Beltane Celebrations

Beltane, May Day, Easter Celebrations

Neo-Pagans, Druids, Wiccans

Spirituality and Gardening

"Many Wiccans and Pagans celebrate Beltane.  It is one of eight solar Sabbats.  This holiday incorporates traditions from the Gaelic Bealtaine, such as the bonfire, but it bears more relation to the Germanic May Day festival, both in its significance (focusing on fertility) and its rituals (such as May pole dancing).  Some traditions celebrate this holiday on May 1 or May day, whiles others begin their celebration the eve before or April 30th. Beltane has long been celebrated with feasts and rituals. The name means fire of Bel; Belinos being one name for the Sun God, whose coronation feast we now celebrate. As summer begins, weather becomes warmer, and the plant world blossoms, an exuberant mood prevails. In old Celtic traditions it was a time of unabashed sexuality and promiscuity where marriages of a year and a day could be undertaken but it is rarely observed in that manner in modern times. In the old Celtic times, young people would spend the entire night in the woods "A-Maying," and then dance around the phallic Maypole the next morning. Older married couples were allowed to remove their wedding rings (and the restrictions they imply) for this one night. May morning is a magickal time for wild water (dew, flowing streams, and springs) which is collected and used to bathe in for beauty, or to drink for health."
-  Beltane by Herne 

The Green Man in our Sacred Circle Garden

The Green Man and Pan

"There lies within
A hidden glen
An altar made of stone.
Creeping vine
And moss entwine
To hide this ancient throne.
Tangled thorn
Grows thick to scorn
Those who seek to enter.
For though they strive
No man alive
Shall ever reach its center.
Known as Pan,
To some Green Man,
This glen is his sacred place.
He dons his hood
Of wildwood
To hide his leafy face.
The roving clans
That raped the lands,
Cut down his beloved trees.
And so, alas
As time did pass
The Green God fell to his knees. ..."
- Kristina Peters Moone, The Green Man

"The force that through the green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees
Is my destroyer.
And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose
My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.
The force that drives the water through the rocks
Drives my red blood; that dries the mouthing streams
Turns mine to wax.
And I am dumb to mouth unto my veins
How at the mountain spring the same mouth sucks."
-   Dylan Thomas, The Force That Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower

The Green Man

Lore, Legends, Tales, Celebrations, Springtime Symbols, Folk Stories and Plays
From the hypertext research notebooks of Mike Garofalo

This cabbage, these carrots, these potatoes,
these onions ... will soon become me.
Such a tasty fact!
- Mike Garofalo, Cuttings

Portrait of the Emperor Rudolph II as Autumn.By Arcimboldo, 1591, Held at the Museo Civico, Brescia. 

     A Repost from May 2018.  

Happy Valentine's Day

"In Ancient Rome, Lupercalia was observed February 13–15 on behalf of Pan & Juno, pagan gods of love, marriage & fertility. It was a rite connected to purification and health, and had only slight connection to fertility (as a part of health) and none to love. 

The earliest description of February 14 as an annual celebration of love appears in the Charter of the Court of Love. The charter, allegedly issued by Charles VI of France at Mantes-la-Jolie in 1400, describes lavish festivities to be attended by several members of the royal court, including a feast, amorous song and poetry competitions, jousting and dancing. Amid these festivities, the attending ladies would hear and rule on disputes from lovers. No other record of the court exists, and none of those named in the charter were present at Mantes except Charles's queen, Isabeau of Bavaria, who may well have imagined it all while waiting out a plague."

"The rose is red, the violet's blue,
The honey's sweet, and so are you.

Thou art my love and I am thine;
I drew thee to my Valentine:
The lot was cast and then I drew,

And Fortune said it shou'd be you."

Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have given way to mass-produced greeting cards. In the UK, just under half of the population spend money on their Valentines, and around £1.9 billion was spent in 2015 on cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts. The mid-19th century Valentine's Day trade was a harbinger of further commercialized holidays in the U.S. to follow.

Valentine's Day - Wikipedia

For my wife, Blanche Karen Eubanks-Garofalo, I offer her a nice Valentine's Day card, a few chocolates, and roses. 
We celebrate together!  

On Valentine's Day, I think about
 The people who are dear,
 How much they add to life's delight
 Whenever they are near.

You've always been a total joy,
Such pleasant company,
I very much appreciate
Our compatibility!

By Joanna Fuchs

"I love you all through February,
Not just on Valentine's Day!
I cherish you when flowers of spring,
Appear in the midst of May."

