More Beltane Walpurgis May Day musings.

I am going to admit right now, that tomorrow, May Day, Beltane to so many, will see me dressed in, yes, RennFaire Garb. I might even grab a ribbon and dance at the May Pole, should ribbon and pole be available.

But you see, I will be at a RennFaire type event. I will be at the Hudson Valley MayFaire and Farmers Market. http://www.hudsonvalleymayfaire.com/
This is a fundraiser for the Queens Galley of the Hudson Valley, a not for profit organization that provides awareness, education, relief and prevention of food insecurity in America. The Queens Galley also runs a food pantry and soup kitchen, serving 3 meals a day to those who need it, any and every day of the year. http://www.queensgalley.org/

This doesn't negate anything that I might have said about my own observances because...(many of you know the chorus, right?) a Cross Quarter day happens on the astronomical midpoint between the Quarters. That happens May 5th this year. The night of May 4th, I shall light the fire. I will dance. I will feel the tides change and the magic swell.

Sometimes, its good to be pedantic. I get to have the public fun and silliness and the real stuff, too.

(almost) First of May

Whether it is Beltane, Walpurgis or May Day to you;

May it be a Day/Night of appropriate joy and fear.

And if it is merely May 1

may you enjoy this:

(lyrics not work or young child appropriate)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRhPeJ3uzOc

(Thank you, Frater POS at Doing Magick and Jack Faust at Dionysian Atavism for the inspiration)

Q & A #2

What is the magick of your land? How does your land feel different from other lands you have visited?

This is actually a far harder question than it appears. To me, it is akin to asking "how do you feel differently from other people that you may know?"

The land on this property had been abused when we bought it. It had gone from forest to farm before the farm was split up and our house was built. The man who built and occupied our home was a gardener; he planted and nurtured and encouraged. When he died, his nephew inherited. Trees were cut down, flowering bushes and flower gardens dug up, the land and its spirits, starved. People in the neighborhood started parking their cars on the lawn, throwing their trash on it, walking through what was left of the flower beds. In short, it was neglected and abused.

It didn't trust us at first. Why should it? And we made mis-steps; planting things in places they had no business being planted, getting over-ambitious with projects and not following through, experimenting with chemical gardening before going organic. Little by little, we learned to pay attention and the land and its spirits learned that we would listen. We paid our dues, our homage, our sacrifices, in time and effort, in sweat, tears and blood, shed both accidentally and deliberately. The land is cared for and protected and in turn, it cares for and protects us.

So what is the feeling of the magic of this land? It is a rich place and a place of protection. When I come home tired, stressed, drained, I can walk on the grass, into the circle and feel myself being fed. The sensation comes from below me, from the ground. It comes from the sides, from the trees and bushes. It comes from above, from the tallest bordering trees, the birds, the air itself.

There are birds and animals here that do not spend time in other peoples yards, preferring the wild areas. But my gardens have (for the most part) been left alone.

I'm not really sure how to compare this place to most others. Most of the time I keep myself so tightly shielded when I leave it, that to effect me the sense of a place must be very strong.

Postmodern Magic

I've removed Patrick Dunn's blog Postmodern Magic from my sidebar. Not because I don't read it, or I don't think that other would find it interesting, but because I couldn't figure out how to convince blogger to update the sidebar listing when he would publish a new post. Go here:

http://pomomagic.wordpress.com/

and subscribe. That way you will be able to see what Patrick writes, he is definitely worth reading!

Q&A # 1

"Okay, question for you AND for your followers: is east or south Fire for you in your workings, and why?"

I tend to do things in a rather traditional manner, even if my way of getting there is less than academic and always specific to where I am.



East is Air, the first breath drawn, the coloring of the clouds at dawn, the ruffling of birds feathers (diurnal birds, at least) as they awaken.



South is Fire, far less poetic, but is the force that compels me to close the window blinds on that side of the house in the summer.



West is Water; in that direction is the largest part of the lake that I live next to, and is the direction that the streams that feed the lake flow.



North is Earth, while there are hills and small mountains surrounding the lake area, the closest tall land is to the north. It is also, interestingly enough, the direction that feels "cozy" to me. Whether that is because earth itself has a cozy feel or because winter and winter weather causes me to seek out and create a sense of coziness, I haven't completely teased out.

I am of firm belief that the attributions of Element and Direction should fit your location-if I lived on the Atlantic (while still being on the North American continent) I would be very surprised if I didn't feel that Water was East.

As for my followers, I am taking the position that the question refers to the followers/readers of my blog (as far as I am aware, I have no followers/acolytes. If I do, I could use a hand with the weeding in the garden). Anyone reading is welcome to leave their answers as comments to this post, I will certainly publish them.

The value of memes

I now understand why so many bloggers went through an "ask me anything" phase. It helps keep up the word count and traffic when you just aren't inspired otherwise. (I have noticed a distinct lack of magic and paganism among my subjects of late. The offline activities are there, I just seem to be lacking the desire to write about them.)

If you so desire, go ahead and leave a question in the comment box. I may answer it. I might not. But as I am leaving for Boston at stupid o'clock tomorrow morning, nothing will be done until next week.

(Yes, I am still here. I apologize for the length of the hiatus-I never intended it to be as long as it became. For a blog whose sole reason for existence was to give me a place to express thoughts, with no further profit sought, I am both amused and humbled by how much value I place on those of you who read here.)

We are now post-Equinox and it is spring (the picture above is rhubarb, the first sign of life in my gardens this year). I would have said "finally" spring, except time is such a strange thing. The winter was long (what winter isn't?), but the year short. The mars retrograde was long, but not as long as the one in 2007 (by mood and effect at least). The years when I had very small children at home seemed to last for ice ages (I really didn't think I would survive), but now it appears that the whole active mother with children at home stage seems to be going by in the blink of an eye. And, tomorrow night, when I go out into the circle for the Full Moon, time will stand still. What am I to make of all this? I really don't know, other than:

1. I didn't mean to go as long without a post here as I did; and

2. the faster time goes, the easier it is to appear patient.

Tomorrow (Full Moon) will be the start of Passover. The house is almost ready (if you don't know how to prepare for Passover, imagine the most thorough spring cleaning and multiply by 10), and by sundown tomorrow, all the dishes, pots and pans, flatware, indeed, anything that has anything to do with food will have been cleaned and packed away. All of the dishes, pots, pans flatware and anything that has to do with Passover will be cleaned and set it place. We will hold 2 Seders, one with the extended family and one here at home. Although she gets short shrift in our traditional haggadah, Miriam and her Well have their place of honor at our table. We will honor our ancestors and remember when we were slaves. We will think of those who are still held in slavery-there are chains of all types. We will honor and celebrate the spring harvests that came even before the story in the haggadah. And we will honor our own spring harvests, in this house, they are the college and graduate school acceptance letters my daughters have received.

In essence, we will honor Time.