First of all, happy Imbolc! Second of all, I was utterly surprised to hear that the groundhog had predicted six more weeks of winter! I know it's just a silly tradition, but it was one I looked forward to every year as a child. Since high school, though, I'd pretty much forgotten about it, except for that wonderful movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray.
But seriously, though, all of my signs have been practically screaming at me that Spring is very much on its way. Camden's sun on Sunday (hah!) Yesterday I saw a flock of geese flying north (in a one sided V.) Today, the salad green plants I planted on Sunday sprouted. Hence my surprise when the furry rodent forecast 6 weeks of winter!
On Facebook, where I was lamenting this fact in my status (along with wishing everyone a happy Imbolc/Groundhog Day/Candlemas), my oldest brother said that some cultures kill and eat the groundhogs that predict the continuation of Winter. My high school percussion instructor suggested sammiches. So, groundhog sammich, anyone?
Showing posts with label imbolc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label imbolc. Show all posts
02 February 2010
31 January 2010
Imbolc
This morning Camden and I took our priapic wands to the nearby state park, and shook them at the trees, the ground, and the lake, yelling "Wake up!" Well, he was yelling, and I was humoring his excitement. ^_^ It was a ton of fun, and now he's all sorts of excited about Spring. And I'm all sorts of excited, because I can tell we were heard. After we finished waving our wands around awaking the world, we saw:
A stick! (He was pointing at it very excitedly just before I managed to snap a picture. So mad that I missed it!)
And
A heathen! Oh, no, that's just Camden. ^_^
And as we were leaving the park, we found:
these fellows, who refused to run away. I guess that was some tasty grass or something!
And later this afternoon, as we were walking about the town because it was quite toasty out, Camden found the sun!
He was so excited by it! I know he was excited, because I distinctly remember him saying "sun" about 10 times in half as many seconds.
So, although our Imbolc activities happened a few days early (since I'm crazy busy except for the weekend) we still had a great (and successful!) time calling upon the Mother Goddess to give us some light, some warmth, and some Springtime!
A stick! (He was pointing at it very excitedly just before I managed to snap a picture. So mad that I missed it!)
And
A heathen! Oh, no, that's just Camden. ^_^
And as we were leaving the park, we found:
these fellows, who refused to run away. I guess that was some tasty grass or something!
And later this afternoon, as we were walking about the town because it was quite toasty out, Camden found the sun!
He was so excited by it! I know he was excited, because I distinctly remember him saying "sun" about 10 times in half as many seconds.
So, although our Imbolc activities happened a few days early (since I'm crazy busy except for the weekend) we still had a great (and successful!) time calling upon the Mother Goddess to give us some light, some warmth, and some Springtime!
24 January 2010
Priapic wands and ... orbs?
Lots of pictures today, so my apologies in advance for those of you who might have slower connections.
Yesterday Camden and I made our priapic wands. Rather, I let him pick out the ribbons and beads, and I made them. If only he knew how to tie knots! And thanks to this, I have no pictures of the process. :(
But I did get pictures of the finished wands on my alter, posing with my Goddess-figure statue. This is the best:
Cam's been playing with his quite a bit. I hope that by the time Imbolc gets here, he'll still be willing to use it.
As for the orbs... I finally got the pictures onto my computer from x-mas and New Year's. In the pictures from New Year's, there is an orb floating around. I'm about 80% certain it's not just a speck on the lens, because it's not there in later pictures taken just a few minutes later.
Here, the orb is hanging out just under Cam's left hand.
In this picture, it's a bit more difficult to see. Find his left elbow, and go almost directly right. It's at the edge of the picture, just hanging out.
And this one is so easy to see, I'm not even going to mention it. :D
Yesterday Camden and I made our priapic wands. Rather, I let him pick out the ribbons and beads, and I made them. If only he knew how to tie knots! And thanks to this, I have no pictures of the process. :(
But I did get pictures of the finished wands on my alter, posing with my Goddess-figure statue. This is the best:
Cam's been playing with his quite a bit. I hope that by the time Imbolc gets here, he'll still be willing to use it.