"I adore you in the summer,
When the air is filled with heat!
Without you in my life each day,
I wouldn't be complete."

"I treasure you in fall,
When leaves are turning gold!
I loved you when you were younger,
I'll love you when you're old."

"I prize you in the winter,
When colder days are here!
I love you, love you all the time,
Every minute of the year."

"So I'll give to you this Valentine,
But I want to let you know!
It's not just today, but always,
That I will love you so."

Happy Holidays

We plan to enjoy the many celebrations that center around the Winter Solstice.  Best wishes to everyone.

Merry Christmas, Party at Saturnalia, a Happy New Year, beneficent Yule Celebrations, and more Winter Lore!  

Karen and I enjoy this season. We decorate a lighted tree, and set out Christmas decorations. We exchange presents with family and friends.  We prepare special holiday meals: cookies, tamales, Italian dishes, fruitcake, Mexican dishes, pies. We light fires in our fireplace. We play and sing Christmas carols. Many Pagan and Christian celebrations overlap in America, just like in ancient Rome in 100 CE. Retail stores and markets are busy, and Christmas decorations and colored lights are in evidence everywhere.  

Lately, our typical weather here in Vancouver, Washington, has been 35F low and 48F high, with light rain and fog, and sometimes with a little snow. As for gardening, we bring many frost sensitive potted plants indoors for warmth.

My brother, Philip Greco, was born on December 21st. I was born in January. I have always celebrated Christmas my whole life. This holiday season represents both the ending of the year and the beginning of the new year.  A mixed blessing. 

Yule Celebrations  A hypertext notebook by Mike Garofalo.  

Yule, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Xmas, Saturnalia, Wassail Blot, December 20th - 31st
Festival of the Fires, Feliz Navidad, Birthday of Mithras, New Year Celebrations, Santa Claus, Brumalia, Christmas Eve, Father Christmas, St. Nicholas, Las Posadas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, 2nd Celebration in the NeoPagan Holy Day Annual Cycle or Wiccan Wheel of the Year.


"Reclaim Santa Claus as a Pagan God form. Today's Santa is a folk figure with multicultural roots. He embodies characteristics of Saturn (Roman agricultural god), Cronos (Greek god, also known as Father Time), the Holly King (Celtic god of the dying year), Father Ice/Grandfather Frost (Russian winter god), Thor (Norse sky god who rides the sky in a chariot drawn by goats), Odin/Wotan (Scandinavian/Teutonic All-Father who rides the sky on an eight-legged horse), Frey (Norse fertility god), and the Tomte (a Norse Land Spirit known for giving gifts to children at this time of year). Santa's reindeer can be viewed as forms of Herne, the Celtic Horned God. Decorate your home with Santa images that reflect His Pagan heritage. Honor the Goddess as Great Mother. Place Pagan Mother Goddess images around your home. You may also want to include one with a Sun child, such as Isis with Horus. Pagan Goddess forms traditionally linked with this time of year include Tonantzin (Native Mexican corn mother), Holda (Teutonic earth goddess of good fortune), Bona Dea (Roman women's goddess of abundance and prophecy), Ops (Roman goddess of plenty), Au Set/Isis (Egyptian/multicultural All Goddess whose worship continued in Christian times under the name Mary), Lucina/St. Lucy (Roman/Swedish goddess/saint of light), and Befana (Italian Witch who gives gifts to children at this season)."
- Selena Fox, Celebrating the Winter Solstice 

"It was the Yuletide, that men call Christmas though they know in their hearts it is older than Bethlehem and Babylon, older than Memphis and mankind."
-  H.P. Lovecraft

Are not Yuletide costumes fascinating?
The Ice King and Ice Queen from Russia.

