Blessed Yule to One and All

Blessed Yule to all of my readers and their families. May the light of the full moon shine upon you and bring you the forgiveness and love of the season. 

I shared my family's two Yule trees with you at the end of November but I have not shared my favorite decoration in the house.  My Yule altar.  

Yes, it's a fireplace.  The mantel, however, acts as my altar.  As I do currently live with my parents, I have to tolerate their gas fireplace.  My new house has a wood-burning fireplace.  I won't be able to perform my ritual until my parents fall asleep.  Despite being "out of the broom closet" with my mother, my father isn't too keen on my partaking in the craft.  It will be brief and quiet and will most likely end outside under the light of the full moon.  I hope to get some great pictures to post on the blog either tonight or tomorrow.

I've always felt that the winter months brought a time of deep reflection and forgiveness, especially since most of our time is spent indoors, sheltered from the cold.  The fireplace/altar in my parent's home is a place where my family gathers together.  It is a place where we can sit and read or watch television together.  We may not utter a word to one another, but our physical being of sitting together brings us closer.  It's especially a place that I can feel some closeness with my father as he and I, although both very alike, constantly butt heads.  We're both very stubborn individuals and we are both strong in our beliefs.  Neither of us can agree to disagree.  However, in front of the fire, we can be at peace. 

 I hope wherever your place of comfort is in your home, you can find some peace, forgiveness, and relaxation.   Enjoy the light of the full moon and embrace this rare occasion.  Use her light to wash yourself of the negative energy in your life.  I know I need to.

Blessed Yule.  Blessed Solstice.  Blessed be.

July Full Moon Pictures

I didn't get to post them on Monday, but here are pictures of Mamma Moon.

My husband took all of these for me while I was working on my Grad School homework.  Such a good man he is!

Monday Mutterings: July Full Moon/Power Outages

The July full moon, also known as the Blessing Moon, began yesterday evening.  However, for myself and my friends living in the Tri-State area, we could not see her.  For the past few days Mother Nature has been sending us some interesting weather, including some water spouts and tornadoes.  We lost power at my house for about two hours yesterday, which isn't too serious, but it made me a bit crazy since the outage was shorty before True Blood.  The Lord and Lady must understand my lust for Eric Northman because power was restored 10 minutes before the show was about to begin.

Later today I will be posting my July full moon ritual.  I need to complete homework for my Shakespeare Graduate class as well as dragging my rear end to the gym.  I've been a bit of a slacker on my weightloss regimine.  I did want to post a picture of my power outage activity with the hubby from yesterday.  It seems like I always go back to the same activity when the lights go out: puzzles.  I rounded up some candles and the hubby and I set to work on seperating our pieces by color and type.  It's a work in progress but it will be a nice indoor activity when the humidity spikes.

You have to click on the photo to really see the puzzle pieces, but it was a lot of fun sitting by candlelight.  It gave me some ideas for candle chandeliers when I have my own house. 

Flower Moon

Tonight is the Flower Moon or the Planting Moon.  The wildlife comes to full awakening in the month of May.  The late spring heat drives life forward and brings forth the early crops of the season.  Many people will enjoy the 3-day holiday weekend picnicing, going to the beach, enjoying parades and (hopefully) remember those who honorably served in the military and all its branches. 

The Flower Moon is a time for expanding and growing, metaphorically and in your garden.  For those of you that planted at the last full moon, it's time to move those plants to larger pots.  For those of you who have grown weary in your mundane lives, it's time to move yourself to another "pot."  Perhaps you need to quit the job that you dread going to every morning or just build up the courage to put in for that promotion.  If you've been out of work, maybe it's time to get back out there with your resumè. 

If you're going to be performing a ritual tonight and you're lucky enough to have nice weather (unlike those of us in the Northeast - thundershowers - whoo!) you may want to draw on that spring energy.  Light a few candles, grab those drums and head outside.  Dance around under the light and power of the full moon.  If you practice with your family, read or act out some spring themed myths from the pantheon you and/or your family feels closest with.


This myth is one of my favorites.  It's not a spring myth, but a moon myth.  Even though my mother's ancestors were Comanche Indians, I still love to read other American Indian myths.  This one is from the Pueblo tribes:

Why the Moon Has One Eye

Long ago, Moon and Sun were made to always keep watch over all of the children of the earth.  They kept their bright eyes on the earth all the time.  

Sun looked down from the sky during the days.  Under his bright light, the flowers and trees and other plants grew.  The birds flew and sang, and the animals went about their way.  The people also worked and played all throughout the day.  And that was good.

Moon looked down from the sky during the nights.  Her eyes were just as bright as those of her husband, the sun.  So it was that there was never any darkness.  Just as it was during the days, the flowers and trees and other plants grew.  The birds flew and sang, and the animals went about their way.  All throughout the night, the people worked and played.  And for a while, that was also good.

But because there was no darkness, it was hard for all the children of the earth to rest.  The flowers and trees and other plants grew without stopping, and they began to grow tired.  The branches of the trees hung down in weariness, and the corn found it hard to stand tall.  The flowers could barely lift their heads.  Because they were always flying and singing, the birds grew hoarse and their songs were no longer so beautiful.  The animals became so tired that it was hard for them to get food.  The people were so worn out from alwas working and playing that they no longer laughed and smiled.  They just walked about as if they were carrying great weights on their shoulders.

