So I decided that with Beltane I would get back into the habit of having a full on ritual for the Sabbats and Esbats, even if within them I do nothing more than a meditation.  But I need to do formal things to mark the seasons and cycles again.  I even broke out my copy of “Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner” to get some thoughts about what I was going to do.  And honestly I feel like it might be a good time to start reading that again.  I used to read it once a year because it is the text book I use when I teach my 101 class.  Since I haven’t taught that class in four years I haven’t picked that book up in that amount of time (at least).  So I decided that for this Beltane I would do a full altar, cast circle, say some words and prayers of honor for marking the union of the Goddess and God, and then work a little magick.

As some of you know I have been dealing with a hellish situation that has me without my usual ritual space (still don’t have it back and don’t know when anything is going to happen to get it back).  I took some pictures of my altar for this Beltane, though the space is all cluttered with the mess of stuff that I have piled around the area.

So you can see that I like to use more jeweled toned colors for my Beltane altar.  I find that, for me, it sets Beltane and Ostara apart a bit.  They are similar in that they both deal with fertility but they deal with fertility on somewhat different levels and I find that the deep colors at Beltane speak more to the sensual and sexual power of fertility as opposed to the fertility of Ostara that I can only describe as more “pure”?  I don’t know, I’m going to have to think about that. 

You can also see I have this little mini Maypole that I put on my altar.  I made this during a bout of insomnia right before Beltane 2007.  I was dealing with a horrible depression that was topped with a great deal of insomnia (not sleeping for three days a time) and I found that painting, making jewelry, and crafting random things kept me sane.  That year for just about every Sabbat I was making new things for my altar.  This is one that I love and I use it every Beltane. I put it inside a mini cauldron to represent the Goddess while the pole represents the God and I hold it in place with green glass stones to represent the earth.

Another thing that might seem a little out of place or strange is the nest with eggs and the skull (yeah, I know, it’s cheap resin, but I love the knot work on it).  I always try and remember the dynamic polarity of Beltane with a representation of the aspects of fertility (the eggs) and death (the skull).  The key below them represents the key to the Mysteries that we seek to unlock through the celebration of the Sabbats and the turning of the Wheel. I also have a yellow votive candle anointed with Beltane oil to represent the Sabbat fires and a pink candle that was anointed with rose oil to send pink light to some friends for the holiday.  I also worked a mojo hand (not present for the pictures) as my spellwork for the ritual.

It was quite, it was small, but it was what I needed.  For the New Moon I really didn’t do much but reflect on some plans for the rest of the month.  I did start another candle spell, doing Road Opener work, early in the day before the moon went void.  And that was that!

Now the rest of the month of May is going to be RIDICULOUS!  The deadline to get the tarot book done is ticking away like nobody’s business!  So if I’m extra quiet over these next few weeks, please understand that there’s a reason why.  I look forward to things being less crazy once the summer gets here!

Current Mood: stressed 

The full view of the altar.

The tools and the top of the altar.

This is the top of the altar where I have a beeswax Mabon candle from Tree of Life, the yummy Mabon oil that spilled all over came from Raven’s Loft, the little pumpkin which has offering flowers to honor the dead came from The Well and Spindle, and then my Mabon incense blend and an applewood wand made for me by my aunt (engravings and all).

Another looking at items on the altar.

And the best shot I could manage of the altar before starting ritual.

Hope you all had a wonderful Mabon!!!

Here are pictures of my altar for Ostara for this year!

The first thing that I would recommend checking out in relation to Ostara is this great article by Mike Nichols called “Lady Day: The Vernal Equinox”.  This is one of those holidays that many Pagans like to use as part of their argument about how Christianity stole its holidays from the pre-existing Pagans.  And while in a lot of ways that may be true (though I think “stole” might be a little harsh), there are a few great pieces out on the net about the connection between the two.  As always I recommend reading a Sabbat article from Peg Aloi, this one being “You Call It Easter, We Call It Ostara“.

When it comes to celebrating Ostara this is one of those Sabbats that, for whatever reason, I’ve always felt is best left simple.  There is something about feeling the changes within nature at springtime that seem more important than doing a big elaborate ritual, even though taking the time to formally acknowledge these changes and how reverence for the God and Goddess are important as well.  But doing that in conjunction with something simple and actually getting out into nature and looking for those first signs of spring, just seem to capture the essence of this holiday more.

Here are a few correspondences for your altars and rituals:

Stones and Crystals:  Amethyst, Aquamarine, Bloodstone, Red Jasper

Incense:  Lavender, Rose, Jasmine, Violet

Herbs and Flowers: Honeysuckle, Peony, Violet, Woodruff, Iris, Narcissus, Daffodils, Crocus

Colors:  Green, Yellow, White, pastel shades

Symbols:  Eggs, rabbits, grass, spring flowers, colored eggs, budding trees, baby chicks, baskets

Food:  Any sort of egg dishes, chocolate, leafy greens, cookies and cakes in the shape of eggs and flowers, edible flowers

Animals: Rabbits and hares, robins, lambs,  and baby chicks. Some people who work with the mythical creatures in their magick and ritual work with dragons during Ostara because of their associations with dragons eggs and thus fertility.

Deities:  While the holiday is named after the Teutonic Goddess of Fertility, Eostre, other spring Maiden Goddesses, earth Goddesses, and young Gods are honored as well in different traditions.  Some of these include Kore, Gaia, Astarte, Blodeuwedd, The Green Man, Pan and Cernunnos.

Rituals:  When planning your rituals for Ostara working with the themes of rebirth, fertility, balance, and new beginnings are appropriate.  Many people work with spells that bless, charge and empower flower seeds for a specific purpose and then, after planting them, they take the time to tend to the plant daily, helping it grow and in turn helping to nurture and grow their desire.