"Before the time of Constantine the ancient world was a virtual cornucopia of different religions and cults that existed all over the Roman Empire and eastward into China and India. As a result of these competing doctrines "when Christianity was only one of several dozen foreign Eastern cults struggling for recognition in Rome, the religious dualism and dogmatic moral teaching of Mithraism set it apart from other sects, creating a stability previously unknown in Roman paganism" (Mithras in the Roman Empire). The striking parallels to Christianity in Mithraism have long been pointed out, for Mithras was said to have been: born of a virgin birth, had twelve followers or disciples, was killed and resurrected, performed miracles, and was known as mankind's savior who was called the light of the world and his virgin birth occurred on December 25. Indeed, the resemblances are so striking in that all of the Christian mysteries were known nearly five hundred years before the birth of Christ that later church fathers claimed that Satan had created all of this prior to Christ's birth so as to confuse the laity. In regard to Mithras Nabaraz wrote: 'According to Persian traditions, the god Mithras was actually incarnated into the human form of the Saviour expected by Zarathustra. Mithras was born of Anahita, an immaculate virgin mother once worshipped as a fertility goddess before the hierarchical reformation. Anahita was said to have conceived the Saviour from the seed of Zarathustra preserved in the waters of Lake Hamun in the Persian province of Sistan. Mithra's ascension to heaven was said to have occurred in 208 B.C., 64 years after his birth. This birth took place in a cave or grotto, where shepherds attended him and regaled him with gifts, at the winter solstice. This is based on an older myth about birth of Mithra, that his magical birth at the dawn of time was from a rock from which he formed himself using his Will. He holds in his hand a dagger and a torch. A statue from Housesteads shows Mithras being born from the rock while the twelve signs of the zodiac surround him, showing his image as a stellar god who rules the cosmos even at his birth. A serpent [is at} times shown to be coiled around…Mithras or [his] birth stone/egg. (Mithras and Mithraism).' "

- Christ, Constantine, Sol Invictus: The Unconquerable Sun By Ralph Monday

Yuletide Customs: Family Gatherings in Oregon and Washington



Thanksgiving Day, 2012, Oregon
Betty Eubanks-Yarber, R.I.P., 2017
Family Gatherings are popular at Yuletide in America,
or later at Chinese New Year Week.

2015 Christmas, Oregon

2020 Washington

2020 Washington

Hail Flora, Queen of Spring

"Ask of Her, the mighty Mother.
Her reply puts this other
Question: What is Spring?-
Growth in every thing -

Flesh and fleece, fur and feather,
Grass and green world all together,
Star-eyed strawberry breasted
Throstle above Her nested

Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin
Forms and warms the life within,
And bird and blossom swell
In sod or sheath or shell."
-  Gerard Manly Hopkins, The May Magnificant, 1888 

"The festival of Floralia began around the year 258 BCE. Pagan Romans celebrated for six days, from April 27th to May 3rd, honouring their Goddess of Spring and of Flowers, Flora. Flora, known as Chloris to the Greeks, was a beautiful and serene Goddess, the Queen of Spring. She was married to Zephyrus, the west wind, and her temple is in Aventine.  Floralia was a time a great merriment and rejoicing in ancient Rome. During the festival, Romans would cast off their habitual white robes for more colourful garments, especially green ones. They would also deck themselves and everything around them in flowers then engage in all sorts of activities. There would be feasting, singing, dancing, and gaming. Offerings of milk and honey were made to the goddess Flora. Goats and hares meant to symbolize fertility were let loose in gardens and fields as protectors in Flora's honour. Singing filled the air and dancers stomped the ground to awaken nature and bring it back to life.  Ancient roman prostitutes in particular enjoyed this festival as they considered Flora their patron goddess. So Floralia was especially important to them. They participated in many events, from performing naked in the theatre to gladiatorial feats.  With the occupation of Rome in many countries of the western world at the time, especially in Britain and continental Europe, the festival of Floralia spread, with each country adding its own special touches to the festivities. And finally, Floralia became May Day. Many countries choose a May Queen to preside over the day's activities and children dance around the Maypole. Some collect flowers on May Eve for the next day and some couples even make love in their garden to ensure fertility. One belief that has been passed on is that one should wash one's face with the dew from May Day morn to obtain lasting beauty."
-  Linda Cassleman, Floralia  

The Month of May: Quotes, Saying, Poetry, Lore

"The force of Spring -
mysterious,
fecund, 
powerful beyond measure."
-  Michael Garofalo, Cuttings

Rising Up with Oestre

Who can resist the rising energy of Springtime?  Plants resurrecting themselves from the barren, seemingly dead, chilly winter silence.  Amazing!  Profound! Thankfully, Endless!  

Spring Quotations

March Quotations

Spring Equinox Celebrations

We enjoy a secular and pagan version of the Easter holiday: colored eggs, bunnies, chocolate, sumptuous meals, family and friends gathering, games, Springtime themes, fun.  


Since I am not a Christian, Judeo-Christian mythology holds little interest for me; I favor Greek, NeoPagan, and Chinese mythologies.  All have tales of creatures and beings rising from the dead, defeating death, resurrecting, fertilizing, born and reborn, Emergent, living on, Transmigration, in the springtime of your life, Springtime in California.  

