By Fire Well and Tree

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/books-in-black-wooden-book-shelf-159711/ I am not sure why I stopped posting... I think I was getting towards where I started the astrology/moon stuff, and thought "Why would I just keep posting the same thing over and over? People can use the labels to look for stuff in they want."  BUT... then I had no idea what I'd even talk about.   And I still don't really, but I am inspired today by a discussion I had this week.  We are starting "newby meetups" at  The Shop .  For some reason there's a huge gap of basic knowledge of Neopaganism.  Part of that, I think, is social media related.  But when I first became interested and then involved, the Internet was barely out of its Bitnet pre-cursor, and the World Wide Web hadn't even been invented. And while that seems like stone-age time technology-wise, it really was only 30 years ago.  So there were two ways to learn.  One, find someone who knew st...

  Day 1:  Offerings to the Fro Ing and Frea, and the corn dolly from my garden.   You can't see it, but the green and yellow candles ARE lit, just super small flames (wick problems).I got Yarrow as an omen. The crystal grid is basically a calendar, with the stone for Haelig (Mabon) on the top (and for the first quarter moon on the inner circle).  The new corn dolly is under the black tulle, kind of. Yay, it's here! As of Saturday (9/23) at 2:50 in the morning Even though my favorite 'slice' of the pie that makes up the Wheel of the Year is now over, officially, I don't dislike autumn.  There's all sorts of secular things I love about this time of year: football, pumpkin spice lattes (don't hate), finishing up the harvest of my garden and cleaning it up for the winter, watching the leaves change color... I swear it's like Mother Earth is putting on her own chunky cardigan. Also I love chunky cardigans. I also love that it's still warm enough to be out...

  Special guest appearance by Taco towards the back  I am not 100 percent sure how I came to be so...YULE!!!  When I first became pagan, I felt like I was all about the Samhain, the spooky. And heck, yeah, I still love it.  But somehow Yule took hold and now I plan Yule Lad visit to my grove's kids, and Solstice eve vigils, and a Yule Along for the 12 days, and then Twelfth Night sumble.... Anyway, here we are again. The last two years there's been Yule-A-Long and Yule Lads, but that's it.  In 2020, we tried to have a Zoom Twelfth Night. I get that Zoom has been a godsend for many, and we certainly used similar technology (Blackboard Collaborate), but as much as they can help people with some anxieties, they do the exact opposite for mine. So in 2021 I didn't even bother, and was mostly too full of Seasonal Affective Disorder to even care. We didn't even decorate those two years.   BUT, this year is all... well, different. Not normal, but close. (I des...

Sundays were always days for extended family. Maybe it was an aunt, uncle, or cousin's birthday, or holiday, or some other reason, but we'd head over to one or the other side of  the family's house with grandparents, too, and spend usually the afternoon.  So for me Sundays are ancestor days.   Older version. Sadly it has more photos, etc. on it now On an ideal Sunday, I will have poured the first cup of coffee and given it to the ancestors.  I light a candle and their incense (usually copal).  I really like to do this before anyone else gets up.   This prayer is actually adapted from one in Malbrough's Magical Powers of the Saints . I give thanks to my dearly departed ancestors I give thanks to my great grandparents:  Kerns, Wheelers, Barrs, Roberts, Nobles, Quinns, Stevens, Roofs I give thanks to my dearly departed great uncles*: Tom, Paul, Bernard, Charlie, Albert I give thanks to my dearly departed great aunts* Mary, Dorothy, Louise, Jemim...

 I keep needing to double up... LAST night was the first-quarter moon.  I saved some notes for that on an earlier post (to be edited out), but I need to refigure out something.  I'm going to just abandon that for now I think. So.... I owe two prayers tonight, and I think I'll continue through the Core Order but also my home practice.  Home practice first :) In my "perfect world," Saturdays are dedicated to the spirits of my home and my land.   I say "my," but I have gradually come to think of it more as a partnership.  I (try) to keep things tidy and orderly, in and out, and my land and house spirits protect and ward.   (picture of stuff) Saturdays then are "dedicated" to the house and land spirits. That's the day I generally have more "free" time to do yard work or catch up on house work.  I don't always have that time, AND I don't always do it when I do have the time, but the intent is there.  I light a candle in a holder on...

 I wanted to do a prayer today for the new moon, but I have to do some research on that (It's in Scorpio...but then... what?) Today I was able to help someone....so.... inspiration... When I was in need, I was lifted up Friends, family, acquaintances, even strangers I can never, ever pay them back I know one who is need Reasons many, varied, and ultimately unimportant I am blessed to be whole again I am grateful I have the means to pay it forward I give thanks to the gods, spirits, and ancestors I give thanks to friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers And may I always feel this gratitude  and pay it forward.