A few recipes:

Ostara Incense (by Scott Cunningham)
2 Parts Frankincense
1 Part Benzoin
1 Part Dragon’s Blood
1/2 Part Nutmeg
1/2 Part Violet Flowers
1/2 Part Orange Peek
1/2 Part Rose Petals

Spring Sabbat Incense
3 parts frankincense
2 parts sandalwood
1 part benzoin
1 part cinnamon
few drops patchouly oil

Spring Equinox Oil
4 drops lavender
2 drops each apple, pear, peach oil
1 drop each thyme, marjoram and elder oils.

Ostara Oil
6 drops Rosewood
4 drops Geranium
4 drops Chamomile
3 drops Myrrh
2 drops Cedarwood
1 drop Bay

I'm going to dye your eggs, your hands, your shirt and your kitchen counters for all eternity!!! Mawahahahaha!

Egg Dying

One thing that a lot of people enjoy, whether or not they have kids to celebrate the Sabbat with, is dying eggs.  Many of us remember doing this as kids with the lovely Paas Egg Dyes.  You’d dye your eggs…and your hands, your clothes and your entire kitchen.  And you’d be that color for at least a week.  Well there are some great alternatives for egg dying colors by using herbs.  Here are some suggestions for your egg dying adventures this spring!

When you use natural dye it works best to boil your eggs with the dyed water rather than just letting them sit in warm dyed water.  You can make the dye first, boiling the herbs in the water for about 30 minutes, strain, and then adding anywhere from 1/2 – 1 teaspoon of vinegar to the dyed water. You can also do it all at once. Here is a method to do it that works well.

1. Lay your eggs out in a single layer at the bottom of a pan and cover with water.
2. Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar.
3. Add the natural dye or the herbs if you’re making the dye at the same time as you’re boiling the eggs.  The more herbs you use, the more intense the color will be.
4. Bring water to a boil and then reduce and let simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Check on the eggs after 15 minutes to test the color.  If the color is what you’re looking for you can remove them from the pan and let them dry on a flat surface like a glass baking dish (if you put them on paper towels they can stick and make a big mess).
6. If you want a more intense color, remove the eggs from the liquid, strain the herbs from the liquid and then place the eggs back in.  Place the eggs and water into the refrigerator overnight.

Here are some color suggestions:

Red:  Raspberries, Pomegranate, Red Onion Skin
Pink:  Beets, Beet Juice, Cranberry Juice, Heather
Orange: Paprika, Chili Powder
Brown: Instant Coffee, Black Tea
Yellow: Green Tea, Tumeric, Cumin, Carrot Skins
Green: Spinach Leaves
Blue: Purple Grape Juice
Violet: Red Wine, Hibiscus Tea, Blackberries
Lavender: Smaller amounts of either purple grape juice than used for the blues, Red Zinger Tea

Have a Happy Ostara!!!

This is the initial set up, getting the altar set up, blessing it, and so forth.

This is after I got the bits and bobs for my specific ritual out and onto the altar a few days ago.

And a few close ups of things…

Some of the items on my altar came from White Magick Alchemy who’s items you can find through The Sacred Mists Shoppe and many of the other items actually came from Target last year (the skull taper candles and skull candle holders which are actually VERY heavy) and the pillar candle platform came from Michael’s Arts and Crafts.

The ritual I’m doing this year is one that is focused equally on honoring the dead and banishing unwanted things to usher in change.

Happy Samhain everyone!

This is a picture of the full altar before the ritual. You will notice that I have fake autumn leaves on the altar around the central ritual candle. This is because fallen leaves are not so common here in southern California; at least not where I am. Although, I am happy to report I have two trees outside here that are turning fall colors, so that is a wonderful comfort of home!

For this ritual I used a wonderful apple shaped candle that is scented like cinnamon dusted apples. It’s like having fresh, juicy apples with a hint of spice around you all day. After the ritual I put the candle in a small cauldron and brought it to my desk (at my house here with 3 cats running around you really can’t leave things burning on the altar unattended). The wand on the altar is made of applewood. It was made for me by my Aunt and Uncle, which was wicked nice of them! I had told my Aunt that I had wanted an applewood wand but wasn’t able to find any applewood. They had a few apple trees on their property that needed to be cut down so she was going to have me come over and get a piece before hand but instead she made me a wand herself! She went online and read about wand making and magickal symbols and everything so she’d make it right…lol. She do the wood burning and all! They made me a cherry one and an apple one and my Uncle made an amazing wooden box to keep them in. Not too shabby for two non-Pagan and non-magickally inclined relatives!

Here are pictures from after my ritual.

My ritual was done in honor of Modron and Mabon with a meditation to Avalon with Modron and a ritual offering of thanksgiving (that’s what the half eaten apple was from). The apple will be left until tonight on my altar and then will be brought outside. The cut half is an offering to Modron and will be placed in among some shrubs near my front door and the other part will be buried outside. That piece is part of a the working for going inward during the dark half of the year so it will be returned to the darkened womb of the Goddess with the energy it holds.

And that’s it! It was a wonderful ritual and, as always, I most enjoyed decorating the altar…lol.

So for today I don’t know that I’ll get a Goddess post up so I’ll just direct you all to think on Modron, Mabon’s mother and one of the Great Mother Goddesses. She can help with guiding you through this darkened half of the year and can help you unlock the keys to understanding the connection between mother and child, both in the physical world sense and in the spiritual sense between you and her.

Blessings to you all for a wonderful harvest! May the germination in the dark half of the year help you to bloom big when the light returns!