"Easter is named for a Saxon goddess who was known by the names of Oestre or Eastre, and in Germany by the name of Ostara. She is a goddess of the dawn and the spring, and her name derives from words for dawn, the shining light arising from the east. Our words for the "female hormone" estrogen derives from her name. Ostara was, of course, a fertility goddess. Bringing in the end of winter, with the days brighter and growing longer after the vernal equinox, Ostara had a passion for new life. Her presence was felt in the flowering of plants and the birth of babies, both animal and human. The rabbit (well known for its propensity for rapid reproduction) was her sacred animal. Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny both featured in the spring festivals of Ostara, which were initially held during the feasts of the goddess Ishtar | Inanna. Eggs are an obvious symbol of fertility, and the newborn chicks an adorable representation of new growth. Brightly colored eggs, chicks, and bunnies were all used at festival time to express appreciation for Ostara's gift of abundance."
- Easter History  

"Fertility rights are ceremonies of a magic-religious nature performed to ensure the perpetuation of mankind and to control the environment. Expressed as invocations, incantations, prayers, hymns, processions, dances, and sacred dramas, these liturgical endeavors were, and still are, believed to be closely connected with the mechanisms of nature. The basis for such rites is usually a belief in sympathetic magic - that is magic worked on one level to have an effect on a different level, and based on the assumption that life and fertility, whether animal or vegetable, are one and indivisible. If such fertility rites could induce fertility in the animal and human worlds, then the vegetable world would also be stimulated to reproduction, resulting in an abundant harvest."
-  Robert Ellison, The Solitary Druid, p. 130

Equal Dark and Equal Light

We Druid/Taoists prepare for the upcoming Autumnal Equinox celebration, also called Mabon, Autumn Moon Festival, Alban Elfed, Harvest Home Festival, Apple Feast, etc.   

The Moon Festival, Zhong Qiu Jie, a very popular Chinese autumn festival, is held when there is a full moon at this time of the year.   


"Equal dark, equal light
Flow in Circle, deep insight
Blessed Be, Blessed Be
The transformation of energy!
So it flows, out it goes
Three-fold back it shall be
Blessed Be, Blessed Be
The transformation of energy!"
-   Night An'Fey, Transformation of Energy

   

"The last of Summer is Delight --
Deterred by Retrospect.
'Tis Ecstasy's revealed Review --
Enchantment's Syndicate.
To meet it -- nameless as it is --
Without celestial Mail --
Audacious as without a Knock
To walk within the Veil."
-   Emily Dickinson, The Last of Summer is Delight 

  

September: Quotes, Poems, Lore

"Great Goddess, Mistress of cats,
Lady of love, beautiful Vana-Goddess,
Fulfill my greatest needs, O glorious one.
Teach me the magic I need.
Give me a glimpse of your deep wisdom.
Teach me in dreams. Enrich my life.
O Lady, you are Golden-Tears of Asgard
Lady of love, beautiful Vana-Goddess,
You are the Shape-shifter, the Sayer,
The Independent One.
Give me the strength and the magic I need."
-  Prayers to Freyja   

General Preparations for Mabon 

We gather dry corn stalks and make background arrangements and corn dollys; collect, dry and display all kinds of gourds and squash; we cut long grape vines and tie into circular forms for wheel symbols; we cut fire wood for a outdoor pre-dawn campfire in our sacred circle garden; we do reading in literature relevant to the Mabon seasonal theme; we make special meals with the vegetables and fruits of the season; we make moon cakes with rice.  We tend to do pre-dawn fireplace celebrations in the summer because it is too hot in the evening. 
 

Harmonica: I Just Called to Say I Love You by Stevie Wonder

 

I Just Called to Say I Love You

Stevie Wonder

Key of C Major Harmonica

 