As for the orbs... I finally got the pictures onto my computer from x-mas and New Year's. In the pictures from New Year's, there is an orb floating around. I'm about 80% certain it's not just a speck on the lens, because it's not there in later pictures taken just a few minutes later.
Here, the orb is hanging out just under Cam's left hand.
In this picture, it's a bit more difficult to see. Find his left elbow, and go almost directly right. It's at the edge of the picture, just hanging out.
And this one is so easy to see, I'm not even going to mention it. :D
18 January 2010
Imbolc activities!
Imbolc will soon be upon us, and since everyone else is posting about it, I figured I may as well, too. I found an activity that I think will be fun to do with Camden (if he decides he wants to participate!!)
Priapic Wand
Materials:
Small Tree Branch, Acorn, Thin Brown String or Thread, Yellow, Green, and Gold 1/4" Ribbon, Small Gold/Silver Jingle Bells.
Select a small branch about 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter. Cut top end flat. Approx. 1/2" below top score a groove (parents only) with a sharp knife. Take 1' long piece of string/thread and tie in groove. Take another 1' piece of thread and tie in groove on opposite side of branch.
Place acorn at top of branch (flat end) and adhere with some glue. Now pull the string up over the cap and wind once around acorn. Repeat with all 3 other pieces of string. Pull strings back down to the groove in the branch and tie off. This will hold the acorn in place.
Decorate the branch by wrapping it with the ribbons, leaving enough length at top for streamers. Tie gold/silver jingle bells to the ends of the ribbons. For smaller children, thread the bells onto the ribbon while wrapping the branch.
Tell the children about how the acorn-wand is a symbol of the Lord of the Forest, and how this magical wand helps the sleeping plants and animals wake up and prepare for Spring. Then walk about pointing and shaking it at plants and trees, invoking them to wake up from Winter's sleep to witness the union of the Bride and the Lord of the Forest!
So if you happen to see anyone walking around shaking a jingly stick at trees in the coming weeks... It's probably me!
Today Camden reached a milestone, which I thinks fits perfectly with the Earth coming to life and growing. He undressed and dressed himself! I was quite surprised, because he decided to do it and did it entirely on his own, even picking out what he was going to change into (Buzz Lightyear pajamas). I was also impressed, because in the past he's always had trouble getting his arms in the right holes to put his shirts on. So, yay! My little boy is growing up! Now if I could only get him talking!
Priapic Wand
Materials:
Small Tree Branch, Acorn, Thin Brown String or Thread, Yellow, Green, and Gold 1/4" Ribbon, Small Gold/Silver Jingle Bells.
Select a small branch about 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter. Cut top end flat. Approx. 1/2" below top score a groove (parents only) with a sharp knife. Take 1' long piece of string/thread and tie in groove. Take another 1' piece of thread and tie in groove on opposite side of branch.
Place acorn at top of branch (flat end) and adhere with some glue. Now pull the string up over the cap and wind once around acorn. Repeat with all 3 other pieces of string. Pull strings back down to the groove in the branch and tie off. This will hold the acorn in place.
Decorate the branch by wrapping it with the ribbons, leaving enough length at top for streamers. Tie gold/silver jingle bells to the ends of the ribbons. For smaller children, thread the bells onto the ribbon while wrapping the branch.
Tell the children about how the acorn-wand is a symbol of the Lord of the Forest, and how this magical wand helps the sleeping plants and animals wake up and prepare for Spring. Then walk about pointing and shaking it at plants and trees, invoking them to wake up from Winter's sleep to witness the union of the Bride and the Lord of the Forest!
So if you happen to see anyone walking around shaking a jingly stick at trees in the coming weeks... It's probably me!
Today Camden reached a milestone, which I thinks fits perfectly with the Earth coming to life and growing. He undressed and dressed himself! I was quite surprised, because he decided to do it and did it entirely on his own, even picking out what he was going to change into (Buzz Lightyear pajamas). I was also impressed, because in the past he's always had trouble getting his arms in the right holes to put his shirts on. So, yay! My little boy is growing up! Now if I could only get him talking!
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