Ice and Snow

For the past....5 days we have had snow on the ground. It fell on Thursday last week and hasn't left since. On the pavements it has turned to ice and is very slippy; it means that for the past two days I've been breaking two inch thick ice off of the top of the pond (I just did it for today, and two inches had come back since last night).

Now I love snow as much as the next person, possibly more, but five days entirely unmelting?! There hasn't even been any new stuff fall - it's all the same stuff from last week.

I wonder how long it will last.

Information from ‘The Orange One’

I was sitting in a nice spot near college, and thanked Her for my soup (very nice soup). He then started talking to me, in a young son form, from which I got the sensation of orange. He told me this:

Everyone is born with a certain nature, and when/if they commune with the Goddess/God, they are seen as having a complementary nature to the person. Not necessarily opposite or the same, but what that person needs at the time.

ANGEL embodies the male aspect of the Goddess and the female aspect of the God. All guardian angels embody the traits that their charge needs/will need. The Goddess and God are balanced like the yin and yang sign. One may be more female or male than the other, but they both embody traits of the both and together they are the Duality.

Currently the God is dying/going back into the womb, and therefore can appear as anything; She is the Wise Woman.

She is pleased when you thank them/Her for food personally; there is ‘Grace’ but that goes by way of a face given to them that they do not find ‘human enough’. The ancient pantheons were better, although not perfect, because they were very much human.

Do not forget them.

Question - Introspection

1. Why do I feel like I don't deserve things?
2. Why can I not ask for what I want, only what I would like?
3. Why do I feel that this holds me back?
4. Why am I afraid to disappoint people?
5. Why am I afraid people will be disappointed in me?
6. Why do I feel I must get high grades, else I am a failure?
7. Why can't I truly have faith in something?
8. Why am I afraid to show who I am to other people?
9. Who am I, anyway, to show?
10. Why do I restrict myself?
11. Why do I cry alone?
12. Why do I find it difficult to see the beauty that I know is in everything?
13. Why do I wish for something, then flinch when it comes true?
14. Why can I have a short attention span?
15. How can I believe?

How do you like your beef in the morning? I like mine pretty rare.

During the summer I had to research some stuff a lot for a big essay, and after I had photocopied what I needed (not quite the whole book, although it would have been cheaper than buying it) I sat in a local baguette shop typing/writing it up. The shop - Crumbs... - is what Subway pretends to be: they have a range of ingredients, and you can choose whatever combination you want.

One ingredient is beef - rare. I tried this the first time out of curiosity, and was hooked. It is so much better than well-done beef! Its bright pink and actually has taste! So now, whenever I go (which is not often enough, I must admit, this shop being entirely local) I have rare beef and blue cheese in my baguette.

The blue cheese naturally overpowers the beef most of the time, but the beef gives an essential under-taste that the bagguette would be lost without. And when I get bits of beef on its own...it's like some familiar piece of music that still manages to surprise you everytime with little nuances and twists.

The whole...well I hesitate to use the word cafe, as there is only room for ~15 people...is nice too. Everytime I've been in there I've been served by the same man - does he own the place? - who is very nice. I always take my plates back at the end (although I do that in any cafe, out of politeness) and he seems to be pleased.

"Have a good day!"

I always imagine I'm going to be swept off my feet by some stranger there - it is an intimate place and I can easily imagine in-depth and heartfelt conversation between two people, who will never see each other again, happening. That hasn't happened yet, but I still hold out hope.