NO   NEW   YEARS   DAY   TO   CEL-E-BRATE          3       -4             4             4        3      -4     4      4     NO   CHOC-LATE   COV-ERED   CAN-DY   HEARTS   TO   GIVE   A-WAY      3        -4           4           4       -4           4     -5            6           -5        4       -4     -3     NO   FIRST   OF   SPRIN-G,   NO   SONG   TO   SING      -3        5        -5         -5       5     -3          5         5        -3     IN   FACT   HERES   JUST   AN-OTH-ER   OR-DI-NAR-Y   DAY     -3        5           -5           -5         5       5     -5      6     -5    5    -4       3     NO   A-PRIL   RAIN,   NO   FLOW-ERS   BLOOM      3     -4     4           4          3        -4         4             4     NO   WED-DING   SAT-UR-DAY   WITH-IN   THE   MONTH   OF   JUNE      3         -4        4          4     -4      4           -5        6      -5           4           -4       -3     BUT   WHAT   IT   I-S,   IS   SOME-THING   TRUE     -3             5        -5    -5  5     -3        5           5            -3     MADE   UP   OF   THESE   THREE   WORDS   THAT   I   MUST   SAY   TO   YOU     -3          5     -5         -5             5                5              -5       6       -5          4       -4        4     Chorus      I   JUST     CALLED   TO   SAY   I   LOVE   YOU     4      4              -3            4        -4     3       -4          4     I   JUST     CALLED   TO   SAY   HOW   MUCH   I   CARE     4      4               -3            4       -4          -3            3       -3       2     I   JUST     CALLED   TO   SAY   I   LO-VE   YOU     4     4               -3            4      -4       3   -5    6        5     AND   I   MEAN   IT   FROM   THE   BOT-TOM   OF   MY   HEART      5      5       -3         3        -2          -1         2       -1        2       -1           1    No summer's high No warm July No harvest moon to light one tender August night No autumn breeze No falling leaves Not even time for birds to fly to southern skies Chorus No Libra sun No Halloween No giving thanks to all the Christmas joy you bring But what it is, though old so new To fill your heart like no three words could ever do Chorus

Fourth of July

On this Fourth of July we celebrate our liberties, the natural beauty and many resources found in America, the millions of women and men who have worked diligently to create peace and prosperity, and the chance to improve ourselves, our homes, our communities, and our government.  

"In the morning, everything is new.
 The day's blank slate lies before me,
 ready for my writing.
 May it be words of beauty I write.
 May it be deeds of grace I do.
 May it be thoughts of joy I think.
 All the Holy Ones, Listen;
 this is what I pray.
 Great Spirits of the Four Realms,
 Holy Ones of the Realms of Minds,
 Kindreds of Yore,
 as I go through the day,
 keep my eyes open wide.
 May I not miss beauty.
 May I not miss joy.
 May I not miss wonder.
 Keep me awake and aware of the world.
 It is my privilege to perform my morning prayers.
 It is my honor to do what should be done.
 As I rise with the morning, fog lifting slowly for my mind,
 I pray not to forget these truths.
 Awen."
 -  Ceisiwr Serith, Book of Pagan Prayer, p. 126
 

Hail to the Mothers

Happy Mother's Day to All the Mothers in the World
Past, Present, and Future

The following picture was taken in 1977.  From left to right:  Karen Eubanks Garofalo (my wife) , Alicia June Garofalo (my daughter) , and Bertha June Garofalo (my mother).  My mother was born in 1921 and died in 1994. 

The following photograph was taken in 2012.  From left to right:  Katelyn Alice Flinn (my grandaughter), Alicia June Garofalo Flinn, and Katelyn Alice Flinn (my granddaughter).  

The following photograph was taken in 1946.  From left to right: Michael James Garofalo (my father), Michael Peter Garofalo (me), and my mother, Bertha June Garofalo. 

Merry Christmas

The Spirit of Gardening

Welcoming Santa

Repost from December 22, 2014, from Red Bluff:

Last night, Karen and I listened to Christmas music on Sirius Radio, enjoyed a few cocktails with our delicious Mexican food dinner, and chatted about the good old times we had during many a winter holiday season.  Wonderful memories of fun times with family and friends!  


Winter Solstice and Yule Celebrations

One Old Druid's Final Journey

"Reclaim Santa Claus as a Pagan Godform. Today's Santa is a folk figure with multicultural roots. He embodies characteristics of Saturn (Roman agricultural god), Cronos (Greek god, also known as Father Time), the Holly King (Celtic god of the dying year), Father Ice/Grandfather Frost (Russian winter god), Thor (Norse sky god who rides the sky in a chariot drawn by goats), Odin/Wotan (Scandinavian/Teutonic All-Father who rides the sky on an eight-legged horse), Frey (Norse fertility god), and the Tomte (a Norse Land Spirit known for giving gifts to children at this time of year). Santa's reindeer can be viewed as forms of Herne, the Celtic Horned God. Decorate your home with Santa images that reflect His Pagan heritage.    Honor the Goddess as Great Mother. Place Pagan Mother Goddess images around your home. You may also want to include one with a Sun child, such as Isis with Horus. Pagan Goddess forms traditionally linked with this time of year include Tonantzin (Native Mexican corn mother), Holda (Teutonic earth goddess of good fortune), Bona Dea (Roman women's goddess of abundance and prophecy), Ops (Roman goddess of plenty), Au Set/Isis (Egyptian/multicultural All Goddess whose worship continued in Christian times under the name Mary), Lucina/St. Lucy (Roman/Swedish goddess/saint of light), and Befana (Italian Witch who gives gifts to children at this season)."
-   Selena Fox, Celebrating the Winter Solstice     

 

Ashes to Ashes

Palm Sunday--
heroes smiling,
people cheering

Mardi Gras and 
Shrove Tuesday's
debaucheries--
reasons for repenting.

