Freya

So who is The Goddess?

She is Mother Earth in three guises, Maiden, Mother and Crone.

At the beginning of the year, she is a maiden, a virgin, a new life about to start. She is innocent, but not ignorant, bound to no-one. She is associated with Spring, exploring potentials, being resourceful and open to everything without fear.

In summer-time she is the earth mother, nurturing her family, rejoicing in the abundance of life around her. She is fulfilled womanhood. She is the grain made into bread.

In autumn/winter, she is the crone or wise woman. She is exalted as the ultimate symbol of power and feminine authority. Having experienced being the maiden and mother, now she dispenses wisdom to others, assisting them in healing both body and spirit. She has insight into the world beyond life.

"The earth is our mother, we honour her always; always, always, we honour her always..."

Star

Celtic Tree Month Of Oak

The Celtic Tree Calendar is a calendar with thirteen lunar divisions. Most contemporary Pagans use fixed dates for each "month", rather than following the waxing and waning lunar cycle. If this was done, eventually the calendar would fall out of sync with the Gregorian year, because some calendar years have 12 full moons and others have 13. The modern tree calendar is based on a concept that each letter in the ancient Celtic alphabet corresponded to a tree.

Trees

• Birch, 1st Moon of the Celtic Year - (Dec 24 - Jan 21)
• Rowan, 2nd Moon of the Celtic Year - (Jan 22 - Feb 18)
• Ash, 3rd Moon of the Celtic Year - (Feb 18 - March 17)
• Alder, 4th Moon of the Celtic Year - (March 18 - April 14)
• Willow, 5th Moon of the Celtic Year - (April 15 - May 12)
• Hawthorn, 6th Moon of the Celtic Year - (May 13 - June 9)
• Oak, 7th Moon of the Celtic Year - (June 10 - July 7)
• Holly, 8th Moon of the Celtic Year - (July 8 - Aug 4)
• Hazel, 9th Moon of the Celtic Year - (Aug 5 - Sept 1)
• Vine, 10th Moon of the Celtic Year - (Sept 2 - Sept 29)
• Ivy, 11th Moon of the Celtic Year - (Sept 30 - Oct 27)
• Reed, 12th Moon of the Celtic Year - (Oct 28 - Nov 24)
• Elder, 13th Moon of the Celtic Year - (Nov 25 - Dec 23)
• Furze, Tree of the Spring Equinox (Aprox. March 20)
• Heather, Tree of the Summer Solstice (Aprox. June 20)
• Poplar, Tree of the Fall Equinox - (Aprox. September 22)
• Yew, Tree of the day before the Winter Solstice (Aprox. December 21)
• Fir, Tree of the day of the Winter Solstice
• Mistletoe, Tree of the day after the Winter Solstice (Aprox. December 23)

Credit to Sarah, The Swampwitch
http://paganwiccan.about.com

The Mystery of Bees

June 3rd saw the first bee on the lavender I planted underneath my window. There are two bushes, planted in 2007 and I have been watching them grow and flower since the end of March. Now, while I eat my breakfast, I have the pleasure of watching the bees come and go. It is fascinating to watch as the honey bees land on a newly opened lavendcr flower and the stalk bends under its weight.

The bee moves from flower to flower, collecting pollen and delighting me, at the same time. Occasionally, the bee bumps heavily against the window pane, unaware of the presence of the glass. He cares nothing for the Sweet Williams, gloriously rich in hues, from dark red to purple, pink and right through to the purest white. It is the lavender he wants, in its luminous splendour.

I reflected on the bee, content to go about his daily work, content to be what he is, a collector of pollen. If only we could be content with the simple things in life and not desire to be better than we are. I wonder where my bee goes when he has collected all the pollen from my lavender flowers? If pollen means happiness for him, then he must surely be satiated and drunk with the pleasure of life.

Maybe tomorrow, I will see two bees on my lavender?

Interesting post on Mead here.

Star

A full moon in June!

Sunday 7th June is a full moon - the strong sun moon of June. Perhaps I will get to charge up my spring water this time! Last time I didn't see the moon because she hid her beauty behind a cloud all evening. I got so tired from waiting that I fell asleep and missed my chance. June is a wonderful month, offering a brief respite from planting and harvesting. It is a time to enjoy the better weather and get out and about.

When the full moon comes up on Sunday, find some time to worship her beauty, seeing in what she represents, the loving, caring mother figure, someone who will watch over you. Someone you can tell your troubles to; someone who is consistent in your life.

On this lovely summer evening, take a dark bowl of water out into the moonlight, if you can and watch the moon's reflection in it. Why not think up a magic circle around yourself as you do it. This will protect you from any unwelcome forces and fill your mind with happy thoughts.

If you felt like it, you could put on a dark cloak for protection and to help you to raise some power, assisting you to blend into the night. Witches do not draw attention to themselves when working.

June is a good time for weddings to take place. If you know of anyone who is getting married at this time, it would be appropriate to give voice to your best wishes for them.

You could say the following words, whilst standing in the moonlight:

In this night and at this hour
I call upon the moon's great power.
Great Goddess of the Moon
Queen of every realm
Lady of infinite destiny,
Protectress and Mother of Witches
I call upon your wisdom
To pierce through the night
Cast upon me, your servant,
Your loving grace.
The enchantment has begun
From the heavens the power will come.

Credit: Llewelyn's Datebook for 2009

Why Wicca?

I was brought up as a Christian and taught to believe that there is only one God and Jesus Christ is his son. Fair enough, but what about before that, what did people believe? They got along well enough worshiping the sun and the moon and whatever else had significance in their world. I have always felt very in tune with nature. I think many of us do feel that way and as I get older, I fell more and more protective of the earth and all its beautiful mysteries.

Wicca offers the opportunity to worship both a God and a Goddess and is more of a maternal religion, allowing us to be as one with mother Earth. There are no priests to tell us what to do and no expensive buildings to keep up. There are few rules to follow. We can worship alone or with others. Wicca is very much a religion that puts you at the centre. We are working with very powerful forces for change and therefore we need to be very careful about our methods.

'Aye, it harm none, do what you will.'

If you follow this rule, then you will have a lot of freedom. So long as what you are doing does no harm to anyone else, be it a person or an animal or society in general, then all will be well, or will it?

Let's examine that for a moment... Suppose you are offered a wonderful new job, just what you have been waiting for, but there is a snag. The job is hundreds of miles away and it will mean uprooting your family and all the chaos that will cause. What do you do? If you are a Christian, then you will probably pray about it, asking God to help you to make a decision, which will benefit the whole family, not just you. If you are a pagan, you will meditate on it, asking the God or Goddess to help you find the way. Witches pray too but we are not submitting to a fiery God who will throw us into hell if we don't do what we are told is right. Our God is the God of the forest. He manifests in different guises. He and his Goddess are within us, not in some distant heaven, far removed from the world.

What we need to understand is that what we seek has been there all along. We are back to being on our own. We and only we are responsible for our actions. There is no one else to blame if 'it all goes wrong'. It is a very powerful place to be, accepting that not everything is someone else's fault.

We can choose to see the beauty in our world, live in harmony with the natural world and take full responsibility for our actions.