Brigit

Brigit is the ancient Celtic goddess of Poetry, Smithcraft, healing, Childbirth, Inspiration, and the Fire and Hearth. When looking to invoke Brigit's healing aspect, she has been called "Nympha Brigantia". Brigantia had several rivers in Britain and Ireland named after her. This gives a watery facet to a fiery goddess. Brigantia and Brigit are related, or possibly the same goddess. Brigantia was the patron goddess of the Brigantes of Northen Britain, who herself seems related to Britannia, the namesake of Britain. Another slightly odd relation of Brigit is the Roman goddess Minerva (perhaps more famous by her Greek name, Athena). She was the goddess of was, wisdom and crafts. This also makes Brigit a protective goddess, a goddess of war. Support for this comes from the statue below (one of the few images of Brigit):

Brigit was also transformed by Christianity into St. Brigit, now one of the patron saint of Ireland. This shows how popular she was, that she survived into a new theology, into a prominent position.

Brigit is the daughter of the Daga, the 'good' great god of old Ireland. Or should that be daughters? For Brigit is either a triple goddess of poetry, smithcraft and healing (contrasting with Maiden, Mother, Crone) or one of three sisters, each called Brigit and attributed one of the above. As Cormac, a scholar from the ninth century, says in his Glossary:

 

Although Brigit was said to be present at every birth, as a goddess of war, she laments for the fallen warriors, a mother goddess weeping for her fallen sons. She had a son, called Ruadan, who was killed in the Battle of Maigh Tuiredh. When she found him dead, "for the first time weeping and shrieking were heard in Ireland" (The Battle of Maigh Tuiredh, 12^th century. In this text she is equated with another goddess, Bríg).

To look at another facet of Brigit, as a goddess of inspiration or the sister-goddess of poetry, she is a patron deity of language. She is said to have invented the Ogham alphabet, the alphabet of the trees.

To please this goddes of many talents, you can light candles or a fire in her honour for her fiery feature, or cast coins and rings into a well for her watery facet (make sure you have permission from the well owner before you do this though). Where three streams cross, you can also make offerings to her of flowers and milk. To invite her blessings into her home, make a small bed (some nice, soft material in a box) and place it above the mantlepiece, or the centre of your house/room. Invite Brigit to lay her blessings there, using your own words. Once Imbolc has finished, close up the box, and put it somewhere safe. Only use this box for this purpose. You can also make a cross of rushes, a solar sign, and hang it above your doorway for protection.

 

 

Little Mabon Personal Ritual

I just did a Mabon ritual tonight in my garden. It worked out that for enough time my parents were (are) out so I am alone in the house.

I cast a circle, called the elements, and then thanked the Goddess and God for their roles in the harvest. I sang a mixture of the Witch's Chant and We All Come From The Goddess. I said thank you for what I have and my new life to come. I asked them to bless the last corn on the cob (which I have now eaten as a starter) and to protect our home (both of which they did, very kindly. Thank you).

Blessed be the Earth Mother
The Goddess and Lady
Blessed be the Sky Father
The God and Lord
Thanks be for our lives now
Thanks be for our new lives to come

I asked them to please protect everyone this winter, even if they seem to be ungracious, which we never really are, we just have forgotten.

Then we had a personal conversation, before and during me doing the Tai Chi form I know (Ten Step). I thanked them, and my angel, for a lot of things. Later I am going to go into my inner temple. I hope to post a description soon.

I'm going to try to wear my pentacle until the end of the week. This is a lot for me because I usually don't wear it as it can get heavy and make me feel sick if I don't cleanse it much.

I hope you all have a good harvest festival, Mabon!

Blessed be us all.

Der Nachtvogel (Gesichte)

Es war einmal, ein Junge was allein. Er heiβ Rupert und seine Eltern sind wegegangen.

Donner und Blitzen was überall und Rupert hätte ein groβe Angst vor die schwarzer Schatten.

Der Wind haulte.

Plötzlich, eine reisiger schwarzer Vogel mit ein reisiger schwarzer Schatten flog gegen die Fensterscheibe. Sie zersplittert!

Rupert schrie! In seine Entsetzen, er wirft Blumenvase am die Vogel.

Blitzen! Und alles war Dunkelheit. Donner grollte. Rupert wimmerte und die Vogelhaupte hollte zum Vorhang.

That was a fun German lesson.