Cleaning out
the fireplace--
Ash Wednesday

Ashes to ashes--
yet departed Guides
live on

Forty days
of austerities--
questioning demons

Buds emerging 
on leafless branches--
metaphors of
Rising from the Dead.

Devastating EARTHQUAKES--
Nature
does not care.  

Ash Wednesday

Origins of Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday

By T. S. Eliot, 1930

"The silent sister veiled in white and blue
Between the yews, behind the garden god,
Whose flute is breathless, bent her head and signed but spoke
no word

But the fountain sprang up and the bird sang down
Redeem the time, redeem the dream
The token of the word unheard, unspoken

Till the wind shake a thousand whispers from the yew

And after this our exile


V
If the lost word is lost, if the spent word is spent
If the unheard, unspoken
Word is unspoken, unheard;
Still is the unspoken word, the Word unheard,
The Word without a word, the Word within
The world and for the world;
And the light shone in darkness and
Against the Word the unstilled world still whirled
About the centre of the silent Word.

O my people, what have I done unto thee.

Where shall the word be found, where will the word
Resound? Not here, there is not enough silence
Not on the sea or on the islands, not
On the mainland, in the desert or the rain land,
For those who walk in darkness
Both in the day time and in the night time
The right time and the right place are not here
No place of grace for those who avoid the face
No time to rejoice for those who walk among noise and deny
the voice"  

Open a New Door

“The name, given to the month of ‘January’, is derived from the ancient Roman name ‘Janus’ who presided over the gate to the new year. He was revered as the ‘God of Gateways’, ‘of Doorways’ and ‘of the Journey.’ Janus protected the ‘Gate of Heaven’, known as the ‘Lord of Beginnings’, is associated with the ‘Goddess Juno-Janus’, and often symbolized by an image of a face that looks forwards and backwards at the same time. This symbolism can easily be associated with the month known by many as the start of a new year which brings new opportunities. We cast out the old and welcome in the new. It is the time when many reflect on events of the previous year and often resolve to redress or improve some aspect of daily life or personal philosophy.”
- Mysitcal World Wide Web

"New Year ceremonies are designed to get rid of the past and to welcome the future. January is named after the Etruscan word janua which means door."
- New Year's Customs

"The Old Year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months!"
- Edward Payson Powell

January: Quotes, Poems, Lore, Sayings, Garden Chores

Autumn Equinox High Day Celebrations

“Mabon, or Autumn Equinox, is named for the Welsh God of the Harvest, Mabon ap Modron (“divine son of the divine mother).  As told in the Mabinogion, Mabon was stolen from his mother three nights after his birth, and swelt in Annwfn (the Underworld) until he was rescued by Culhwch.  Because of his time in the Underworld, Mabon stayed a young man forever, and was equated with the Roman Apollo.  He is the Green Man whose blood is an intoxicating beverage; Dionysos (wine), Osiris (beer), and John Barleycorn (whiskey).  The bay tree is sacred to Mabon as its magickal action is preservation, a time-honored harvest occupation.  Also known as the Harvest Home, Kirn Feast, Mell Day, Ingathering, and Harvest’s Height, this festival commemorates the ritual sacrifice of the God and his descent into the Underworld, and the brewer’s art that produces the sacrament of this season.  In California Wine Country, where we live, it is the festival of the Grape Harvest.  Whiskey, the spirit of the barley, is also readily consumed during this festival.”
-  Oberon and Morning Glory Zell-Ravencraft, Creating Circles and Ceremonies, p. 227

“Your altar is a great place for fruits, such as squash and apples set in an old wooden bowl.  You will also want to add pomegranate, in association with Peresphone.  Decorate your altar with orange, brown and yellow altar cloths and candles.  Arrange colorful autumn leaves and small gourds, nuts, dried corn, seed, acorns, pine cones, etc.  You also might want to add a bowl of water, since autumn is associated with water, emotion, and relationships.”
-  Oberon and Morning Glory Zell-Ravencraft, Creating Circles and Ceremonies, p. 228


Ask yourself these questions in the month of September:
What is your personal harvest from self-improvement resolutions planted last spring?
In what specific and creative ways can you honor the productivity of Mother Earth? 
What is something new that you produced in the last six months?
How can you best celebrate your productive efforts during the year?
How have others helped you to be more creative?
How can you best celebrate the autumnal equinox holiday? 