The moon and the sun saw that things upon the earth were no longer good for their children.

"We must do something so that our children can rest," the Moon said.

"I will give up one of my eyes," Sun said.  "Then it will no longer be as bright during the daytime."

"No," Moon said.  "It should be bright during the days.  There must be light so that our children can go about their way.  I am the one who must give up one of my eyes.  Then there will be darkness in the nights and things will be good again."

So it was that Moon gave up one of her eyes.  Now the night was no longer so bright as it had been.  All of the children of the earth - the plants, the birds and animals, and the people - could rest during that time of darkness.

Even though her light was less than before, Moon's one eye was still quite bright.  So it was that she decided to close her eye a little bit at a time throughout each month until it was all dark.  Then she would begin to open her eye again.

Although Moon has only one eye, the Pueblo people say that she is even more beautiful than she was before.  The sun is also beautiful, but his yes are so bright that no one can gaze directly at him without feeling pain.  Moon's light, though, is so gentle that even when she is at her brightest, the people can gaze up at her to give thanks for the gift of darkness that she gave through her sacrifice.  

- from The Girl Who Helped Thunder and Other Native American Folktales by James Bruchac and Joseph Bruchac, PhD. 

Practical Magic

For years, I've thought that Practical Magic was only a delightful chick flick starting Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.  Apparently, I've been wrong for over ten years.

This past weekend, the hubby and I made a trip up to Boston for a wedding.  We also had a chance to catch up with two of my dear friends and walk around some shops.  One of them, a bookstore, had a used book section in the basement.  It was there that laying in the rack, I found the novel Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman.  I was puzzeled at first because I had no idea that one of my favorite witchy movies was a book first.  Then, I became embarassed.  How could I, an English teacher, have not known this?  Very rarely do I see films without reading the book version first.  So, for $4, I purchased the book.  Tonight I will begin reading it and I will hopefully have a review for everyone in a day or so.  I hope that this book won't go into my "currently reading pile" because of schoolwork and grading.  That pile is becoming too large (it has about 10 books in it now).  Such is the life of the teacher.  I cannot wait until summer so I can really dive into the stacks I have laying around.  During my 2 1/2 month break, I usually go through a good 20 to 50 books, depending on my schedule or what books I find.

Has anyone else read this book before?  Leave me a comment with your own review.  If you haven't read it, do you have any other fictional "witchy books" that you enjoy?  Please give me some names.  I need to add more to my collection.

Tomorrow I will post the full moon ritual for April!

Storm Moon Recap

Last night was our first coven meeting.  It was only four of us to start as some of the members are away for spring break, but it was wonderful.  Our ritual was very similar to what The Domestic Witch posted on her blog yesterday, so you can take a peek over at her blog for the ritual specifics.  It would be a bit redundant for me to post them a second time here.

We didn't get to see the moon herself last night, but the name of this March moon was quite appropriate as it is still storming here in New York.  There was a break in the storm, so we were able to go out into my friend's yard and spread our offerings to the Goddess and the creatures of spring.  In the distance I was able to catch the glipse of some spring rabbits running around.  It was quite fitting for the end of our first coven ritual. 

Something that all of us plan to grow and change along with our blessed seeds is in our health.  We all want to look better and feel better about ourselves which is why I cannot thank The Domestic Witch enough for her spring cleaning event.  It is really helping me keep focused on my overall goal for spiritual and physical cleansing.  We also all commented on how creating this coven is something we've all planned or hoped to do for a long time, but were not independent enough, from our parents and in our own selves, to actually do it.  I really think it will help bring our friendships closer together and really help us draw a great bit of power and energy into our projects. 

I hope everyone had an amazing full moon last night!  Blessed be.

The Storm Moon and more Spring Cleaning!

I know I've been a bit of a slacker when it has come to posting this week, but now that I'm on vacation from work for a week, I'll be able to post more often and everyday. 

In spring cleaning news, I've been doing ok with my diet.  I've had a little cheating this week, but I'll be back on track starting tomorrow.  Even though my food choices haven't been the most outstanding, I'm not overeating which is good.  I still need to be better about getting to the gym.  I did go twice last week and stayed for over an hour and a half.  This week off is much needed for my trips to the gym to increase.  I'm going tomorrow morning and I'll be there Tuesday night to start.  Then we'll go from there!

Tomorrow night is also March's full moon.  Originally I was planning on joining a coven in the area, but my personal schedule and the coven's meeting distance from my own home was a bit of an issue.  So, one of my friends who helped get me to this point in my path suggested starting our own coven.  Now, she does live in upstate New York, which is considerably further away than the originally coven I was going to join.  However, she is a good friend of mine and I'm always welcome to sleep over.  Plus, I love spending time with her, so the extra driving distance is really worth it for me.

For this full moon ritual, I plan on completing my wand project that I started at her house last month.  I have some beautiful beads that I purchased that are made from natural stones.  I'll be using Tiger's Eye (for personal empowerment and as a grounding stone), Hematite (for dissolving negativity) and Red Garnet (for self confidence and sexuality - hehehe).  The changes in season allow for a lot of creative energy and the full moon is a good opportunity to concentrate the wand.  I'll post some ritual ideas for everyone tomorrow along with my Monday Mutterings.