sun is at 15 degrees Scorpio) and gift them at Litha – Summer Solstice (when the sun moves into the sign of Capricorn).
In my tradition we use the Fire Wand in the North, our totem is the Rainbow Serpent. Maybe you could incorporate a Serpent into your wand!
Happy Harvesting!
I went for a small ramble this afternoon with the intention of eventually going to the elderly old pine tree on this property.
I wanted to remove some pinion resin from its generous trunk for my midwinter observance, I was thankful to find just enough.
The scent filled my senses with all things of Yule inhaling it profoundly connected me to the deepest earth, to roots, dampness, darkness, family and the underworld.
Inhaling pinion is to me is a natural part of experiencing Winter, I have always associated pine with this time on the sacred round. I cannot wait to burn this at the Solstice and have Natures sweet perfume waft around my altar, honouring this time, the ancients, the bones, the flesh, the sinew, and the veins of rebirth.
I took a baby pine surrounded by its needles after a prayer to the beautiful tree for my altar.
My focus turned to the ground where I was grateful to find just one small cone that lay there not too far from my feet, I swept down to pick it up with both care and caution, as they can be so sharp. What a precious little cone for my offering to Pan.
These Nature takings connect me to my Scottish ancestry and the Caledonian forest of the British Isle.
Though less than one per cent of this original forest survives today in scattered remnants, maybe it has because of its names sake. The forest takes its name from the Romans who referred to Scotland as Caledonia, which derives from the early Celtic word ‘caleto’ which meant strong.
Here once again we stand at the strong and stable part of the round, in the Earth Quarter, as we await for the sun to be reborn.
Now I turn my direction towards this unique land and move on after stopping to greet some cows whose curiosity has drawn them in my direction. I now need some Australian Casuarina Pine to balance my altar offering, I desire pines from my past and my present, I wish to honour the ancestors of this land and this nation where I stand as well, on the bend of the William’s river, and I walk towards a Casuarina and reach up high for just the right piece I give thanks and remove this small branch.
With pinion cupped in the palm of my right hand, a pine cone held carefully between my index finger and thumb, I also manage to put my other digits to use holding the pine needles from both trees. With a feeling of satisfaction I head for home.
On the journey I remember that my new friend Mario who is a hunter and taxidermist has sent me a couple of skulls that I hadn’t opened, that are the skulls of hares, one of these is for me, and I get excited knowing this will complete my altar offering here today.
When I return I find my beautiful hand carved pentacle, that a Piscean carpenter and High Priest called Brian made, I bought it from him when I lived in the USA over a decade ago now. I smile because the men that are both a part of this offering both earn a living working as carpenters, and here I am sharing my stories of trees.
This pentacle was made with such love and it once had an emerald placed in its centre, till my cockatiel bird was wandering on my altar one day and decided to eat it, and I watched in both horror and humour as the emerald disappeared into his beak, and was gone forever, he is a true gem!!
I’ve now put everything together on the pentacle and placed this on my altar for reflection and focus as the week ahead winds towards Mid Winter and the rebirth of the sun yet again, a time for celebration as the days will once again become longer though colder and I will have the time to once again tend to my gardens and restore the damage done.
Yuletide Blessings to all.
Just 12 days out from the longest night and the shortest day, Mid-Winter, Yule approaches.
Waves roll in of fog, faerie webs, and dew drops.
It’s the weaving time, before the sun is born again.
I just visited one of the lower paddocks since the Autumn Equinox Floods that came here twice this year, and found so many gifts, thank you Mother Nature.
I now have a bone garden full of herbs and scattered with bones that the floods never took from this land, where a mother cow lost her fight for life after the birth of her child, she still lays here in this place, born here, lived and died here like her ancestors before her.
I honour her, the land honours her and this is now a sacred place, her resting place where the silt from the rivers floor has now cemented her place and her bones securely in the land.
As the Mid-Winter approaches I focus on the bones and stones that sit here that hold this place and the memories of thousands of years.
The sun is trying to penetrate the land but the fog is winning this morning, patience before another day in winter’s deep hold.
Life must center in the heart to bring you wholeness
A newsletter of The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids in the Southern Hemisphere
Traditional Witchcraft of Britain - Manchester, England
Paranormal & Occult Podcast
Living and Leading the Transformation.
All Things Green Man & The Traditional Jack-in-the-Green
Cooking... And something like cooking...
a celebration
The musings on the mysteries
At the crossroads of Druidry and Sorcery
Astarté Earthwise 