September: Poems and Quotes

Autumn Equinox, Mabon, Harvest Festival, NeoPagan High Day

 




 

Independence Day or Dependence Day

My Midsummer Celebrations in 2021 include: the Summer Solstice rites, Olympics in Tokyo, NBA Finals, Tour de France, the Fourth of July, Father's Day, local travel, gardening, and reading poetry.

We are very pleased that Clark County has finally banned the sale and use of fireworks--- a stinking, loud, and dangerous bad habit in urban America. I prefer the smells and colors of Roses to the stench of fizzling fireworks.

In America, the 4th of July is a National Holiday.  Americans celebrate our "Independence Day" on this day.  Family gatherings, outdoor meals, games and sports, visiting with friends, and summer fun activities are all popular.  Some towns also have patriotic parades.

I prefer to call today "Dependence Day" to reflect views of Inter-Being, community cooperation and peace, working together, finding "common ground," cooperation, ecology, etc.  

I hope everyone has a very safe and peaceful 4th of July weekend holiday.  

May we all be able to find a government that enables us to create and work for a better life, respect liberty, and pursue happiness.  May be enjoy freedom from religious oppression, and be allowed to speak our minds in a civil manner.  May we avoid hatred, fear, stealing, lying, and fighting for impractical idealistic causes.  We should not enslave people, disrespect the rights of women, and persecute minorities.  Let us encourage gun free zones in our civil society.  Let us cultivate peace, tolerance, patience, and prosperity.  Let us work at our jobs diligently, intelligently, creatively, and with pride.  Let us preserve and protect our environment for future generations.  Let is strive for good health, vitality, and positive mental health.  Let us mind our own business when appropriate, and avoid listening to men with extreme and angry opinions and facile solutions to difficult problems.  Let us encourage kindness, generosity, simplicity, and community cooperation.  May reason and justice be our guides.  May we deliberate calmly and avoid extreme and inflexible opinions.  May we remember and respect the hardworking and decent wise women and men of the past. 

Best wishes to everyone!

The Horrors of War

A repost from May 30, 2016:

Today is an American holiday called 'Memorial Day.'  It is a day to remember American soldiers who were injured or died in wars of the past.  I take some time to think about and grieve for all the the men and women lost in the horrors of war, both good soldiers and civilians.  Yes, sometimes fighting in wars is necessary in self-defense; but, still an evil and not to be glorified.  

Really, though, a "holiday?" Something is amiss here; something is disrespectful.  Most Americans party, celebrate, treat it as a three day weekend to kick off summertime fun.  

"In my opinion, there never was a good war, or a bad peace.  What vast additions to the conveniences and comforts of living might mankind had acquired, if the money spent in wars had been employed in works of public utility."
- Benjamin Franklin, 1783

Even the god Krishna tried to convince Arjuna (a professional soldier) in the Bhavagad Gita that fighting and killing, even his relatives, was a duty and a necessity.  The Bible and Koran tell of how "God" slaughters people, and how murder is acceptable to punish "sinners" and non-believers.  Fervent religious people are often quite pleased with killing other people.  Ruthless dictators and misguided politicians manipulate and force people into killing and dying for the Fatherland by inflaming patriotic, xenophobic, ethnic and racist emotions.  The carnage that results is horrific - revolting and beyond comprehension.  

Scores of millions of people have died in the many useless, stupid, tragic, horrible, cruel, and crushing wars of the past. Most of the men that started or fought in these destructive rampages were merely conscripts and pawns in the hands of nations or dogmas or greed or dictators or petty warlords.  There were a few heroes, and many evil macho men, and mostly just extremely scared people crying and screaming as the bombs exploded and bullets whizzed by and their loved ones and friends were torn apart and murdered.  

So, let us instead remember on this Memorial Day to celebrate the real joy that everyone felt when we heard "The War Has Ended" and people could live again in peace.  Let us remember the millions of civilians slaughtered by soldiers marching under ten different flags.

I recommend that we adopt an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to Limit the War Making Powers of the U.S. Government. 


I served in the United States Air Force from 1969-1973.  I served because the United States of America forced men of my age, through "The Draft," to serve in the Vietnam War.  Penalties, social ostracism, employment restrictions, and imprisonment were imposed on young men if they did not "serve their country" in the military.  I had been indoctrinated in my youth in Catholic Schools to hate communists, and have few moral reservations about killing atheistic communists.  Again, sadly, we were merely pawns in the hands of nations or dogmas or ideology or religions or greed or dictators or petty warlords.  Was killing our "enemies" in Vietnam justifiable on the grounds that doing so was crucial and vital to our national self-defense? - hardly!    

When I hear women and men talking these days about how we need to fight and kill those cruel Islamist ISIL brutes in the Middle East, and that President Obama is not "tough" enough, and these same warmongering people never gave one single hour of their life in being a soldier and/or seeing and smelling the carnage of battle, it makes me want to vomit.  

In the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980's over one million soldiers and civilians lost their lives, and countless more were injured or maimed, towns were destroyed ... Shites and Sunnis and Jihadhis fighting each other.  They are still fighting today in 2016 in the Middle East.  Likewise, we have our own real threat from "terror" from all the bozo angry Americans with boxes of guns in their homes - over 11,000 Americans are murdered every year in the USA.   

Peace and Memorials to Peace, Less Thinking about War "Heroes"  

Beware of worshiping flags, signs, emblems, and symbols.  We, and every other  nation, including our "enemies," indoctrinates its ruled population to stand up and show worshipful reverence to their own nation's flags and favored religious symbols and fallen soldiers and heroes.  On Memorial Day the graves of dead soldiers in America are decorated with U.S. flags, and the Christian cross, and gunfire salutes to them for loyally following orders.  But, remember, the map is not the territory.   

Be very wary of demagogues that want to 'Make America Great.'  I am quite satisfied with making America decent, making steady improvements, being respectful of one another, and enjoying peace.  

I recommend that we adopt an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to Limit the War Making Powers of the U.S. Government.  


"I confess I am a little cynical on some topics, and when a whole nation is roaring Patriotism at the top of its voice, I am fain to explore the cleanness of
its hands and the purity of its heart."
-  Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1847

I am sure the Germans cried over their brave Nazi soldiers who died in battle, and so too did the Japanese honor their brave soldiers of World War II. And, along the way of glory, these brave warriors, from many nations, including America, just laid waste to scores of cities and over 60 million people died.  

Before you get too nostalgic and weepy this Memorial Day about our military "heroes," our brave fighting men, our courageous American soldiers ... please recall just a few of the cruel acts they did to earn such glorious distinctions, to wit:


"On March 9, 1945, United States military warplanes launched a bombing offensive against Japan, dropping 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs on Tokyo over the course of the next 48 hours. Almost 16 square miles in and around the Japanese capital were incinerated, and between 80,000 and 130,000 Japanese civilians were killed in the worst single firestorm in recorded history."  

 

The United States military, during Operation Rolling Thunder, killed over 90,000 civilians in North Vietnam from 1965-1968.  Listen to a "heroic" professional U.S. soldier tell of "silencing" the Hanoi defenses to rescue one downed pilot, and the "business" of war.  

On February 14, 1945, the United States and Royal Air Force military planes dropped 3,900 tons of bombs on the city of Dresden in Germany, and killed over 25,000 civilians.

The United States military dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and killed over 129,000 civilians.  

The United States military killed over 550,000 civilians in North and South Vietnam from bombing, artillery attacks, machine guns, napham, and heavy weapons attacks.

 And, recently, we made a "mistake" about Iraq having any weapons
of mass destruction and for having anything to do with 9/11 in New York.
American military soldiers killed over 120,000 Iraqi noncombatant civilians.  

 

Heroes?  Artillery men, air bombers and gunners, snipers, infantry men, tank gunners ...

Only crying on Memorial Day.

Yes, the horrors of war and the intense survival necessities of battle for the conscripted soldiers is nearly unfathomable.  

 

 

"The worst barbarity of war is that if forces men collectively to commit acts against which individually they would revolt with their whole being."
-  Ellen Key, War, Peace, and the Future, 1916

Only crying on Memorial Day.
      Not a "holiday."

Memorial Day:
Sorrow, Guilt, Shame, Revulsion, Loss

Mixed Feelings, Regrets, Sadness
Paradoxes, Dilemmas, Ambiguity

Nevertheless, I, like others, do mourn our dead soldiers.
I cry along with their grieving families.

In Memory of Staff Sgt. Daniel A. Quintana

Semper Fidelis